The Grocery Game Bonanza

As some of you may know from one of my previous entries I play The Grocery Game and yesterday was GG nirvana! First of all the coupons were amazing! There were 5 circulars alone in my paper and the sales were nuts! I bought 5 papers (the Walgreens in my area sells the sunday paper for 88 cents) plus the one I have delivered, so I was cutting and sorting coupons for hours. My girlfriend bought 10 papers, I heard of some who bought 20. Here is a little background on my budget and how I make this work so you don't have to read this again if you already have.

On to the good stuff; my receipts. Yup, I'm going to post them and what I bought. Here is what I DIDN'T buy and why: meat, cereal and diapers. I didn't buy meat because my freezer is full. I hit Sam's last week when they were having a crazy sale and stocked up on chicken for $1.88 a pound, pork chops for around $2 and I still have ground beef from a Bloom sale that was $.99 pound. I still have cereal and I don't pay more than around $2 a box for it--usually less. I don't buy sugary cereals either so it tends to be harder to get. And as far as diapers go, I'm going to Costco later today, they are having a great sale with a coupon and I plan to stock up there.















This is my BiLo receipt and totals. The idea is to stock up when the deals are this good.

I bought:
6 bottles of Wishbone salad dressing
4 cans of campbells cream of chicken soup
6 jars of Jiff peanut butter
6 Softsoap liquid soap
1 bottle of Infusium shampoo (19 cents!)















This is my CVS receipt and my purchases.

One Touch blood glucose monitor (free)
2 Libriderm lotion
2 Boost 6 pack
2 Glade Diffuser Twinpack
2 Centrum Multi w/ Caltrate
2 All Small and Mighty Detergent
20 pack Cottonelle bath tissue

I also got $26 in ECB for my next visit there. My receipt was taller than me!

















This is Publix, where I do most of my shopping because I just like the store. The food is good, and I like the store, the pharmacy and the people there.

Here is what I purchased:

2 Kelloggs Pop Tarts
Pampers Wipes
Milk
2 Totinos Pizza Rolls
2 Publix graham crackers
2 Flinstones Multi Vit
4 4-Pack Campbells Tomato Soup (ended up being .30 can)
2 Land O Lakes Butter
2 Aleve 50 count tablets
30 count Claritin
2 barillia Ziti
2 Barilla Angel Hair
2 Barilla Spaghetti
10 Danon yogurt (.30 each)
bread
6 cans Progresso soup (.75 each)
Northland cranberry juice
2 Kraft Macaroni Dinner
Lea and Perrins worcestershire sauce
2 Athenos Hummus
apples
bananas
Publix frosted flakes ( 1 cent item)


That's a lot isn't it? I rarely buy meat there since Bloom, Ingles and Sam's have such spectacular meat deals and I just stock up there. So, if you are interested in cutting you grocery bill by 45 to 50% as I have without having to sacrifice what you eat, check out The Grocery Game. Make sure you put me down as a referral too (bethwietrzykowski@gmail.com)! Whenever you refer someone, you get a month free so be sure to do the same once you sign up.

The Grocery Game Part Two

Here are some answers to your questions.

When you start gaming, as they call it, you will spend the same amount the first 4 to 6 weeks. The reason is even though you are getting that box of Cheerios for $2.25 you will buy 3 or 4 boxes to stock up. That is the crucial part--you are stocking up. You will do this for the first month to month and a half then you will do what the gamers call cherry picking.

It is funny, when you first get your list you are so excited. I remember coming in the door and telling my husband how much I spent and bringing in bags and bags of groceries. Then you hit week 8 and are kind of let down because you are only getting 9 or 10 things. The thrill of the hunt is kind of out of it. You have to deal, but you are saving tons of money.

I've compiled a list of tips to help you get started:

Cut ALL your coupons. Not just the ones you think you are going to use. The first couple weeks I only cut the coupons I thought I was going to use. Guess what? I could have gotten Hungry Jack boxed potatoes for FREE. Would I normally buy them? No. But free, I'll take and work them into a casserole any day of the week. I could have gotten glucose monitors free, razors free, cat food free and Cover Girl makeup free. Another reason is to trade. I never use Tide--I'm allergic. I also never use cat coupons, certain restaurant and others. Know what I get in return? Diaper coupons, stain fighters, yogurt, granola bars. All things we go through tons of in my house. What you do is get on a train once you join the Grocery Game. You and several others will trade coupons to your heart's content.

