Thanks.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I’ve been talking about The Grocery Game for months.  And it seems obvious that I would because this has been the top avenue that I have found to save the most moolah on your grocery bill. I’ve talked the talk and I’ve walked the walk.  I’ve taught you all how to use it and I’ve showed you the savings. 

Imagine my surprise and delight when I was contacted by a Grocery Game rep and offered the opportunity to interview Teri Gault, CEO and founder of The Grocery Game.  Me?  Really?  

The interview took place last week and I’ll just tell you that from the bat, Teri was warm and friendly and interested in sharing our love of saving money.  Here’s a bit of how the interview went.  There was so much information.  I hope I can share it all and not mess up anything.  Enjoy!

First of all, I’d like to ask how The Grocery Game came into existence.

Well, I have always been a bargain hunter. We’re a kindred spirit.

When I was only 12 years old, I began shopping for my family because my mom was in ICU.  It was such an early age and we were broke with hospital bills.  It was my job to make the money stretch. 

Everything started with a jar of peanut butter.  I had bought a jar of peanut butter for my family and then the next week it went on sale.  We had limited money and I had already bought the peanut butter, but realized I could have saved money by buying it while it was on sale.  It was sort of an epiphany moment for me with stockpiling.

Then later when I got married, I was an actress and my husband was a stunt man.  I continued couponing.  In the late 90s the business took us to Canada.  I had only $35 per week to feed our family of four.  Those were rough years.  I used that time to develop saving strategies.
 
By November of 1999, I was spending four to six hours each week clipping coupons and searching sale ads, but I was saving about $100 per week.  Even then, I was rolling coins to buy groceries.  I wished that someone would let me know what they were buying instead of me spending all that time figuring it out on my own.  Then I had wondered what would happen if I put my grocery list on the internet each week and and if people would pay me for my time.  I had never had been on the internet, but I went to computer store, bought a computer and internet.  I didn’t even know what to do.  I got my sister on phone and she taught me how to do email.

Read more!

My sister did not like coupons.  She used super stores and she did not understand value of coupons.  I thought she would make a good guinea pig, so I sent her the first document via word.  I told her to look at it and try it without asking any questions. She immediately saved $150.
 
Next, I got 5 families to test the list.  I rolled coins to get business license. Within a few months had emails from all over the country.  In 2000, I started putting all of the money back into the business for franchises.  By 2003, I had attorneys in place and was a franchise owner.  I went from 2 states to 26 states in 2003.  We are now in all 50 states, including Puerto Rico, the UK, and France.  By end of year, we’ll be in Canada and Germany,  and possibly China. 
 
The first 2 years I still worked several jobs.  I was a grant writer, I taught private voice lessons, and I in a performance group, all while doing The Grocery Game.  I was working 80 hours a week and 7 days a week.

(Of course, we chatted throughout all of this information.  She is quite the entrepreneur.)
 
Could you tell me about how many members you have?

There are about 100,000 households using The Grocery Game.  Traffic to the site has tripled on the site this year, since we have coupons that can be printed on the site.  We have doubled our membership since the beginning of the year.  Just last month, there were 400,000 coupons printed on the site. 

What are your plans for adding additional stores?

We are constantly adding more stores.  Last month we added 9 more stores.  We can only go at a certain pace due to quality control and we have a full-time attorney.  In the near future we plan to add Giant, Hannoford, and Legmans to our list.  

We pick the number 1 store that is best for The Grocery Game. This is based upon sale cycles, coupons, and how low prices go.  We track the stores for a while.  We do have Wal-Mart on the list, but it doesn’t have the best savings, so it’s the last to be added.

I have found that the biggest savings come from combining store sales with double coupon offers.  Do you have any tips for those living in areas that don’t live near larger grocery store chains and don’t have stores that double coupons? 

The savings are still relevant.  In an area where they don’t double coupons, the coupons values are higher.  The savings are the same.  Usually the prices are lower and The Grocery Game savings still apply.  If you will stockpile sales and use a coupon when you can, you still save 70% even when the stores don’t double coupons.  It’s important to know when to stock up.  
 
I’ve heard that there is a 12 week cycle to TGG.  Could you tell more about that? 

