Advanced tips for grocery savings

I’ve been “playing” The Grocery Game for more than a year. See this post for more info, but it’s basically an online service that tracks weekly sales at your selected grocery store (I use Safeway), notifies you and tells you how to combine sales with coupons for really incredible savings.

I thought I was doing a decent job of using the Game’s principles. Then I read founder Teri Gault’s newest book. It really opened my eyes.

I realized I wasn’t really doing the Game with full power. After reading this book (it’s a quick, fun read), I buckled down and really shopped right. In just one month, I dropped our household grocery budget (2 adults, 2 kids) by $125! From $560 down to $425. And I don’t think we’ve ever had more food in our pantry and freezer, seriously. I’m actually excited to see how little I can spend this month.

I will say that my husband was a little worried when he saw how much food I bought last month. He was SURE I must be going over budget. But when I showed him the cash left over at the end of February, he became a huge supporter.

And the most fun of all? Sounds silly, but it’s being congratulated by the checkers at my local Safeway for the great deals I’m getting! They’re starting to ask me how I’m doing it. Kudos to Teri Gault and her saving system! I think she is fab. (And not just because we have the same first name.)

Saving on groceries

Saving money at the grocery store is something I fuss about and research all the time. I guess it’s because our monthly grocery budget feels a little more–flexible?–than, say, the monthly mortgage payment, school tuition and all of our other fixed expenses.

And to be honest, there are a lot of opportunities to overspend at the grocery store these days (“Oooh! A new kind of cheese!” or “Oh, these would be so easy to pop in the kids’ lunches!”)

So I was thrilled to read a series of real-family grocery spending profiles– “How Low Can You Go?” here, in The Oregonian, my hometown newspaper.