I used to always just shop at Walmart (or Winco in Oregon) since they always had the lowest prices, right? Well, maybe. I've recently started doing a program called Grocery Smarts (if you live in Utah go to grocerysmarts.com and enter passport "g84csg") which lists all the stores sales plus where to get coupons for great deals. It's been fun and now I'm paying more attention to sales and getting 4 newpapers worth of coupons every week. I got free deodorant, toothpaste and eggs so far. I got 10 boxes of Quaker Instant Oatmeal for $5. I never pay more than $2/lb. for meat or $1.25 for a box of cereal. So I'm getting some good deals. But it also comes at a cost. I usually go to 2-3 stores in a week and figuring out my list and coupons takes some time. The most frustrating is when the store is out of something or I don't read the coupon right. But I'm finally staying close to my $100 a week budget (for household items and diapers too) and building up food storage (slowly).
Sometimes deals aren't always deals. The website lists stars to help you find the best deals, but once I stocked up on some frozen peas for $1, only to go Walmart and find the regular price was $.96. Bummer. Today I tried get a deal on pull-ups only to find the packs on sale that I had coupons for had about half the normal amount I buy. So it wasn't the deal I thought it was, but maybe I got better quality. We'll see.
Anyway, here's a few tips I learned that anyone can use to try to save a few bucks at the grocery store:
1. Look at the beer displays for rebate coupons and deals on meat or pizza (some states, like Utah, don't require a beer purchase).
2. To get the best deals, use store sales (Albertson's has great ones) plus coupons.
3. When something's a great deal, stock up!
4. Buy the "Quick Sale" or Manager's Special meats.
5. Browse the ads anyway--Walmart does price matching.
6. Riteaid has a rebate program and you can get deals and free items too.
6 comments:
So are you loving it? I am having some difficulty with it too. But I am deffinatly stocking up. It really isnt saving me a ton right now, but I guess in a way it is since it is stocking up my food storage. Yea those free eggs, I totally didnt see that one. I get home from my shopping trip, spent $52.00 and Brandon says did you get your free eggs. AHHHHH! I need another set of eyes. But it is fun to see what other people have found. I really only go to Albertsons, and then try to match everything else at WAlmart. How did your party go?
I have been wondering how it was going for you. Things aren't going too bad with me. Lately, I haven't seen a ton, but I did get 8 bags of those steam frozen veges last week for Free.
Sorry i missed your party....I will totally check it out....
That's good you've found an easier way to do it. I don't know what I'd do without Winco. Every now and then I try out coupons, but unless it is on something like pizza I'm too lazy. Too bad they don't have Food 4 Less there anymore. Walmart isn't too bad, but the prices still kill me when I visit my parents there. That and the sales tax...
Hey Tara! your family is so cute. I love looking in on your blog every once in awhile. It's so fun to see what all my old friends and roomies are up to.
I came across this blog the other day and I thought you might like it! She explains a lot of things about couponing, sales, etc. http://frugalisfab.blogspot.com/
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