Re Groceries: Dumpster diving isn't my thing. But THIS - this I can do.

[FlyingSquirrel]

(My apologies if this has been posted before - I'd actually be pretty surprised if it hasn't, DU is pretty good about bringing this kind of info to people's attention)

I found this while reading a front-page Sunday article in my local paper -

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080615/NEWS01/198576393&news01ad=1#Gas.grocery.prices.drive.cost.of.living.up

For a little over $5 a month, TheGroceryGame.com will help you win the game that the grocery stores play and you usually lose. It will help you know when an item is at the lowest price it's probably going to be - allowing you to stock up on it at the right time.

It does take a bit of commitment - you will need to keep a coupon file, but they do have coupons online also that you can print up. And it'll take about 12 weeks of buying stuff you don't necessarily need at the time you buy it before you're in the groove. However, you don't have to stockpile more than you can afford to buy - the decisions on how much of the on-sale stuff to get is up to you, after all you'll be the one going to the store. Since you'll be paying less for stuff you usually buy anyway, you'll have some extra to slowly build up your stockpile.

It's not for everyone, I'm sure. But it makes perfect sense to me especially in these somewhat uncertain times because it gives you the added bonus of building up a supply of food and supplies in case of some catastrophe.

NGU

[midnight]

1. I have to admit this is a bit confusing to me. I'm going to save it

and navigate through it again. Hopefully I can save some money. Thanks.

[Marrah_G]

14. You can try it for free for a month

The best thing to do is pick one evening to sit down and really plan out your shopping. Also make sure you get the Sunday paper each week. You can significantly stretch your food budget this way. Grocery game is just a tool that makes the process a little easier.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

2. Bottom line= send them money. Sorry, I don't buy it.

nt

[FlyingSquirrel]

9. Your skepticism is healthy.

I'm gonna do the 4-week trial, maybe I'll report back to ya.

[ConsAreLiars]

3. What a slimy scam.

It's like buying free passes to heaven by sending money to con artists. If you want free (not "send me money") coupons just do a search for "free coupons." If you want to buy in bulk get a $50 yearly Costco membership and buy there. Don't fall for that crap. Anything that says "first, send me money and then you'll get rich or be otherwise benefited" is a scam. Any ad you see is a lie designed to benefit the advertiser, not you.

(edit typo)

[FlyingSquirrel]

7. I do have a Costco membership actually. I don't think this is a scam though.

It's not all that convenient for me to go to Costco, and I never seem to be able to stock up well because I often would have to buy such a large quantity of one thing that I couldn't afford to do it and still get the other things I need. I'm certainly not gonna stop shopping there though, I use Costco for a lot of things on an ongoing basis.

I don't believe this shopping thing is a scam - a poster below has been using it since its inception. Anyway I'm gonna try the 4-week trial and see how it goes.

[Marrah_G]

13. It's cheap and you can try it for free

I use it and it helps me plan my shopping and save signifigant amounts of money.

[melody]

4. This is an excellent resource I've used since its inception

It helps me coordinate high value coupons with loss leader sales at big supermarkets that double (or that have big sales). I get free and very cheap stuff all the time by doing this.

I recommend it highly.

[LeftyMom]

5. You can do this for free yourself.

Just watch your local stores' sales and either keep track mentally if you've got a good head for details or in a little notebook if you don't.

The Coupon Game usually only covers one store per area (and if you want info on more than one store it costs more money) and you'll save more by watching the ads of all of your local grocers- you'll notice that some have better sales than others for different categories. For example, here they only cover Safeway, and they definitely don't have the best sales on most things.

[FlyingSquirrel]

8. Hmmm I get 4 stores in my area.

Safeway, Albertsons, Walgreens and Rite Aid.

But like I said, I'm sure it's not for everyone. It might not even be for me but I'm gonna give it a shot.

I know I can do it for free, but there are some aspects of their system that I can see saving me a lot of time and effort (which might encourage me to stick with it.) Anyway there's a 4-week trial period.

[melody]

20. After doing one hell of a lot of work - and it covers as many stores in an area as you choose

If you run a business, have a family and a life, trust me, it's more than worth the money -- at least it is to me.

[Sherman A1]

6. I looked into it for my area and it's pretty worthless

compares one grocery chain to Walgreens. I think their game is the send me money part........

There are better ways that are free

[Norrin Radd]

10. There is an artisan bakery up the street from me. Every day

they fill a dumpster with bread that they normally sell for $3.00 a loaf -- the loaves are still in their original paper or plastic wrappers, and no garbage is mixed in the dumpster.

[FlyingSquirrel]

11. What's the address? ;-)

[Norrin Radd]

12. If you seriously want to know, I'll PM ya.

[papapi]

16. Why don't they donate it to homeless shelters or something?

Waste not, want not. I mean, how hard would it be to send this to a food bank or homeless shelter?

[Sydnie]

18. They are afraid of law suits so they don't donate anything anymore

Even if the food is perfectly good, they won't donate it for fear that someone will sue them should something happen to it after it leaves their hands.

There is so much waste in the food industry these days. If would surprise you if you knew just how much there really was.

[papapi]

19. It doesn't surprise me. I worked in the grocery business for eight years.

I saw first hand how it goes. Why not just put a disclaimer sticker on every item.

"This product has exceeded it's shelf life for freshness. Manufacturer assumes no responsibility
for consumability. Product is not for sale. Donated to food bank."

I'm no lawyer but surely there's a way. Our local food bank has product for area grocers that has gone off code or is close to code. Just sayin'.

[annabanana]

15. "12 weeks of buying stuff you don't necessarily need " - So this game

is for people who are already 3 months ahead of the game...

[electron_blue]

17. I understand how smart stocking up on things at low prices is, but wondering..

have you kept track of the money saved? Is this a 5%, 10% or even 25% savings off your groceries/supplies bill? What would you estimate?

[melody]

21. If you are an avid coupon user and shop loss leaders ...

You can save 50% to 100%.

[electron_blue]

22. impressive. Do you have an estimate for how many hours/month this would take

on avg? I'm referring to hours above what one would normally spend for shopping - you know, the coupon clipping and whatnot. I'm trying to see what the $/hour would come out to be for me - just as a target.

[melody]

23. It takes me about an hour a day to compile coupon lists, etc.

I once tabulated that I make $50 for every hour I invest -- that is by carefully shopping with coupons and matching them to loss leaders. I must have donated a ton of groceries we couldn't use to foodbanks over the years -- most couponers I know do. I find it
odd there is so much knee-jerk protest in this thread to the concept.

Certainly, I make more in my regular business, but it's also far more taxing and doesn't give me the opportunity to donate to foodbanks as I do.

[electron_blue]

24. I bet some of the knee-jerk comes from experiences many of us have had

with coupons where we spent hours clipping and organizing them, only to either not use many, or buy stuff we didn't really need, but got tempted into buying. When I was mud dirt poor I tried coupons, but they were all for name brands and the generics were still cheaper than the name brands with their coupons, unless it was double off. Plus, how many times have I gotten burned choosing something only to find out at the checkout that the coupon expired - bad organization on my end, but there you go.

Still, $50/hour is a decent return!

[melody]

25. That's why stuff like this particular tool are so valuable

Organization is everything.

If you use one or two coupons at full price, you're not going to save money. It's better to go the Costco route and buy in bulk with others. If you shop loss leader sales and use coupons ambitiously, you'll always save more money (on many things) than doing Costco.