The Grocery Game is a service that shows shoppers how to use coupons to cut grocery bills.
In order to maximize savings through use of grocery coupons, individuals should have a system to track and manage their coupons. Some may choose to strike out on their own; those with less time or patience may opt to use a service like The Grocery Game.
What is The Grocery Game?
The Grocery Game began as a hobby, but has since blossomed into a full-fledged franchise business. The company, started by a woman named Terri Gault, is a nationwide service that caters to frugal shoppers. Today, the service is offered in all fifty states.
How Does The Grocery Game Work?
Every week, Grocery Game franchisees post weekly grocery lists for stores in their areas (the service covers grocery stores as well as drug stores like Walgreens and CVS). These lists match up unexpired coupons available in the local area with low sale prices. Deals are color-coded based on how good the price is for a particular item, and sometimes a list will even identify an item that is free after a coupon is applied against the sale price. The lists can be sorted by multiple criteria and printed, making for easy shopping.
How Does it Cut Grocery Bills?
The Grocery Game advocates using coupons at the optimal time. Its database tracks sales trends and coupon issuances, and indicates whether items are available at “rock bottom” prices or simply good prices. Couponers may choose to purchase items indicated as “rock bottom” prices only or shop from the entire list of sale items.
The largest savings are incurred when couponers shop from the rock-bottom list only. This allows households to stock up on sale items, with an ultimate goal of never paying full retail for the majority of groceries. The end result is that families can shave hundreds of dollars per month off their grocery bills.
How Much Does it Cost?
The service currently costs $10 for an eight-week subscription to one grocery list of choice. Each additional list is $5 for eight weeks.
What if The Grocery Game Isn’t Available?
If this service is not available in a couponer’s local area, a homegrown approach can be taken. Couponers should compare coupons on hand to the sales for the week (sales flyers usually come in the mail, but may also be downloaded from certain grocery store websites) and purchase only the items that are on sale for which they also have a coupon. To aid in discerning among good and great deals, couponers may wish to start a price book where they keep track of the regular and sales prices of commonly purchased items.
Before venturing on a trip to the store, individuals should take care to organize coupons into categories. They can be organized by store and clipped to each list or perhaps housed in a standard coupon organizer that the shopper takes to all stores.
Source: The Grocery Game website
