The Grocery Game

I get weekly e-mails from Mary Hunt, the debt-proof living guru, and she recently sang the praises of Teri, owner of TheGroceryGame.com. I respect Mary's opinions and tips, so I decided to check it out.

So far, I am excited about it.

So, what is The Grocery Game? I'm so glad you asked.

It is a website that compares your weekly circulars (that everyone gets, even if you don't subscribe to the paper) with your coupons (that you get in the Sunday, sometimes Saturday, paper) and tells you the best times to buy foods, toiletry items, etc.

If you're like me, you already look at the circulars and base your weekly menu off of the meats and such that are on sale. I don't do coupons because I always forget to buy a paper or the coupons are mostly for name brand items and I rarely buy name brand items.

But, with TGG, they have a database of when certain items will go on sale and they let you know the *best* time to buy items to get the most for your money.

For example, you might have a coupon for $1 off of 3 boxes of General Mills cereals, but you will get the best price if you wait to use it until General Mills cereals are at their lowest sale price. So, the staff at TheGroceryGame.com keeps track of when General Mills cereals are on sale and they list out the sale price, which coupon you use, the final price and the percentage you save.

I usually only shop once every 2 weeks so I'm not tempted to buy more than I need... But, TGG recommends that you shop weekly so you can get the best deals. So, I went ahead and did some shopping today. The plan is that you buy the items you know you will use (evaporated milk, diced tomatoes, milk, etc) when they are the cheapest and then when you need them, you "shop" in your pantry instead of at the store.

Here are some of my great deals from today:

Garnier Fructis Shampoo/Conditioner/Styling Products (I got shampoo, conditioner and hairspray) - originally $3.19 - sale price $2.47 at Kroger - coupon for $1.00 off. Final price - $1.47

Herbal Essences Shampoo/Conditioner - orignally $3.99 - sale price 3/$10 - coupon $3.00 off when you buy 2. Final Price - $1.84 each, had to buy 2.

Progresso Soup - originally $2.69 each - sale price 10/$10 at Albertson's - coupon for .50 off when you buy 2. Final Price - .75 each, had to buy 2.

Totino's Pizza Rolls - originally $1.99 - sale price 10/$10 at Albertson's - coupon .35 off. Final price - .65

I only went to Wal-Mart since they price-match anything that isn't Buy One, Get One Free or a percentage off. Sometimes I"ll have to go to Albertson's or Kroger, etc due to a store coupon, verses a generic coupon. But, I'm planning on avoiding that as much as possible.

All in all, my total would have been $43.02, but I only spent $18.52, saving $24.50. Not bad! And, I got name-brand shampoos/conditioners at almost Suave prices. :-)

There's a $1 for 4 weeks trial period and after that, it's $10 for 8 weeks. That gives you the sales for 1 store. I chose to do Altertson's, Kroger, CVS pharmacy and Walgreens. I'll see if I actually use CVS or Walgreens and, if not, I can easily drop them. It's $5 per store, every 8 weeks, for each store over the original $10 one. Does that make sense? So, if I have 4 stores, I pay $10 for the first and $15 for the other three, bringing my total to $25 for 8 weeks or $3.13 a week. Not bad!

I've already almost saved my $25 just this week! I have 7 more weeks to see what I can save.

I'm not recommending it yet because I haven't done a "real" shopping trip. But, I'll see how it goes next week when I make my regularly scheduled trip.

If you decide to check it out, let me know what you think!