There are categorical sale trends that we track.  The sales come about once every 12 weeks for 15 major categories.  You stockpile what you will need for about 12 weeks.  Then you will need to add your produce and milk.  With you produce, you only buy what’s on sale.  

I see what you mean about stockpiling.  Before I began seriously using coupons, I would stockpile just the sale items. 

You and I don’t like to pay full price for things, do we? 

I could have talked to Teri all day long.  She was very easy to talk to and I could tell that we both shared a passion for saving money. I hope you enjoyed this interview.  I was very impressed at how she started out with so little, but took something that she was good at and worked hard to develop it.  That should give us all hope.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Good afternoon everyone!  I just finished my interview with Teri from The Grocery Game.  She was very friendly and I’m so impressed at how she has built her company from scratch.  She answered a lot of our questions and I’m anxious to share this information with you. 

I’m busy packing and moving out of the area, but hopefully tonight I can get the information to you.  Stay tuned!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

If you’re a regular reader of Thrifty Mommy, then you’ll know that I’m a big fan of The Grocery Game.  It’s quite a thrill to go to the grocery store and save 60% or more on your grocery bill and also be able to purchase extra groceries for your stockpile or for others in need. In fact, my family is moving out of the area next week and I have quit buying groceries and I’m sharing our excess with others. We have been eating off our stockpile for a few months now!!  I’ve just been picking up a few necessities here and there. 

Ok, now for the whole point of what I just said . . .

This week I will be talking to Teri Gault, founder of The Grocery Game.  I have some questions that I would like to ask her, but I also would like to know . . .

What do you want to ask Teri?

Leave your questions in the comment section and I’ll see if I can get your questions answered this week.  Isn’t this exciting?  

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

TM: What has inspired you into the frugal lifestyle?

Pat: Actually, I think I was born frugal, but when it really started in earnest, I was a single mom with very few work skills and found out that I could still live comfortably with a little effort and that inspired me to go further with it.

TM: What are the easiest areas to stay frugal in? What are the hardest?

Pat: The easiest area for most is food because it’s so controllable. You can choose what to eat and how to prepare it. It’s a good place to practice self discipline and most people can handle that.

I think for many, the hardest part is impulse buying. People have bought everything from chewing gum to houses on an impulse. That can be disastrous. The hardest for me personally would have to do with music and books. Put me in a book and music store and I begin to cringe, but not enough to keep me from buying.

TM: Is there anyone who encourages you in your frugal lifestyle?

Pat: Right now, those who leave comments on my blog encourage me. Before, the readers at About did. Before the internet, I knew no one who had a clue as to why I would even want to wash out plastic bags.

TM: What has been your best frugal buy lately? What about your worst?

Pat: As I said, I don’t enjoy shopping, so I just don’t buy a lot of things. I did do pretty well on a music CD (!) from Amazon, though. I got a used one for less than three dollars and it was paid for with the remains of a Christmas gift certificate. It’s in great condition.

My worst was probably a Geo that I bought when I was pretty broke after a divorce. I got hit with a really high finance rate and it developed problems that I couldn’t afford to fix. Now, it’s funny, but at the time it was painful. I did manage to pay it off early, though.

TM: What made you decide to leave About.com?

Pat: I had been burned out for sometime because of the schedule that was required, although I had done part of it to myself. When New York Times bought About, there were some changes in direction (which is to be expected) and after awhile I just couldn’t make myself do it any more.

TM: Now that you are venturing out on your own, what are your plans?

Pat: I thought you’d never ask. I have a blog Pat Veretto’s Frugal Living which keeps me going, and I write here and there around the internet. The biggest thing that’s happened, though, is that Gary Foreman of Dollar Stretcher called and has some ideas he wants me involved in. I’m excited about it. I know that phrase is overworked, but I’m truly excited. It’s going to be wonderful addition to his site and a great service to the frugal living community on the internet.

TM: Do you feel that your family has suffered from your frugal lifestyle?

Pat: No, I don’t think so. The kids grew up with it, of course, and when they went through the rebellious stages of growing up, they disagreed, but have since embraced the idea. Other than that, we’ve benefited rather than suffered from it.

TM: How often do you use coupons or do you just shop around and know where to go?

