Grocery Game Legistics

Since I've been asked a few questions about the Grocery Game I thought I'd clarify with a few thoughts:

1. You can find it by going here.

2. You can pay $1 to try it out for 4 weeks - I highly recommend this just so you can look around - this does NOT obligate you to pay for any further weeks and canceling is simple.

3. The cost after that is $10 for 8 weeks for the first store and $5 every 8 weeks for each additional store. You can also get referral credit for 12 free weeks by referring 3 people who sign up. Again with the free, I'm there!

4. She does not have every store out there - for some reason Safeway is rarely among the bunch (which is sad because this week I went to Safeway and saved a TON as they were/are having a $1 sale on things I frequently buy - paid $30 on a total of $78 worth of groceries including lots of chicken breasts) - Target is also not on her list nor is Wal-Mart but CVS is and that would be a huge help in playing the "CVS game".

5. The best way to save money is obviously to have a store that doubles and occasionally triples coupons whether or not you go to the Grocery Game to find the deals. Like I said I went to Safeway this week - Yogos and Kellogg's Fruit Snacks were on sale for $1.00 - I knew I had a coupon for those and I did: $1.00 off 2 so I bought 2 for $1.00 - HUGE savings.

6. The second-best way to save money is to have more then one copy of your coupons. For me this means subscribing to 2 papers but I have also found the same coupons in the free papers that keep showing up at my door so I often have 3 and 4 copies of the same coupon which is great when a good deal rolls around.

7. You do not need the Grocery Game to save money if you know how to do it on your own but it does save you time by matching up the coupons to the sales for you. I happened to know I had a Yogos coupon and then had to search through every coupon section I had to find it - she makes it easier by telling you exactly which date the coupon came in the mail.

8. You can try it out for yourself using Terri's method (from her stockpiling chapter excerpt):
Use three markers as you use your list:
- black: need
- blue: stockpile
- green: free

Generally her stockpile items are 50% off or more - her list does this for me so I don't have to do it but it certainly can be done on your own if you wish. The Coupon Mom helps with this as well though her list tends not to be nearly as extensive as the Grocery Game nor does she tell you what to stockpile but basically if it says "Charity" or is a savings over 50% then you know it's a good deal.

9. If you do it on your own I find it easier to cut out the coupons individually rather then leaving them in the paper they came in - more time upfront but less time later. With the Grocery Game you don't have to cut it out until you actually need it but this does require looking through a lot more coupon inserts especially when you have 3 copies of each.

This week Harris Teeter had triple coupons so I got a few extra-good deals but they did seem to have a tad less on sale because of it so I guess it evens out in the end.

Still I saved: $82.95

And spent: $80.67 so 50% off my bill - not bad.



Not pictured: 1 gallon of milk and 3 12 packs of Pepsi - the ham took up a lot of my money this week costing me $17.27 but it was a today only sale and was 50% off the original price - you can bet I'm going to use every last bit!

My best deal this week: Smithfield bacon - normally $4.99 each - this week at HT buy one get one free so down to $2.50 each - then I had a $0.55 coupon which tripled to $1.65 off so the bacon cost me $0.85 - I had 2 coupons so I got 2 packs. I also got free refried beans :)

Also, it may appear that I have stayed well under budget but I did spend $30 last week at Safeway and that's where I got my chicken and some kid snacks. I will also head to Wegman's this week for milk since it's cheaper and I get free stuff (namely eggs this week) for spending $10 or more.

My weekly menu:

Monday: Beef Noodle Bowl
Tuesday: Easy Cheesy BBQ Chicken
Wednesday: Harvest Ham Supper
Thursday: Cream Cheese Chicken with Broccoli
Friday: Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Saturday: Chicken N Peppers Pasta Skillet