Frugal Friday 27: Let the Games Begin

Ok, I’ve told you about how I started subscribing to the Sunday newspaper so that I can join The Grocery Game.  Now that I have 4 weeks of coupons, I signed up for the 1 month trial. 

The one month trial membership is only $1.  During that first month you can choose as many stores as you would like for only $1.  This is great for me because I wasn’t really sure which stores I wanted to subscribe to each month.  I need to figure out which ones will have the best deals and suite my family best.

Right now I am subscribed to Food Lion, CVS, Lowe’s Foods, Harris Teeter, and Bi-Lo.  I checked out all of the lists this week and decided to go to CVS, Food Lion, and Lowe’s Foods.  I think I have already determined that Food Lion will not be a store that I subscribe to.  The reason for this is because I can do pretty well at Food Lion on my own.  I watch the buy 1 get 1 free specials and then if I have coupons I use those too.  Lowe’s Foods seems to be a good match for me because they double coupons.  Harris Teeter also doubles coupons.  I wasn’t too impressed with the CVS list for this week.  Maybe it’s too early to tell.

One of the things I like about Terry’s Grocery Game is the easy to read chart format.  Each row tells you what’s on sale, how much the regular price is, how much the sale price is, the amount off for the coupon you need to use, which week of the paper it came from, what coupon flyer it came from, how many items you should buy, the percentage off the item is, and if it is an item at rock bottom price that you should stock up on.

I suppose you’re wondering how I did this week.

At Lowe’s Foods my pre-tax total was $49.35.  With coupons and weekly specials, I saved $48.02.  I didn’t think that was bad considering I bought a bag of Starbucks coffee and a Mega pack of Luvs diapers. 

The diapers were a good deal too.  They were regularly $12.99 and Lowe’s had them on sale for $8.99, and then I had a $1 coupon.

I even managed to get some things for free.  I had several 50 cent coupons for Kraft handi-snacks pudding.  The pudding was on sale this week for $1.00 a pack.  My coupon was doubled to give me $1 off.  So I got three packs of pudding for free.

I also went to Food Lion.  I think I spent and saved about the same amount there.  I normally don’t spend that much at the grocery store each week, but right now I am stocking up.  They say the first month or so you’ll be stocking up on items that are at rock bottom prices while you’re buying your normal groceries.  As you get a collection of things, there will be less things that you need at regular price.  Soon, you’ll be spending less on your grocery bill, you’ll be bringing home a lot more food, and your pantries will be full.

I have always believed in stocking up on things when they are at the lowest prices.  Now I have someone to give me a list to help me know what those things are. 

If you would like to join The Grocery Game, I would suggest that you begin collecting the Sunday paper coupons first.  Don’t cut out the coupons yet.  I use a portable expandable file folder to keep my coupons separated by the weeks.  This way, when the list tells me which week I need the coupon from, I can go to that specific week and clip it without hassle. 

If you do decide to join The Grocery Game, could you please use me as a referral?  Getting referrals allows you to earn free weeks.  Thanks.  knowhimwell at hotmail dot com (Please no spam.)

Hope you enjoy the savings!