Pat: I hardly ever use coupons. Coupons aren’t issued for most of the things I buy and the things they are issued for can usually be had cheaper if you buy generic. Some people can do well with them, but I can’t.

TM: What is your favorite website to visit regularly and why?

Pat: I like Dollar Stretcher and always have. There’s so much information there that you can get lost in reading things that really make sense in real life. I still visit About, too, because it covers a lot of topics that interest me.

TM: Who do you think runs the best sales? Who do you think has the best deals on a regular basis?

Pat: That depends on what kind of sales you’re looking for and, I think, the area you’re in. Here, Albertson’s grocery (which I understand has been bought out) run very good loss leader types of sales. I don’t often buy new clothes, so I don’t keep an eye on that. For best deals on a regular basis, I have to say there is no one store that you could point to. If you’re looking to get the best deals, you have to shop around and keep on shopping around.

Pat has so many good ideas that it makes this mommy jealous. I guess I will just keep learning and sharing. Hope Pat will inspire you as well to save time and money by living the frugal lifestyle. She has helped me in so many ways!

Thanks, Pat, and great luck on your new endeavors. We are looking forward to all you and the Dollar Stretcher have to offer in the future.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Q. What do you think pushed you into becoming a frugalista?

A. I grew up that way. My mom was a single mom who paid off $35,000 in debt in 5 years while earning $1,000 a month. She then raised two teenagers on $500 a month after she became disabled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

When I married my husband we paid off $20,000 in debt and medical bills in our first 5 years. After seeing my mom do it, I knew I could do it and didn’t want to have debt hanging over our heads. I also saw how much people just plain wasted money and it made me sad to think of all the stress they were under trying to “make ends meet” when it was just wasteful spending.

Q. What is your favorite way to save money and time?

A. Buying used as much as possible. Why should I pay $30 for a Land’s End shirt when I can get it for $1 at the thrift store? I figure I will let someone else pay the depreciation. Why should my husband work 2 – 2 1/2 hours (at $15 an hour plus taxes) to pay for shirt when he could work 5-6 minutes for the same shirt from a thrift store. We buy as much as we can used — cars, clothes, furniture, toys; we even get free paint from the recycling center. The only things we don’t buy new are major appliances like a fridge or freezer.

Q. If you had to pick one splurge, what would it be?

A. Gnomes. I love to garden and I love gnomes. (I’m sure they exist somewhere!) Garden knick knacks too. Cute pots, new flowers. As it is I get most of these things for gifts so I’m not deprived of my favorite things.

Q. What is the hardest and easiest thing to do to save money?

A. The hardest thing is changing your attitude. Until you change your attitude about spending, it is going to feel like you are depriving yourself.

The easiest is to just start. Cut out eating out once this week, then cut out an extra bag of chips. Do one thing at a time and it will start adding up. You have to practice at saving money. Over time you learn what works for your family and what doesn’t but you won’t get anywhere until you start.

Q. Do you have a funny story about saving money or time?

A. I love beef jerky. Well, when I was single and just learning to cook I decided to try to make turkey jerky with ground turkey because I didn’t have enough money to buy beef and I figured if you added enough spices it would taste the same. I was renting my grandparents trailer and decided to make it in their house in the dehydrator.

About 3 hours after I started making it, smoke started pouring out of their house. ( I was sure it wasn’t done because the smoke detector hadn’t gone off yet! LOL) The ground turkey had “melted” into the holes in the dehydrator and then started to burn on the element on the bottom. It was so nasty my dog wouldn’t even eat it! It was a big mess and my family still can’t believe that “Tawra” wrote a cookbook! When I went to marry my husband my grandfather told him the turkey jerky story about 5 times. Hubby says he thinks he was trying to warn him before we married what he was getting into! HA! To this day in my family I’m known for all the smoke.

Of all the things that Tawra could have picked to be funny, I have a similar story. My sister-in-law and her husband came over to my husband’s house when we were just starting to date. I was fixing spaghetti and had read the directions on a new kind of garlic bread. The directions said to cut off the ends of the bag and put it in the oven. Well, you can guess what happened next. We looked back and the oven was on fire! My sister-in-law has never let me forget it. Love you too, Bev.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy