Anyone use The Grocery Game?

[momtoclaire]

I saw a grocery savings site called www.thegrocerygame.com in a local newspaper article. It looks like there is a membership fee to participate. Has anyone used this service? If so, Have you saved enough to make the membership fees worthwhile? Do you sign up for more than one store listing/month? My husband was laid off recently and we are looking for savings in every arena possible. Thanks!

[deannanb]

they have a free trial for $1
try it for 4 weeks
(be sure to cancel before your trial is up or your cc will be charged)

here is a link to the same question from May
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=293538&highlight=grocery+game

[BargainMomforLuke]

This site offers essentially the same thing (I think it's better) & it's FREE!

Here is the supermarket link. There is a ton of other great info., too, if you look around.
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/grocery-stores/

[emschwar]

I use the grocery game. I love it. I've tried the coupon mom site, which is another one that's free, and I just preferred the organization of the grocery game better. Our savings aren't as good as some other people do with the game, but we have some dietary restrictions to deal with, but I typically save at least 30% each trip to the grocery store, and sometimes a lot more. Yesterday I spent $80 and saved $50. (We also live in a higher cost area, so our sales and coupons aren't as good as in other areas.)

[mjmamma]

I know with couponmom , not all grocery stores are listed. Mine (Market Basket/New England) isn't) I wonder if The Grocery Game is like that too?? Can you follow it if your store isn't included??

[tyrynn28]

My DH and I uses grocerygame.com. The key is to buy and eat what is on sale and to buy 2 set of sunday new papers for coupons.

Last year, we saved estimate of $1,200 + on CVS grocery items alone and he went tonight to Publix and save $120 of $180 grocery items. We used 4 grocery place to maximize our savings. :)

For a year and year and a half, we joined and paid for the membership. After that, we went on our own and just watched the ads and clip coupons.

Good Luck!

[mjmamma]

It would not do you any good if your store was not included. Sales are very store specific.

Thank you! That's what I figured. I am trying to be good about clipping, buying and eating what's on sale, and using coupons on sale items if possible. Good to be sure, thanks again.

[inmypjs]

I do spend a lot of time coupon-ing lately, so I went to thegrocerygame site to check it out. I would consider joining if it would save me a ton of time. But there aren't many stores in my area listed, which is really disappointing. I live in a pretty large metro area with 3 major grocery chains, plus Walmart, Kmart, Target - and only 1 grocery store and Walgreens are listed.

[momtoclaire]

Thanks for so much useful information in such a short period of time! This is a wonderful community of moms....my favorite board! I will check out the free sites and make an attempt to use the free trial on The Grocery Game. Thanks again to all who responded!

Juli

[kbud]

I love getting a great deal and shopping around for it but w/little kids I can't go to many different stores. I'm a SAHM but heck, I had more time to grocery shop when I worked full time. Shopping w/my kids is a nightmare. Anyhow, I personally find that most of the time the coupons are a waste. I do clip coupons every week out of the Sun. paper but most of the time the store brand is cheaper even w/the coupons. I'm in FL and I can't find anywhere here that doubles or triples coupons. What am I missing about couponing? Maybe I should look more at the site. I did awhile back and I wasn't sure I had the time to go from place to place. Although I was just looking at our budget tonight and I can't stay w/in the food budget any more. I'm over every month. I need to do something.

[tsem]

We use the grocery game for our shopping. We have been couponing this way for about 6 months. My husband prepares the coupons and lists. On the printable lists he writes quantities for me to buy (based on the number of coupons we have). It works well as I hate doing the chore of figuring it all out. It is pretty easy to shop with the list. It helps me focus as I usually am shopping with my 2yr old. The key is to get lots of newspapers or have someone give you the coupons they don't use. You file by date and when a store's item is buy one, get on free or on sale we use the coupon on top of that sale price. Usually we save 75-80 %. You have to be able to have a pantry that you can stock up as you tend to buy a lot of one thing at a time. Publix here doubles the coupon and buy one get one free (plus a penny item on Sun/Mon) so we tend to do most of our shopping at Publix. The first couple of months it is hard because you might not have the coupons yet for a lot of the deals. It takes a couple of months to collect all the coupons. HTH
Traci

[Melaine]

Thanks for bringing this up, OP. I have been seriously considering how to get organized about groceries.

Does anyone know how the savings chalk up in comparison to stores like Aldi? Lately I have found that I can get so much stuff there for cheaper....

[maybeebaby08]

I wasn't that impressed with the Grocery Game, I can figure it out myself and didnt feel like it saved me much time.

What saved me money is E mealz, they give you recipes for everyday of the week and the grocery list, they try to line it up with what's on sale that week too. It saves me money because I know exactly what to make everyday, we don't buy as much take out and I have an exact list for the store so I'm not wondering around the store adding more things to my cart that I don't need. Plus she has a whole section on her site about coupons and saving money.

[fivi2]

I love getting a great deal and shopping around for it but w/little kids I can't go to many different stores. I'm a SAHM but heck, I had more time to grocery shop when I worked full time. Shopping w/my kids is a nightmare. Anyhow, I personally find that most of the time the coupons are a waste. I do clip coupons every week out of the Sun. paper but most of the time the store brand is cheaper even w/the coupons. I'm in FL and I can't find anywhere here that doubles or triples coupons. What am I missing about couponing? Maybe I should look more at the site. I did awhile back and I wasn't sure I had the time to go from place to place. Although I was just looking at our budget tonight and I can't stay w/in the food budget any more. I'm over every month. I need to do something.

This is me. I use the store coupons when it is something I am buying, but usually not. The store brand is usually cheaper as you say. And I am not in Florida, but I have not seen any stores nearby that double or triple coupons. So, I am no help, but I totally agree!

