The Grocery Game

[Stinkerbell]

I am kinda continuing the discussion of the cost of groceries on this thread because this is worth looking into.
We have been doing The Grocery Game for about 2 years now and have saved thousands of dollars.  I don't want to post the link here, don't think I am supposed to, but just do a search of Teri's List or The Grocery Game and you'll find it.

What it is, every Saturday night a new list comes out.  The list contains all the sale items for the particular store you've chosen when you initially sign up.  Every Sunday, you buy a Sunday paper and get the coupons out.  You save these coupons til they expire.  We write the date we got the coupons on the front of the packet.  The list tells you which coupons to use, which week they came out and which packet they are in, to use along with the sale items for that week.  Every week, without fail, we get items for free.  Over the 4th of July weekend we got $270 worth of groceries for $68.  That weekend there was $56 worth of free items.  The important key to this is to ONLY buy the things you will use.  If it doesn't get used, it's no bargain no matter how much or little it cost. 
The Grocery Game is $10 for 8 weeks, the first week you get a trial subscription - 4 weeks for $1.
This is definitely something you can do on your own, but it takes hours and hours a week organizing, sorting, etc., so to me it's worth the amount I pay to have someone do it for me.
A friend of mine told me about it, I would say - 3 years ago.  I poo-poo'd thinking she was nuts.  I wish I had signed up sooner!  The weekend I mentioned above, well these are the items that were all free -

Marzetti Refrigerated Salad Dressing
Cattlemans BBQ Sauce
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
French's Spicey Mustard
Ken's Marinade
Pickle Chips
Franks Redhot Sauce
Barilla Tortellini
Tums Smoothies
Listerine PocketMist
Simple Green Trigger Cleaner 22 oz
Iam's Dog Food - 4 cans
Pounce Hair Ball Cat Treats and Meaty Morsels Cat Treats
Band-aid Antibiotic Bandages
GUM TOOTHBRUSH
Revlon Compact Tweezers
Choreboy Sponges
Glade Air Infusion
Snausages Beef & Cheese Treats
Beechnut Baby Food - 3 jars
Yoplait Nouriche Smoothies - 2
Activa Yogurt 4 Pack
Mocha Mix Coffee Creamer 1 Pint
Boca Meatless Chili

My store doubles coupons which makes a huge difference, and generally you'll only see 2-3 free items per week.  This was just a big sale time for the market.  I'm in So Cal and chose Ralphs as my market.
If you're interested, just check it out and see if they have a store in your area.

[Julez]

I'm a couponing/rebating geek as well BraveLady!  I did try the Grocery Game, but decided that doing it on my own was better because of how much we move due to military needs.

I don't buy the Sunday paper anymore, but get my coupons at thecouponclippers.com - I love that site!  I also use refundcents.com ($12/yr for website access).  Refund Cents has almost everything and anything a couponer and rebater could want.  I use ebay for winetags since NY, NJ, and PA don't sell wine in the grocery stores.  I stockpile non-perishables constantly.  Here's a pic of my bathroom stockpile:  Most of these items were free - my total price paid for the entire thing was right around $50.  There's well over $400 worth of stuff pictured.

[Stinkerbell]

Aren't coupons amazing????  And knowing when to use them and on what items is even better!  WTG on doing it yourself.  I can see why you would need to since they charge you to change stores, but I really don't have the time nor the patience to do it myself.  I spend so much time with the homeschooling of the kids that when I have a chance to rest my brain, Pogo and this forum are where I head for relaxation!

[Julez]

LOL!  I have a very good friend that homeschools all 6 of her kids - she is the one that taught me how to coupon/rebate!  It's such an addiction!  This summer has been the summer of free Malt-O-Meal cereal!  I think I have close to 60 bags of cereal - ALL OF IT WAS FREE!  My dishwasher detergent was getting low 4 months ago (I think I had about 10 boxes left), so I waited for Shoprite to put electrosol on sale - I got it for 40 cents a box!  It took me about 4 yrs to finally get low enough to buy some more.  Waiting for the new sales flyers to come out online is the same as anticipating badge day every week!  ROFL!

[kgansor]

wow im going to have to look this up .. i already think i get some pretty good deals on some stuff, but everyone could always use coupons and free stuff  O0

[Julez]

Heck yeah Krissy!  Just remember that every major grocery store has a website that contains their weekly sales flyer, so there's no need to get it from the Sunday paper.


I also put together coupon trains on some of the military spouse support forums I belong.  Some spouses don't have the opportunities to get good coupons or are overseas and can use expireds.