Shop alone. Seriously. All the saving money gurus tell you to and they aren't joking. You can't concentrate on what you are doing with munchkins. Sunday got away from me so I went Monday with my 1 year old. For some reason, I thought I could manage him, coupons and a cup of coffee. "Clean up on aisle 1!" That was me spilling my coffee. Again. Usually I go on Sunday morning and leave the kids at home with Daddy. I spend about an hour to an hour and a half cutting and organizing my coupons, getting my list ready then I'm out the door. I hit 3 stores which are all within the same block and I'm home.

Get organized. Nothing and I mean nothing will piss you off more than knowing you have a coupon for Tropicana OJ that will get you a carton for .69 and not being able to find the coupon. It'll happen. About 3 or 4 weeks into this you will have 200 to 300 coupons to manage. Yup you saw that right, 200 to 300. Some do the accordion file, some do individual envelopes. I have a 3 ring binder with trading card sleeves and use it. It is a life saver. My clipping, organizing and shopping go much quicker now.

So, you may ask, what are you doing with 12 Gillette Fusion razors and 6 glucose monitors and all that makeup that you didn't pay for? Easy. I sell it on ebay and pay for my Grocery Game fees. Not everyone knows you don't have to pay for these items, you know.

The Grocery Game

Some of my friends have heard me talk about it and how I have saved a lot of money on my groceries by doing this. Here is a bit of back ground first. The Grocery Game is on online service that links up your coupons with sales run in your area. The idea is that sales run in 12 week cycles. There is the regular price, the sale price then what they call the rock bottom price. The Grocery Game then matches up coupons with the rock bottom price to get you the best deals. You then stock up for (ideally) 12 weeks then go on your merry way.

I know it sounds too good to be true. Usually when something sounds too good to be true it is. Here is my story. I have $800 a month for "house items". This includes, groceries, clothes for me and the kids ( boys ages 4 and 1), hair cuts, school and sports supplies, lunches out, playdates, birthday gifts, my clothes, my haircuts, craft supplies, shoes, coffee and other odds and end. Usually I barely managed to do just groceries on the $800 and half the time didn't even manage that. It wasn't that I was spendy. I clipped coupons, poured over sales fliers and did all that. I just wasn't doing that well at it. Now, I average about $450 to $500 a month at the store. That leaves me with $300 for clothes, hair cuts, shoes, crafts and the like. I wasn't able to do that before. EVER.

I went to Publix this morning after dropping the munchkin off at school and here is what I bought:

milk
2 engergy saving lightbulbs
2 instant Quaker oatmeal
Kosher Salt
2 Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Coctail
2 Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner (the big box)
2 Publix Graham Crackers
2 Dole Romaine Blend salad
2 Pillsbury Grand Biscuit
Tropicana OJ
Imported baby swiss (from the deli)
bananas
Yukon potato
Goya coconut milk
Publix peanut butter
Billy Bee Honey
Onion
Carrots
apples
Publix napkins

Shelf price:97.44
Out of pocket: 57.63

You can look at this and say, well, you didn't buy paper towels, toiled paper, cereal, meat, soup, etc. That's right, I didn't. I didn't because I have 4 packages of paper towels in my garage that I paid less than $4 for. I have I also have toilet paper that I paid less than $4 a 24 pack for. I have about 6 boxes of cereal all obtained for less than $2.25, many soup cans all less than .50. I have a freezer full of meat from a Bloom sale a few weeks ago where they had chicken at $1.49 a pound and ground beef less than a dollar pound.I have a chuck roast obtained for just over $2 a pound and pork chops around $2 a pound. I will go to the grocery store probably Thursday for more milk and fruit then not again till the weekend.

Here is what I DON'T pay for: toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and razors.

Here is my CVS receipt:

4 cases of coke
insulated lunch box
gilette fusion razor
2 stayfree pads
carefree pad
newspaper
mary englebreight magazine
covergirl foundation
covergirl powder

Shelf Price: 75.19
Out of pocket: 19.45

You can sign up for a month's worth for $1 at The Grocery Game. I am saving money like a fiend. There is a referral program. Be sure to give them my email (bethwietrzykowski@gmail.com) and if you sign anyone up do the same. You will get a month for free. As of now, I pay $20 every 2 months and it is worth every penny.