How To Play the Grocery Game & Is It Worth It?
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Have you ever heard of the Grocery Game? Started a few years ago by Teri Gault in California it is becoming a more and more popular way to save money on your grocery bill. But how do you play and is it worth it? Playing is easy, you have to decide if it is worth it.
Basically, the Grocery Game matches up the coupons in each Sunday's paper with the sales going on at the grocery store of your choice. The Grocery Game does all the work for you finding the best sales of the week. Not all sales are advertised in the weekly paper, and the grocery game does a great job of hunting down the extra bargains out there.
Did you know that all grocery store sales go in cycles? Some food items cycle on sale each month, some every 6 weeks and some every 12 weeks. As a consumer, it is hard to keep track of how often something goes on sale. Purchasing items when they are at their lowest sale is the best way to save money on your grocery bill. But don't just buy enough for that week. Stockpile food items when they are at their lowest prices, so that you have enough to get your through until the next sale comes. This way you will never have to pay full price for things.
So how do you know when something is at its lowest price? The Grocery Game will tell you. The list that comes out each week will tell you which items are at a good sale price (black) and which items are at their lowest price (blue) - which means now would be a good time to stock up. The list also frequently has free items on it and these are in green. If you have a store that doubles coupons, which I highly recommend if you are going to do the Grocery Game, it is pretty easy to get free items each week.
So is the Grocery Game worth the money? It costs $10 for an 8 week period for one store. Many people will participate in the Grocery Game at more than one store and additional stores are $5 per 8 week period. I participated in the Grocery Game in Colorado and loved it. It worked wonderfully and I always got great deals. It made my life so much easier not having to pour over my coupons and sale ads each week.
When I moved to Ohio I immediately joined the Grocery Game here too. I did not have as much success here though. I found that items listed in the sales ads were not listed on the Grocery Game list, that items listed on the Grocery Game list were not actually on sale at my list store, and also that some of the coupons the Grocery Game said I should have that week were not actually in my paper. I tried the Grocery Game here for about six months, but it was frustrating and didn't work very well for me here. So while I quit using it, I long for the days in CO when it worked so well.
The Grocery Game offers a 4 week trial membership for $1, which I highly recommend. Just based on my experience you never know if this is going to work out for you. Before ordering the trial membership though, I have some tips to help you make the most of it. Save your coupons for a few weeks before joining the Grocery Game. They use any coupon that has not expired on their lists each week. So they might have a coupon that is two months old on their list. Remember that the point of the game is to match up coupons to the lowest sale prices, so the coupons in this weeks paper are not all going to be used this week on the list. So save your coupon inserts for a few weeks to give you the most benefit when you try out the game.
Another tip is to not be brand specific. Don't just clip the few coupons that you think you might use. Save the whole insert and be willing to try different brands. If you can get an item for free why not try it? Also, if your regular brand is full price this week, but you can get another brand for $.20, it is definitely worth trying. Also consider purchasing extra Sunday papers in order to get more coupons. I don't always purchase an extra paper, but if it has really good inserts I will stop and pick up a couple of extra papers. Then when an item I use on a regular basis is at its lowest sale price and I have coupons, I can get several of the item instead of just one.
I think the Grocery Game makes shopping the sales a lot easier and can very much be worth the money. I did notice some glitches, but they aren't there for everyone. Join for the trial membership and see how it works for you. It is super easy to cancel at any time and even if you do cancel, you will still learn a lot about how the grocery sales work and ideas on getting the best deals. These things alone are worth the $1 trial membership fee.
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Comments
I followed your link from GRS. I also live in Ohio and was wondering about the grocery game. Can you tell me what city you live in? I live in Columbus. Another GRS commenter mentioned the stores they go to were Meijer and Kroger, which is where I do a lot of shopping, just wondering if your experiences would be similar to my own. Also, I try to stick with raw ingredients rather than processed food and it doesn't seem like the grocery game caters to that?
Dave,
We do not have Meijer and Kroger where I live, it isn't near Columbus. When I lived in CO I had great luck with King Soopers, which is a branch of Kroger, so it could be great for you. It will have all the sales on the lists, even the raw ingredients. However, you don't generally see coupons for the raw ingredients. I mostly cook from scratch as well, however, I had great success in CO with the GG. I saved a ton of money on toiletries alone. The trial is only $1, it would be worth a shot for sure. Hope it works out!
Interesting. I just started using coupons and I don't feel like I save as much as other people do. I always hear about people who get a whole cart of groceries for $10. I am really lucky if I save $10 with coupons when I buy a whole cart of groceries. This answers the mystery.
I just go online, ( http://www.FreeGroceryCoupons.org )and print out the coupons for the foods I like which so far have worked out fine. That way I don't have to clip coupons out of the paper.
