I used to hate having to go food shopping every week.  It always seemed to be a necessity on the day when I really don’t feel like doing anything – usually Sunday mornings when I’d much rather be spending a lazy morning drinking coffee and making a big breakfast for my family.  But ever since I started doing “The Grocery Game”, I actually (almost) look forward to it!

The Grocery Game is a list that essentially tells you when to use your coupons by comparing current and past coupons with your store’s current sales.  I’ve periodically gone through coupon phases in the past, when I would vow to clip coupons for use each week during my “big” grocery shop.  But I’d usually get bored, or forget, or simply run out of time.  But doing it with the grocery game is so much more fun that I never shop without it. 

You have to pay for the list – $1.25 a week, I believe – but I’ve found that I save such a crazy amount of money using it that it’s more than worth it.  I always save at least half on my grocery bill, and sometimes even more!  I get so excited every time they hand me my receipt so I can check out my savings.  I shop at my local Harris Teeter store, and every time I check out the cashier has to ask the manager to do an override – because I’ve saved so much money it has to be approved! 

How fun is that?!!

Here are some recent examples of my savings:

• Sunday, Feb 15th       TOTAL BILL: $242.00  Paid $117.13  Total Savings $124.87 
• Sunday, Feb 22nd      TOTAL BILL: $319.41   Paid $137.93  Total Savings $181.49
• Sunday, March 1st     TOTAL BILL  $194.41   Paid $94.34     Total Savings $100.07
• Sunday, March 8th    TOTAL BILL: $252.17  Paid $103.40  Total Savings $148.77

I use the grocery game list in conjuction with a little planning to help me save as much as possible.  First, I always plan my meals in advance for the week.  You’d be surprised at how easy this is to do!  First, I check the flyer for my grocery store to see what meat is on sale that week.  Next, I go to www.recipezaar.com and search for recipes using that ingredient (or, if I have time, I flip through cooking magazines for inspiration).  I add these recipes to my shopping list (a feature on recipezaar), and print out the list.  Then, using the list generated by the grocery game, I cut out coupons, and with the exception of an occasional Costco trip, I only buy what’s on the list.  The result is we have more food than we could possibly ever eat and I actually end up donating the surplus – all while spending less than I otherwise would have.

I started doing the game when we lived in California.  I shopped at Ralph’s and Vons and saved a ton!  Then we moved to Maryland, and I didn’t have near the success there.  The simple reason was that our local grocery stores only doubled coupons up to .50 instead of 1.00, which made a huge difference (this has since changed and they now double up to .99).  We now live in Virginia where my local store doubles up to .99, and I get crazy deals all the time.  They also occasionally have “triple coupon days”.  I think most grocery stores have followed this trend and now double up to at least .99, especially now that the economy is in such a bad state.

So, how can you join the grocery game, too?  It’s super easy!  Just go to The Grocery Game and sign up for the trial – you’ll get 4 weeks of the list for just $1.  Please also be sure to enter my email address as the one who referred you – kristy@thewickednoodle.com.

Thanks, and drop me a line and let me know how you like it!  I’m also happy to answer any questions for you if I can.

Enjoy your savings!