Start Saving by Playing The Grocery Game

I couldn't help but repost this from my friend Beth. That's the nice way of saying I've totally plagerized someone else's words! Using what she posted and adding my own comments as well, though. All good advice about saving money in the place we seem to spend the most. Must of these tips I've been following for a while now, and I consider my store receipt to be a trophy!! See what you think:

Grocery Gamers save an average of 67%, but only about 17% of that is coupon savings. Yep, that means that if you shop smart, you can still save about half without even using a pair of scissors!

Stop living by your shopping list! If you make a list of what you’ve run out of every week, you’ll pay full price for most of what you put on your list, because most of what you need every
week is not on sale every single week. By contrast, if you learn to buy just a little more of what you usually need when you see it on sale, that weekly list of expensive “need items” will get
shorter and shorter, because you were smart and “invested” at the right time!. Think about it… you can “invest” in everything except for fresh produce.

A sale with a “limit” is usually a good indicator of the lowest possible sale, and may even be close to a loss for the store. I know you don’t need four jars of peanut butter now, but if it’s
“limit 4” at 99 cents each, you do!

BOGO sales, “buy one get one free” are no brainers. That’s half off, and you know what to do! But coupons save you even more. You are buying two of the items (even though the store is giving you one for free) so if you have two coupons you use one for each item (or one coupon that says save $x when you buy 2). That's why I buy two newspapers on Sundays, it does pay off!

Open your eyes to more than groceries at the grocery store. I love when Publix puts drugstore items on sale or offers store coupons in their Advantage Buy circular. The savings really start when you get a store coupon for an item and a manufacturer's coupon for the same item. Yes, you can use one of each on the same item. This one eye-opener has kept me from having to shop at Walmart to find a cheaper price, and that's a real blessing!

Drugstores have some great sales on cereal, canned foods, frozen foods, milk, eggs, and more. And if you pass by a convenience market or gas station and see a sign for a great deal on
milk or eggs, stop in and grab some. There are often great “loss leaders” in these places, but stay away from other groceries, as the prices are jacked up! It's so worth the time to figure out how to get the best deals at CVS using their Extra Care Bucks and rewards card, and Walgreens' Register Rewards. Southern Savers has a great tutorial. I spend a lot of time on their site.

Get to know your butcher and baker, and ask when they mark down packages with today’s date (usually in the morning). Plan your future trips accordingly. Buy only what was already on sale,
AND marked down for quick sale. Pop them into the freezer, then repeat these words, “I’m a smart investor.” Plan meals around the fresh produce sales, and use what you already have in your pantry, fridge and freezer. Note: I haven't seen this to be true at Publix in a long time, but I do check out the markdowns at Save-A-Lot quite frequently.

If you ask my sweetie, he'll tell you we eat better now than we ever did. Most everything we use is name-brand because we've stocked up when things are on sale. And smell better - some of the best deals I get are on health and beauty aids, laundry products and cleaning supplies.

Start saving!