If your looking for free baby stuff and baby food can try the website http://www.FreeBabySamples.org where they sometimes sent out coupons and sometimes a free baby gift by mail.
Great tip, I'm looking over the website right now! Thanks!!!
I've been using the Grocery Game for almost 3 years now. It was extremely helpful when my kids were living at home with me. Always saved a ton. Since my kids were of the age in high school where they had friends moving out into their first apartments, we were able to put together boxes of "starting out" food and items. My kids loved being able to do that for their friends. Also, we were able to donate a lot of items to food banks and collection boxes for those in need. The first Christmas there was an apartment building that caught on fire a few miles away from us. Several families lost everything. We donated about 30 grocery bags of food and non-perishables. All this and still being able to provide for my own family without feeling the pinch. We would not have been able to do any of this without the help of using the Grocery Game. Seriously, it really works.
I use gg too, my only problem is that on really good sales I often find that waiting to shop on Sunday when the list comes out is too late. There are so many people in my big city that every store has tons of customers and unfortunately some of them apparently have the gift of knowing a good deal and buy up the deals quickly. I am now using a pricebook and trying to diligently go through my sales flyers on wedndsays when the sales start to get a jump on them. I still like the ease of the grocery game--but am not sure I'll stay with it--we shall see. Mary
Another good source of free printable online coupons and free samples is http://www.freeonlinecoupons.biz Some of the Internet coupons and freebies offer amazing savings.
I've always been to lazy to do this sorta thing, normally i bow to the supermarket gods and pay whatever they want, though lately (the past year or two) its been hurting thanks to everything shooting up in price -.-
i love to know thing about this site
I wonder if there is a UK equivilent?
I love the grocery game!! I just started 2 weeks ago and the 1st week I got $212 worth of groceries for $61. The second week I stuck STRICKLY to the blue and green item and bought $174 worth of groceries from $45!!!!!!!!!! I'm in love!!! I use the Kroger list for groceries and the Walgreens list for extra stuff. At Walgreens my bill has been cut dramatically, with all the rebates i'm getting tons of free stuff, boy do I feel stupid for ignoring those rebates all these years!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
I agree about the sale items being gone by Sunday. I shop at Publix and Winn Dixie mostly, and live in a retirement state (FL). By Sunday, all the really good sale items, BOGOS and such, are long gone, and sometimes I don't have time to go back to the store, so it might not work for me. I can get rainchecks at Publix that are good forever, so that works out well, because I can wait for the next time I shop. Winn Dixie is another story. The only one in my area is a small store, and they don't give rain checks, so I'm just out of luck if I miss the sale, as they don't often restock again before the sale is out.
Anyone in Florida using the GG successfully?
I think a service like GG is useful for a person who is willing to clip the coupons but who doesn't want to comb the ads. However, there is another option out there, and it's free. WWW.COUPONMOM.COM.
At this site you sign up for free and can link to couponcabin and other online coupon sites. But the most valuable aspect of this web site by far is the weekly database of coupon deals, which is indexed by state and then by store. In Arizona, not all stores are tracked, but you can look at the deals in Southern California for certain stores and get the same deals, because the grocery stores here similar...For example Ralph's/Von's/Safeway.
I believe I saved a lot of money clipping coupons at one time, but found my family's diet drastically changed to the more refined foods that General Mills markets to young children. I changed my grocery strategy to cooking more and buying more in season. That said, you can save a tremendous amount of money on toiletries, paper goods, pet food, baby diapers, and the like. If you aren't brand loyal it might be worth your time. I don't know, I'd rather be writing hubs!
I wish there was something similar in Australia! Coupons aren't big here but it sounds like you can save a lot of $ in the US
I am also in Australia and I beleive some people clip coupons. My husbands tells me about the days when his mother in Canada use to clip coupons and walk (even in the snow) with 5 children from shop to shop to get the deals. It would take all day to buy the weeks groceries.
I can't imagine playing a game to buy my groceries to get discounts, I find that I spend too much time buying food now and am almost convienced that shopping online for home delivery will be cheaper as the supermarket temptations always increase my weekly bill.
I found your hub very interesting.. thanks for sharing
I had no idea the grocery game existed.cool hub, thanks
I am in California and never heard of this game. I just shop every other Saturday, early after making a list of the items that are in the newpaper. And spend my morning hitting all the stores of items that are on sale that I need. I had always felt that I was getting a bargain (LOL) until after reading this hub. This is great information that was published.
http://how-make-money-online-fast.com
I used it for the trail period. It's just me and my husband in the home. So I don't think it made amjor difference to me. I am from Texas. Here are my two cents
1. I Was not subscribed to Sunday papers before trying trial offer. I wish Teri advises her members to first arrange before signing up. Hence I didnt even have the coupons.