[Melaine]

I wasn't that impressed with the Grocery Game, I can figure it out myself and didnt feel like it saved me much time.

What saved me money is E mealz, they give you recipes for everyday of the week and the grocery list, they try to line it up with what's on sale that week too. It saves me money because I know exactly what to make everyday, we don't buy as much take out and I have an exact list for the store so I'm not wondering around the store adding more things to my cart that I don't need. Plus she has a whole section on her site about coupons and saving money.

That looks really cool! Have you continued the membership or did you just do it for awhile?

[mollys_mommy]

This site offers essentially the same thing (I think it's better) & it's FREE!

Here is the supermarket link. There is a ton of other great info., too, if you look around.
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/grocery-stores/

big fat ditto here. HCW has all the ggame does and more. i found most stores in my area arent on the g.game site anyway, so it wasnt worth it to test out for us. plus, why pay when you can find it free?


we order coupons from www.thecouponclippers.com

[Momof3Labs]

kbud and fivi2 - you really need to check out your local grocery stores on www.hotcouponworld.com and see how other people get deals with and without coupons around you. Trust me, they are doing a lot better than you think - you just need to understand how your grocery sales work. Sometimes the cheapest store isn't the source of the best deals, which can seem counter-intuitive at first (for example, I NEVER, EVER shop at Wal-Mart any more and pay a whole lot less than Wal-Mart prices on almost everything I do buy elsewhere).

No one around me regularly doubles coupons, but there are still great deals that come along and lead me to stock up. For example, our grocery store does a deal every so often where you get back a $15 coupon for your next purchase when you spend $30 on certain items. The $30 is based on shelf prices before coupons, not sale prices after coupons, so I may pay around $20 and get back $15. I can then use the $15 coupon to do the deal again, and get another $15 coupon. Just did this a couple of weeks ago to stock up on Pampers and Tide Free HE - even after I ran out of coupons, it was well worth it to do the deal a few more times.

I also use CVS and Walgreens to get toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, body wash, razors, feminine products and such for free (or next to free). That cuts a chunk off of your family's bills, too. And rarely are these store brands; these are mostly name brands.

KMart has done double and triple coupons a few times lately, though it isn't well advertised. I got a ton of stuff free there in the last few months. As much as I hate the store itself, I won't pass up stuff that we need when I can get it next to free.

And when a decent coupon comes out for an item that we use a lot of (frozen waffles, yogurt, etc), I'll order extras on thecouponclippers.com and stock up on that item so that I'm not paying full price more often than I have to.

[fivi2]

kbud and fivi2 - you really need to check out your local grocery stores on www.hotcouponworld.com and see how other people get deals with and without coupons around you. Trust me, they are doing a lot better than you think - you just need to understand how your grocery sales work. Sometimes the cheapest store isn't the source of the best deals, which can seem counter-intuitive at first (for example, I NEVER, EVER shop at Wal-Mart any more and pay a whole lot less than Wal-Mart prices on almost everything I do buy elsewhere).

No one around me regularly doubles coupons, but there are still great deals that come along and lead me to stock up. For example, our grocery store does a deal every so often where you get back a $15 coupon for your next purchase when you spend $30 on certain items. The $30 is based on shelf prices before coupons, not sale prices after coupons, so I may pay around $20 and get back $15. I can then use the $15 coupon to do the deal again, and get another $15 coupon. Just did this a couple of weeks ago to stock up on Pampers and Tide Free HE - even after I ran out of coupons, it was well worth it to do the deal a few more times.

I also use CVS and Walgreens to get toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, body wash, razors, feminine products and such for free (or next to free). That cuts a chunk off of your family's bills, too. And rarely are these store brands; these are mostly name brands.

KMart has done double and triple coupons a few times lately, though it isn't well advertised. I got a ton of stuff free there in the last few months. As much as I hate the store itself, I won't pass up stuff that we need when I can get it next to free.

And when a decent coupon comes out for an item that we use a lot of (frozen waffles, yogurt, etc), I'll order extras on thecouponclippers.com and stock up on that item so that I'm not paying full price more often than I have to.

Thanks for the suggestion. I did just look at my grocery chain on hotcoupon (I only looked at the first page, no time for indepth yet, will go back) and there were a lot of complaints! We don't have any K-marts remotely close (hours away). I will definitely spend more time on HCW and see what others are doing! I will look at the coupon clippers site also!

How are you getting such great deals at Walgreens and CVS, if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Momof3Labs]

CVS and Walgreens have very active pages on hotcouponworld.com too - you can see there how people do so well at these stores with freebies, etc.

You mentioned that you checked your grocery chain. Do you only have one chain near you?? I'd be surprised at that unless you are in a pretty rural area. Check the other chains too, even ones where you rarely shop (perhaps because prices were so high) - you might find that your best deals aren't at the store where you normally shop.

[fivi2]

CVS and Walgreens have very active pages on hotcouponworld.com too - you can see there how people do so well at these stores with freebies, etc.

You mentioned that you checked your grocery chain. Do you only have one chain near you?? I'd be surprised at that unless you are in a pretty rural area. Check the other chains too, even ones where you rarely shop (perhaps because prices were so high) - you might find that your best deals aren't at the store where you normally shop.

We basically have two major chains. The one I don't shop at is significantly higher priced. perhaps coupons could make up for it, but it would be tough (I will check the coupon sites). Other than that we have Whole Foods, another natural foods store (well, a few, but they are not big chains), Costco, Sams, Supertarget, and superwalmart. oh, and an IGA. I am fairly certain our third chain packed up and left a while back (all the stores near me, anyway) I am in a medium sized city, the major chain just seems to be driving away competitors!

Oh well, I am off to play on the coupon sites! Thanks for the info!