Thursday, January 28, 2010

Grocery Shopping 101

So...today's grocery trip was one of my best ever! About $300 worth of groceries for $100.62...including tax! How do I do it? Well, I play The Grocery Game! No, really it's a game. thegrocerygame.com Me and my friend, Kathy, started playing it about a year ago. At the time I was spending about $160 on a really good week to about $260 on a really bad week at the grocery store. So....I went to Sam's Club one day and saw the book by Terri, The Grocery Game lady. I had heard bits and pieces of couponing mom's on tv saving a TON of money with coupons, etc and decided it was worth it to buy the book and investigate. It cost about $7 or $8 bucks. I read it and thought it sounded good...some things I knew I wouldnt do, but that was okay. So, I told my friend about it and she decided to try it too. I did some reading on the website too and was intrigued. I started out and spent about $160 the first week...so, that was pretty good. But, I got a whole lot more things than I had before. I was beginning to "stockpile" or "invest". The next few weeks was about the same maybe a little higher or lower but accumulating quite a bit of stuff. It was clear we were going to need a freezer. So, we took the money I had saved over those few weeks and bought a small freezer for about $100 dollars. Maybe a little more but somewhere around there. And so began the journey. After a few more weeks I decided to set my self a goal. I think I started at $160 a week...then worked it down to $150 hung there. Meanwhile, I had developed quite a supply of everything and began to notice the kids were really happy, we had the newest of everything out there and for less than I could buy the storebrands. (sale + coupon = super low price) Also, we werent running out of anything! Cool. Well then I began to cruise the internet and found a few really cool websites and realized I could probably do even better. So, I set my goal for $125. And slowly, I began to achieve that. Could I do it for even less? 2010 began with my goal being $100...and on top of that wanting to include a "live off my pantry" week every month or so! So...its the last week of January and I am doing pretty good....not there yet but getting there. Hoping to do a pantry week next week. Also, my goals include a little weekend cooking and freezing of dinners; some making of my own basics, like cream of chicken, mushroom, soups (powder based), taco seasonings, etc; more crockpot cooking (although I do alot now!)...and who knows what else! My true ultimate would be $75 a week...not ready for that yet..but who knows...maybe by the end of the year! My newest book does a lot of talking about "unit" prices and I have learned quite a few new things!
So...thats how I have done it...and will continue to strive to go even lower. And oh, did I mention that we have been eating much better meals since I started all of this? Yep...we sure have!

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