2. I look for sales in the mail box letters from Stores and bakc when I had newspapers coming, I used to cut and save from coupons myself. A stay at home wife/mommy can always do that. It's certainly not a big deal, as long as you have had some years of experience doing grocery. Suppose you work and you want to save, maybe you can give GRocery Game a try. For a household of 4 members these little savings make huge difference. Small savings multiplied by 4 is a lot.
3. They DO NOT have a customer Service number you can reach. So in case if you are thinking to cancel the membership after trial period is over and incase like me you miss the billing cycle date, there is NO phone number you can call. So
a) Be careful about your billing cycle date
4. HAve a file and folder neatly organized for coupons and if possible mark it in an Excel sheet, to be able to search easily. It can be done by yourself at home with little time, let's say an hour a week.
hmmm...interesting.
interesting! never heard of the grocery game but i may check it out.
i really enjoy your hubs!
this hub will help lots of moms like me! thanks!
thank you for your time and effort in discussing it, I like shoping and this hub suits me
Not sure why I can't log on, but the tips in your hub help us all in this staggering economy.
My wife and I tried this for a while - it actually saved us a good deal of money. You just have to be really dedicated to the system. It kind of wore on us after a while and we had to give up on it...
I've not heard of it. My wife has done quite well saving 30% to 60% on our grocery bill looking for sales on her own and using coupons. Hmm, I'll tell her to check in to it.
Hi Jennifer,
Great hub. Very practical. I'm a "simplicity" life coach, and I'll refer my clients to your hubs for practial tips. I'm more about the philosphy and strategy of creating simple, sustainable success. But people really like tips like yours. All the best!
Wow, this game is interesting. I never knew about this until now. :)
Wonderful information! As a mom to five, I'm definitely checking it out. I use tons of coupons, and research the circulars every Sunday to match up sales with coupons. It would be nice if all the work was done for me, though.
I have never heard of this. I might try this because we are so busy and this could save me some time and money.
Thanks.
The above links are just websites that advertise other websites. I'm so tired of this bait and switch advertising.....
They bill you before the trial date ends. If you try to cancel, they bill you for three months, I cancelled today 11/20/08. They said my cancellation doesnt go into effect until 1/15/09!! So they are going to keep charging me $20 a month until then!!! I'm furios and have contacted my bank.
Suggaface, I don't do the grocery game anymore, so I don't know how they are doing it now. But one time I did have a problem with the billing and I contacted customer service and it was resolved. Have you tried that?
you should all check out www.hotcouponworld.com
lots of free info specific to the store you shop in. They are awesome and have forums for everystore I''ve ever heard of!
Very informative hub, Jennifer! I recently looked into the grocery game, but found that the only store they have listed in my area is Rite Aid. It's not worthwhile for me to join, but I imagine it's great for people in other areas of the country who have more shopping options.
I live 75 miles from a major store,so if I saved coupons,it wouldn't pay for me to run down there and use them.
I play the grocery game ever other week with my supermarket. They send you special coupons for having their credit card and going into debt. The trick is to hold on to those coupons as long as you can until they actually have a sale on those items. The "grocey game" really got me involved when the gas prices wer so high. My grocer offered 15 cents off per gallon if I bought enough groceries and used my credit card. I have a coupon website it you want to check it out.
I am a manager at a very large volume grocery store in Va. one of my "Guests(a.k.a. customers) share GG with me. The coupons could really help your local schools cut cost as well as your family's grocery bill. Here's how..the Box tops for education program gives money directly to schools for redeeming the tops of MANY grocery products(Keloggs cereal for one). Here in Va, just tonight on the news the governor HAS to cut school funding for 2009(and he is an education-minded gov). A win win win situation
One thing: their customer service is not very good. I was having problems with one list, and their customer service tried to tell me things that were in direct opposition to what was posted on my page for my list. When I tried to get help on their message board, the moderators deleted my post because it mentioned problems with the list. I will never give them another cent. There are other sites that do the same thing, like A Full Cup, plus a local one. Same exact thing. And they're free.
I heard TheGroceryGame is in Canada as well, enjoy the coupons and grocery savings!
The GG's customer service is TERRIBLE! I WOULD STAY AWAY FROM GG.
I don't like that they don't post the list until Sunday only giving you the option of Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday to shop.
I save on average 62% with my GG lists. Sometimes the List has things on it that aren't on sale in my store - and that's okay with me - other times it works in my favor. I do not have time to go to all these little freebie sites and scour them for the deals. I log in - I print my Lists - I pull my coupons (my son is helping now and considers coupons money) - go to the store!
GG customer service has helped me more than once with figuring out how a sale works. GG customer service refunded a charge to my account when it was MY FAULT that it processed. GG customer service gave my friend free weeks when her husband was ill.... My experience is completely different from others that say "stay away".
