$$$ want to save money on groceries??? $$$

I DO!!!

so, a friend of mine (thanks isleen!) told me about this thing i just HAD to try out to save money on groceries. i finally looked into it and thought i'd give it a try.

boy am i GLAD!!!

just over the last 3 weeks that i've been doing it, i've averaged about 55-60% savings on groceries. that includes food, toiletries, and other household items.

before i get into it, lemme tell you what i was doing before:

first: shopping at walmart. ugh.

then: circling items in competitor's ads (kroger, albertson's, tom thumb) that might be cheaper than walmart, then having the cashier match the price. which helped but was frustrating at checkout.

NOW: the website i go to gives me lists of grocery stores with which items are on sale, not just cheaper than regular price, but ROCK BOTTOM sales, and which coupon to put with it. it really is insane to see how much can be saved by doing this. for example, today i paid $8.75 for $25 worth of groceries, and i've done even better than that on other trips (i just don't remember the exact figure).

so, whether you're a stay at home mom or work outside the home, this will really cut down on your food spending! i don't want to make this sound like a sales pitch, but if i didn't think it was awesome, i wouldn't be blogging about it! i only wish i had been doing this a long time ago.

basically the idea is to stock up on stuff that 1. is on sale, and 2. has a coupon to make the price even cheaper. it will take you a couple months to build up a stockpile and in the meantime the only other shopping you will do is for stuff that you need right now. pretty soon you won't even have to do that, everything you buy will be cheap and you'll always have what you need.

ok, so what's the website? www.thegrocerygame.com. they offer a $1 trial for 4 weeks, and after that it's $10 every 8 weeks. i figured hey, it's only a buck to see if this will work, if it doesn't, i only lost a buck. and i already know i'm gonna stick with it!

if you're wondering why you can't just do all of this by yourself, basically here's the answer (to quote the grocery game):


"It saves you all that time standing in the aisles sifting through coupons, figuring out which items match up with which coupons, calculating whether the store brand is cheaper than a name brand with a coupon, etc. Even coupon pros find they save hours and money with the list. That’s because the grocery game creators have extensive databases and spend 16 to 22 hours a week researching advertised and unadvertised sales. They also track sales cycles to determine the best time to redeem coupons for maximum savings! The list tells you about UN-advertised sales as well as advertised sales. So all the standing in the aisles, after you have done your time consuming job at home with the ads, is eliminated. PLUS, they also track categorical sales trends, which are cycling through and affecting the sales cycles. They also track which sales are the "best" sales, telling you when to use your coupon for the most savings. There are many more sales in your store than they could possibly list in the sales ad, so if you rely only on the sales ads to help you make your shopping decisions, you will waste a LOT of money. The grocery game databases indicate whether we should wait, and whether the coupon will still be good once the "Rock Bottom Sale" cycles back through."


furthermore, i never used to clip coupons because i could never find enough coupons to save as much as i would have to pay for the paper, but now apparently more of the items i use have started making coupons because just this past week i clipped about $50 of coupons for stuff i know i would be buying anyway! not bad for a $2 sunday paper!

ok, so enough about that. i'm now obsessed with coupons and i'm okay with it. ask riley, it's all i've been talking about lately and he's so proud of me for saving us all this money! this is especially helpful since we're about to have another mouth to feed! and for all you stay at home moms who feel bad for not making an income, this is like a part time job! you spend a couple hours a week clipping coupons, making your list(s) and going to the store(s), and you've saved your family beaucoup bucks!

ooh, one more thing. when you sign up (just try it and see!) please put my email address as a reference (it gives me free weeks!)

again, www.thegrocerygame.com. go check it out now!!!