Just call me the grocery bandit!

Oooh I am so excited that Ruth asked me about the Grocery Game! It's one of my favorite things. I seriously look forward to grocery shopping every single week! Before I started doing it, I found it really hard to keep our weekly grocery bill under $80, even if I bought everything generic. So I decided to give GG a try and I haven't stopped. You can sign up for a 4-week trial for $1, and it costs $10 every 8 weeks after that (the cost is minimal compared to what you'll find yourself saving if you stick to it).

Basically, you pick a grocery store near you and you get special access to a list that is published once a week. The list you subscribe to takes care of tracking ALL the store sales, ALL the special store promotions, ALL the available "blinkie" coupons that are set up around the store, and ALL the outstanding manufacturing coupons for your area. All of this information is compiled into an amazing, magical LIST that tells you exactly what the best deals are at your grocery store that week. You find yourself adjusting your purchasing habits by learning to stock up on things when they are super cheap. So during the first few months I did it, my overall spending didn't change much because I was stocking up. It took some getting used to at first - "Why am I buying 10 tubes of toothpaste? I only need one..." - but now that I have a good "stockpile", my weekly grocery spending is a LOT lower because I can pretty much cherry-pick the list.

Since becoming a Grocery Gamer my brand loyalties have changed and so have my perceptions of what's "expensive" at the store. It's now usually cheaper to go with brand names than it used to be to buy generic. For example, I prefer Crest toothpaste but I never pay more than $0.50 per tube. I also don't pay more than about $1.50 per box of cereal, usually less (but always name-brand). I like All Small & Mighty detergent but will not pay more than $2 per bottle. And my freezer is full of about 15 packages of Pillsbury cookie dough that I got for free - yes, free! (Looking back on it, I really should NOT have bought that much cookie dough regardless of the fact that it was free!!!) I also always get Softsoap hand soap for "more than free"; Tom Thumb pays me $0.05 to take it out of the store. That's because it goes on sale for $1.00 and Softsoap always puts out $0.35 coupons, which the store triples, taking $1.05 off my grocery bill. Love it!!!!

So, if you don't mind taking the time to buy papers every week and clip and organize your coupons, there is a TON of money to be saved by Grocery Gaming! Or, there's another site with a similar service offered at no charge (The Coupon Mom). I just prefer the layout and organization of GG, and I think it covers special promotions more thoroughly.