The Grocery Game
Posted on January 17th, 2008 – 6:57 PMBy Kara McGuire
I fancy myself a hell of a dealfinder when it comes to groceries. I scour sales, carry a load of coupons with me everywhere I go and try to mix and match offers in order to maximize savings.
So when a reader of the blog mentioned the Grocery Game, which claims to help you save insane sums of money on your groceries, I joined. It’s a $1 per week trial period. After that it’s $10 per 8 week period for one store and $20 for three stores (only Walgreens, CVS and Cub in our area participate).
In my two weeks of using the game for Cub Foods, I must admit I’ve not been impressed. Part of the issue is that I realized I’m picky. I don’t want to buy a bunch of processed crud just because it’s on sale. I’m also already fairly organized and haven’t found a deal I couldn’t find myself with a quick run through the circulars and paying attention to signs in stores.
My other issue is that in order to get good deals you sometimes need to cherry pick, not stick with one store. For instance, I received free bacon and eggs yesterday from Lunds after spending $25 on other stuff (one might argue the prices were higher on the other items so I paid for my free stuff in elevated prices, but I carefully chose my groceries). Then today, I ran to Rainbow and purchased 6 boxes of cereal for $11.75 ($22.50-$10.00-$0.75 coupon)and then received two $3.75 off a gallon of milk coupons.
Add that to my free dog treats coupon and my buy one get one free candy bar that turned into two free candy bars because the store also had a bogo deal and I am feeling pretty darn smug (although I forgot the hummus).
So has my grocery game subscription saved me $2? Not yet, but I’ll give it another couple of weeks before I pull the plug.
How do you reduce spending at the grocery store? I’d also be curious to learn how much you spend per month on food and on eating out and your family size. For us, it’s about $100 per week plus about $25 per week for our meat CSA (we pick up meat from a farmer once a month) and no more than $75 per month on eating out (it’s been less as of late).
16 Responses to "The Grocery Game"
We have a tendency to be penny-wise and pound foolish when it comes to food: coupon shopping and buying in bulk … then using those savings to justify take-out or delivery dinners about once a week.
That said, the 7 cubic foot chest freezer in the basement is a great way to ensure we make the most of deals on items that can be frozen, particularly meat.
And we do our best to buy several items (milk, OJ, eggs, ground beef, coffee, TP, paper towels, dish detergent, vitamins) at Sam’s Club. For our family of three, the paper products alone pay for our annual membership.
We do about two major trips a month, but before we go to the store, we plan out dinner menus for about 10 days and add then add pizzas and pasta along with that. There are 4 kids (10 being the youngest and 17 the oldest) and two adults.
I don’t use that many coupons because a lot of them are for processed foods that we don’t eat. I cook alot from scratch. I will shop the ads, but will only shop at one store for my big trip. I feel that the time I have is valuable and to save an additional 10$ or so by buying certain things at another store is not worth it.
We spend about 250-325$ during the big trips (2x month) and another 100$ at the local store where we get organic milk in returnable bottles.
We have bought beef from the local farmer and are saving up for another side(500$). I have 4 chickens left in the freezer that I had raised and I am seriously thinking about raising chickens again(I need partners for the butchering). We get eggs from our remaining chickens and this helps stretch out the food.
Eating out- I work fulltime in MPLS and will eat out about 1 or 2x week. My husband will eat out about 1x week. Because of the size of the family, we do not eat out as a family but will treat one or two during the month. Husband and I go out about 1x every other month. Total about $150.
For us it runs about $100-$125/week, eating out about $80/month. I’m unusual in that I make small trips to the store about 3-4X/week but I work near a Cub so it’s convenient. We also avoid the processed stuff and I’m sure that saves a bit of coin. Coupons are frustrating because they’re often for stuff we don’t want (buy 5 lbs. of grapes and get the 6th free!) and there’s definitely a Sam’s Club in our future.
Henry says hi!
It’s just 3 of us, but one is only 8 months old! So really just 2 of us. I clip coupons, but really only on things I know I will use. Ice cream, paper products, cleaning products, pop, etc. And I won’t buy something just because I have a coupon. We probably average about $75 a week, but eat out lunch several times a week, plus dinner probably at least once too.
When I cook, if it’s something that will freeze, I will make enough to freeze half. That’s probably the best tip I have, because it saves us from eating out more often later!
Shop at Trader Joe’s… We get most of what we need there and whatever we do not get there, we get at Costco or Cub. We manage to stay within our $100 a week budget for 2 adults and a 21 month old!
We shop Trader Joe’s/Byerly’s and then make a Cub run every month or so. There are few, if any, coupons for the things we buy as we either make from scratch or by store brands. We save by making lists, stocking up, using Costco, etc. 4 month rolling average - 4 people = $420/month Groceries and $325 Eating Out. I would like to be at the $75 for eating out - does that include all lunches during the week, etc?
My husband pointed something out as he read our food spending- We spend about 100-150$ a month on school lunch money.
My food spending includes breakfasts lunches and dinners. I did go shopping this morning at Cub, spent $330 after saving $19 on coupons but did not include milk.
The menu shopping will last about three weeks. I will be making small trips for fresh fruit and veggies.
The time spent was 4 1/2 hours, from planning the meals, to cutting coupons, to shopping and then putting away groceries.
What a way to spend a Saturday….
