How to Shop and Save Money at the Grocery Store

This is the first post in my new series entitled “Teach a (Wo)Man How to Fish…..” In case you missed the introduction, this series is based on the Chinese Proverb: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.”  So, rather than just finding fish (deals, freebies, coupons, etc.) for you, I’m going to be teaching you HOW to find them yourself!

The first thing I want to teach you is how to find deals at the grocery store.  I post coupon match-ups for a few stores, but I can’t possibly post every single store’s deals and coupon match-ups.  So, I’m going to show you how to match-up the coupons and deals for yourself!

Know Your Store’s Coupon Policy

Before you even start making your list, you need to know your store’s coupon policy.  Call and find out if they double or triple coupons, up to what value do they double/triple (i.e. double coupons up to 50¢), and how many of each coupon will they double (some stores will only double the first 3 of each “like” coupon).  You can also ask if they accept printable coupons, if they accept expired coupons, if they accept competitor coupons, and if will they allow you to use both a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on a single item.

Read the Sales Flier

When you get your grocery store sales ad, take a look at the front page.  Most items on the front page are what store’s call “loss leaders”.  Loss leaders are items that are priced so low that the store may actually be losing money on them.  How can they do this?  They count on you buying other items once they’ve lured you into the store with the great deals!  Also, browse through the ad and look for sale items that look to be at great prices, along with any special promotions.  Beware of “false sales” though – just because it’s in the ad doesn’t mean it’s actually on sale!  I’ve seen canned vegetables listed in the ad “on sale” for $1 each – when they are regularly priced 99¢ each!

Pick Out the Good Deals

Now, I know it’s hard to know if it’s a good deal or not, but you have to figure out what YOUR best prices are.  Some people suggest making a price book.  The idea is to keep track of prices for the things you buy regularly so you know what is a good deal.  I personally have never done it because I think it’s too much work. I kind of just keep track in my head, but writing it all down is probably a good idea.  After couponing for a while, you will start to remember that chicken breast regularly goes on sale for $1.99/lb, and $1.49/lb is about as low as it goes in your area.  Therefore, $1.99/lb is your “buy price” (buy it at this price if you need it), and $1.49 is your “stock-up price” (buy several pounds to last  until it goes on sale again).  These prices will fluctuate depending on the economy and the season of the year.

I know that finding the lowest price might be where it gets tricky for some people.  Do you ever wonder ” should I pay 49¢ for oatmeal now (since that is a great price!), or should I hang on to my coupon in case I can get it free in a week or two?”  I actually wonder the same thing myself occasionally {gasp!}.  This is where you begin thinking about the “game”.  The object of the game is to get the lowest price possible.  Only, it is impossible to lose at this game! Yay!  Whether you save 10% or 100%, you are still saving your family money!!  Trust me, it is not the end of the world to buy 10 boxes of oatmeal at 49¢ each, and then see that if you had waited one more week you could have gotten it for free.  Sure, you could have saved an extra $4.90, but what if it hadn’t gone on sale the next week?  And then your coupon expired? And then you ran out of oatmeal and had to pay $4.90 for just 2 boxes?  See what I’m getting at?

Match-Up Your Coupons

After you’ve looked over your ad, you need to see if you can find any coupons to match-up with the sales.  This is where the coupon database comes into play.  Just go to the Couponing101.com Coupon Database and type in the name of the product.  If you are looking for Quaker Oatmeal coupons, just type in “quaker” or “quaker oatmeal” or even just “oatmeal” and click on “search”.  This will list all the coupons available right then for Quaker Oatmeal.  You then look for the highest value coupon (check your coupon stash to make sure you have the coupon), calculate how much the product would be after the coupon, and determine if it’s at your “buy” or “stock up” price.

Make Your List

Always, always, always make a list.  This will save you so much money!  Write down (or type in a word doc) the item you’re buying, how many you’re buying, the coupon you’re using, and the final price after coupon.  Then, add in any items you plan on purchasing in addition to the sale items (bread, milk, produce, etc.).  Add up the prices of everything on your list (estimate for those that you don’t know the price) and jot down your estimated total.  I also like to add up the number of coupons I plan on using and adjust the number accordingly as I shop.  That way, after checking out, I can compare the number of coupons on my receipt to the number on my list to make sure they match.  If they don’t, it’s usually pretty easy to determine which coupon was overlooked and get it taken care of at customer service.

There you have it!  It’s pretty simple, isn’t it?  If you can’t find a website to do all the deal-finding and coupon-matching for you, this guide should help you to be able to do it on your own!