Groceries

Below is an excerpt from an article found at http://www.couponmom.com/ which talks about how strategic shoppers save money using some very simple principles.

I read this last year and started my own “price book” to educated myself on the best price of our family staples between Costco, Jewel, Dominick’s and (will be adding) Trader Joe. We now buy the majority of our household staples only at their lowest price. When we buy items at there lowest price we buy in quantities to last us several months. I added to CouponMom’s recommendation the following: make a list, reduce “snack items” and learn to cook/prepare more than one serving. You can eat the other serving(s) later in the week or freeze for those nights you do not have time to cook.

To date this has reduced our grocer bill by at least $200 a month vs. 2008 levels(that will mean $2,400 this year).

Strategic Shoppers know how to use simple principles that work in any city, at any store. You can use my free website (www.couponmom.com) to make it easy to save money on your favorite groceries, because it does all the work of researching grocery deals and coupons for you. You’ll save money on foods you like and you’ll save time. Strategic Shoppers know prices and they know how to find special promotions. They always buy their grocery items at their lowest sale price, and if they have a coupon they use it to knock the price down even further. They shop at the stores with the best coupon policy, such as a double coupon store, to save even more with coupons. It is not unusual for Strategic Shoppers to save 50% on their grocery bill every week by using this strategy. They may not get all of their items at 50% off, but they’ll save 70-80% on several of their items and that allows them to spend more on favorite items that do not have coupons available. By using Strategic Shopping strategies, they are able to save dramatically without depriving themselves of their favorite foods.
Know prices:
In order to get a handle on your grocery spending, you need to know what the high and low prices are of your favorite items. By tracking their price trends, you’ll learn what their lowest price points are. When they hit that point, you’ll know that’s the time to buy.
Start a simple price book (like a spiral notebook) to compare prices of your most common items at one or two stores for a few weeks. You can start with as few as your 10-20 most common items. Note prices during your regular shopping trips or you check the store flyers in your newspaper. Be sure to calculate the unit prices (per ounce or per pound) to compare actual costs if package sizes vary. After comparing prices for a few weeks, you will most likely see a wide fluctuation in the sale and regular prices of your common items and that will reveal—you guessed it—their lowest price.
When you are able to recognize when your items have hit their lowest prices, you would be wise to buy 3-6 weeks worth of them so you never have to pay full price. When you run out of an item, you simply “shop” from your own low-cost inventory. By the time you are running low on a favorite item, it will most likely be at its lowest price again so you can stock up again.

No cards please

OK, at the risk of sounding insensitive, I don't buy and send sympathy cards any more. For that matter, I don't buy and send many birthday cards either ... or friendship cards, holiday cards, get well cards, etc. Truth is, these cards can be insanely expensive -- up to $3 or $4 a pop. They contain "canned" messages and are tossed as soon as they're read.

Instead, I write letters or short notes ... for birthdays, weddings, holidays and, yes, in sympathy. The notes and letters express my own sentiments exactly as I want to say them, they save me a trip to the store, and they are the cost of a piece of paper, an envelope and a stamp.

I think they're way better and much cheaper.

Bob Ray

Saving Energy - Techno Items

For those who missed “The Drain Gang” article in the Home Section of the Chicago Tribune this past Sunday here are the highlights of a very informative article about “the mightiest of the energy slurpers in your home" being the techno products. Recommended actions to save electricy:

1) Turn the brightness down on the TV(s); cuts TV energy use by up to 25%. For newer TV the “standard” or “home” brightness is sufficient

2) Get rid of the screen saver. Can save $50 to $100 in electricity annually.

3) Turn “off” computers, printers, etc when not in use.

4) Put computers, printers, speakers, scanner on power strip/surge protector and then turn it off. There is “vampire power” that is being used up even when all the equipment is turned off. This could save $40 to $100 annually. There are new strips that allow you to turn off 6 and keep 2 live for things that do need to stay on 24/7; e.g. DVR boxes and networking equipment. And, this practice is also highly recommended for electronic games.