By the way, no Trader Joe’s(sigh), Costco or Sam’s Club up in our neighborhood and I am not about to drive 45 minutes or more to get to one.
Family of 4. We used to shop mostly at Cub, but learning from other people Cub’s prices are way too high sometimes. We now try to shop at Aldi Foods - they are like the Wal-Mart of groceries.
Their prices are rock bottom. They have minimal staffing. Rent-a-cart [put in a quarter to get a cart & afterwards bring it back to get your 25 cents]. No credit card allowed [because of the fees the card company charges], just cash, food stamps, other gov’t aid.
There’s almost no advertising, prices are plainly labeled, items are on pallets. Anyways stop by one; it’ll really change your perspectives on economic status too.
Shop at Aldis! A bag of oranges is $2 or less, at Cub and Rainbow it is $4-$5 for a bag of oranges. You can most of your staples at Aldis and then get the rest at your normal grocery store. If I spend $20 at Aldis, it would be $35 total at Cub.
The other way to save money is to become a vegetarian and forget about freezing all that meat.
I shop mostly at Cub but Target has been getting my attention a lot lately. A lot of their Market Pantry store brands are incredibly cheap and I find them comparable on most everything else.
I completely avoid Kowalski’s, Byerly’s, Lund’s, etc because those stores are so ridiculously over-priced that it becomes impossible to “save” money by shopping at them. It also helps that I don’t need my grocery store to have carpeted aisles or pretty signs.
We moved to Texas last year, I’m still amazed at the number of grocery stores within a short drive. We pay for the Grocery Game service. Our Tom Thumb receipts typically show 48% to 70% savings. Most of what we buy is on the perimeter of the store (fruits, veggies, meats, dairy). We’ll splurge occasionally at Central Market, which also happens to be the cheapest organic milk in town (4.99/gallon). We also found Sprouts great for cheap produce, much locally grown.
If you’re spending 5$ on a gallon of milk you really aren’t doing much as far as saving money.
We’re doing well enough saving elsewhere that I think we can afford the luxury of organic milk (I think it tastes better than non, and yes I tested and been able to tell the difference). And Central Market sells it a good buck or so less than anywhere else.
We have a family of 5 (2 teens 16, 17) a 3 yr old who has a diary intolerance, and 2 adults. We have a monthly menu and each week we buy what we need off the menu. I think on average we go through 5 gallons of milk a week. I use coupons, print coupons off target.com and only buy what we need for the week off the menu. No chips, no candy etc. I buy a meat package at the butcher. I get a breakfast pack (sausage, bacon, ham) and that lasts for about 5 months. There are no Sam’s Club, Cub or Rainbow near me ( I live in Northern MN)We cannot really eat out much as a family since the 3 yr old gets sick from consuming something he shouldn’t…Way too many dairy products in pre cooked and processed foods. I am not a fan of fast food that much anyway. I do try to plan balanced meals and we eat the leftovers (if there are any) for lunches. Overall, I think we spend about 130-150 a week using a preplanned menu and coupons.
I’ve recently converted to the menu-planning methods and am loving it. We are less likely to eat out because I know what we’re having and have it mostly made by the time husband arrives home from work. (Yes, our schedules dictate that I’m the planner, shopper and cook. He’s the cleaner… fair trade!) 2 adults at home. I menu plan and shop once a week. Driving factors for me to change to this method were: (a) sick of buying too much produce and it going bad, (b) I was attacked in a grocery store parking lot a year ago at 10:15pm on a Monday night - now I shop in the daylight. (c) I save time and money during the week by not having to stop at the store and subject myself to impulse buys. (d) On my weekly trip, I look for the meat that is on sale, pop it in the freezer and plan the next week’s menu around using it.
Benefits: (a) Often schedule meals to use leftovers - for instance, I cook a lot of chicken on Monday and use said chicken to enchiladas on Tuesday. (b) We pack lunches for work, and they’ve never been better! (c) I love to spend a larger amount of time on weekends cooking and freezing meals to use later in the week/month.
I will admit that I am a fan of Kowalski’s because it is so close and I like the quality…. and willing to go there (and spend$$$) if I have to make an evening run, due to the fact that they walk you to your car and my safety concerns after said incident (above). I get specialty items there and go to Target or Cub for the basics. Average of $100 per week. Includes all meals, except eating out 2x per week.
-No meat! Except occasional deli turkey. All the meat at Rainbow is from sad animals. Only eat meat when it’s from happy, fat animals (usually at restaurants, like the Bryant Lake Bowl). Eat bacon when boyfriend buys it. Eat black beans, pintos, tofu, make your own mock duck!
-Shop at Shuang Hur (tofu = $.89), Marissa’s Supermercado (stack of tortillas bigger than your head = $1.00), and other fine “ethnic” groceries in town. You’ll be supporting independent business, getting to know the neighborhoods, expanding your bland middle-america diet, and eating more fiber.
-Make a huge pot of delicious pinto beans on weekends. And bread. Freeze both. Eat later with polenta, spices, salsa, cheese, spinach whatever.
-Get boring basics in bulk at Rainbow, Cub, etc., (oatmeal, rice, produce) then go to Bill’s Imported foods and buy a fancy condiment or wonderful piece of feta for $3-$4. This will keep things exciting. One time the lady at Bill’s gave me a free piece of Baklava.
