Want to know the best way to be successful at the grocery store? I use to think that it was all about making a list, then sticking to it. Wrong. That's not it at all. It certainly helps though. And it is a minor part of overall shopping success.
The key to financial success at the grocery store is...
Knowing the full price or average price of products. Really.
Do you know the average price for a pound of ground beef? What about a gallon of milk? A can of corn? What about a pound of broccoli, or a pound of apples? Do you know the best time of year to buy grapes? Do you know which months your local stores offer Case Lot Sales?
I never knew the answer to any of those, and I really didn't care. I would make a list, go shopping, and pick up those items without even looking at the price tag. Sound familiar?
So here it is, the ultimate way to be successful at the grocery store:
1. Browse your favorite store's weekly ad.
2. Make a weekly meal plan based only on items on sale. (This is an immediate 35-40% savings). You will soon learn the sale prices and regular prices for most items if you do this every week.
3. Make your grocery list.
4. Shop.
We add an extra step in between 3 and 4...Look for coupons for the items on your list (this usually saves another 10-25% depending on how much you buy and how many coupons you have). Most people think this is time consuming. No. Way. Just go to www.couponmom.com and use their "coupon database." We also love using www.gurusdeals.com which keeps a list of all sale items and available coupons for Utah grocery stores.
If anyone has any other grocery shopping tips we'd love to hear them.
utahdealdiva.com is also great and on my blog (jasonandsarahunter.blogspot.com) there is a link to grocery smarts which is awesome too. Another great tip...multiple papers. I get 5 each sunday. And I get tons of free stuff at walmart by using coupons on travel size items. My favorite store to shop at is smiths. I always save 50-70% when I shop. Isn't couponing fun! I used to teach classes and loved it! P.S. I always love reading your blog, thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, thanks Sara! I just started getting two papers, and my mom always hands off her coupons to me. Yeah, couponing kind of gives me a high...it's fun, but so weird! Thanks for reading. You're helping me stay on track!
ReplyDeleteI use savvyshopper to plan my grocery lists, I like her rankings and coupon match-ups with sales. Good job! Couponing is great but you do have to be smart, figure out what works for you and kep learning and balancing so you don't burn out :) my couponing has ebbed and flowed over the last couple years but once u do it itd be hard not to do it to at least some level!
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