Yes - you have to learn to shop on the right days of the week for maximum time and money savings.... You go shopping Sun-Tues on some Lists because you get the Sunday newspaper on Saturday (early edition) and then you shop. If you shop prior to Sunday (or late Saturday) you don't have the new Sunday coupons and so you then have to make ANOTHER trip to the store. So - be willing to try something new - be flexible - give them a try and I would bet that you will learn alot about saving money and you will probably have great customer service just like I have had.
Did I mention I save an average of 62% each week? Don't give up before you try couponing - you can do it. I never thought I could.
Oh - and you can earn 12 free weeks for referring 3 people - I'm on 2 - can't wait for the 3rd.
There are more and more stories on the news about how families can save lots of money on their groceries by doing this. I have started using more coupons and paying attention to the sales a whole lot more myself and it does add up.
Great info, thank you. There is also an excellent coupon site Http://www.couponandcodes.com that offers pre-programmed searches and then free coupon organizing software. Happy saving!, Tom
I don't have the patience and organization to clip coupons. I also do a lot of cooking from scratch so I never see a lot of things that I want. I do however LOVE the sales that Kroger and Publix have, but have such a hard time coordinating which sales/which week/which store.
Do you really save that much more with the coupons? Or would it be worth it just for the sales that go on in the stores?
This information is very help to 95% of Families
I tried it - I would agree that it is worth the price. But I don't think it is worth the time. I go to the most reasonable store I have in my area and buy what I need. Limit waste. That saves more money than anything else.
I looked into this and signed up for the trial. I found it too time consuming with very little savings. I will say that busy families who eat mostly packaged food would save money. I personally buy almost all fresh and organic food which do not have coupons. To save money I shop at Costco and WalMart. I buy store brands and shop my local Ingles for organics, meat, and produce. I stock up when there are sales and just pay attention to the sale cycles. I have found that coupon prices rarely save me more than buying store brands especially when I stock up during store sales. I have a budget, menu plan, and keep a stockpile pantry all without clipping one coupon.
Grocey Game is the best! I have been a member for 2 years. I do not understand people that say it takes too long. It takes a little organization in the beginning...start a file folder by month that you file all the inserts in. When you get the insert put the date on front. Then I pull all coupons for each week. Takes 1/2 hour. I save $100.00 to $200.00 a week. LOVE IT!
i found it useful for items that were super cheap and had a coupon that i definately would have missed before. (i am too unorganized to figure all that stuff out on my own.) however the GG is almost all processed foods and i could see that we weren’t feeling as well, and i gained some weight :(. a lot would expire too, which is obviously money just wasted.
personally, i think that when i eat mostly fresh and all natural food and take more time to prepare it, its actually cheaper than using the GG. that includes buying good and more expensive laundry detergent! i was getting cheaper and generic detergent on the GG (for fear i would miss a ‘good deal’) and would have to wash my clothes over and over to get them clean- not a money saver….. when i don’t GG, i don’t buy stuff i don’t need and i would buy garbage less often. like on the GG u can get a pack or oreos or whatever for super cheap one week, and something else the next… but when not doing the GG i would purchase something we all really loved, it might cost more money, but since it was a much nicer product, we would eat less of it and enjoy it more. (thus saving money….) i also bake more when i dont do the GG, which cuts out processed junk (not even considered FOOD) and costs less. plus you can get everyone involved which can be fun. i also make my own cleaners now which is incredibly cheap and house is free of bad chemicals.
last week i just discovered that they are charging me on 2 different bank accounts (i moved) and they WONT STOP. 20 on one and 10 on the other. i only have one store, so i should be paying 10. they will not answer my emails demanding my money back for one of my accounts. they dont have a phone number so you can’t call and try to get someone to help. imho, when a company doesn’t have a phone number run the other way. they obviously hide their number for a reason. they have no prob taking your money and completely ignoring you.
I really like the grocery game & am kind of surprised at some of the negative comments! I have Walgreens, Rite Aid and Krogers & I often get things for free. Walgreens and Rite Aid are great for bath & body things, aluminum foil & school supplies. The Krogers list is great for fresh meats, veggies in the winter time (I have a garden in the summer) etc. I work & have 4 kids & just don't have the time to sit down & go thru each and every ad each week on my own and try to figure out what is really a good deal. I like Hot Coupon World but find it wastes entirely to much time to go thru pages of posts to find a decent deal.
Remember that everyone has a different opinion so give the $1 trial period a go and see if it works for you. I have also never had a problem with billing. At one point I dropped rite aid for awhile but I made sure to do it before the next billing period. I had the use of that list until the cancellation date. It sounds like some of the billing problems some of the posters here are having is their own fault for not cancelling sooner. My two cents...
Carol Bancroft says:
2 years ago
I read about the Grocery Game a while back and wondered about it. Thanks for writing about your personal experience with it!