A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from my friend, Aimee, who said that one of her friends went crazy over Teri Gault’s Shop Smart, Save More book. Her friend said she saved $66 off of her grocery bill in one week. Of course, I ran right out to get the book from the library. As I skimmed it at first, I didn’t find much in the way of new information, but I liked reading letters from her fans. It made me go to her website, www.thegrocerygame.com, where I signed up for a free trail run to get pre-organized lists of groceries that match up with existing coupons. Hey, I’d like to save $500 a month on groceries like her readers say they do! But–really now…
Keep reading…because there is a positive outcome and there are positive comments on Teri’s book…
So…I signed up for a trial run, and downloaded a couple of lists (Shaw’s, Stop & Shop, Walgreens, and CVS), saw that most of the lists included things I don’t ever want to buy regardless of the savings, and saw that I had last week’s lists and couldn’t figure out how to get updated lists. Sigh…
Keep reading…
I don’t really need the lists, and I don’t want to pay for a service that I basically already do on my own (match coupons to circulars, scour store for unadvertised sales, etc.). So, I ended my 12-hour old trial membership.
What happened, though….? I was so envious of those letters about how much readers saved, I decided to round up my receipts and see where I am with my food shopping budget. I have not kept great track of things for a while. Lo-and-behold, my husband and I tallied up that since the beginning of January 2010, we’ve been spending $150 a week on groceries! And I considered myself a good shopper! That was just unacceptable so I decided we can and will make it on $75 a week, even in expensive Fairfield, Connecticut! Even though food prices have doubled and more!
Teri’s book made me get hold of my grocery budget once again, I’m happy to say. And, I’m happy to say that it is Tuesday, and we have a full pantry and fridge and I’ve only spent $52.50 of my $75.00 budget that I have given myself each week (my week corresponds to store circulars, or, from Friday to Thursday is one week for me). If I hold true to this figure, I’ll save over $200 a month–not bad. I know that I’ll most likely spend some of my leftover budget from this week on stockpiled items ($1 bags of pretzels at Shaw’s, for example).
So, even though I cancelled my membership, I am still ever so grateful to Teri. Plus, I read through her recipes last night–they look wonderful (a simple dinner of biscuits and bacon sounds great, and one that my kids will just love…for pennies).
I’ll report back if I actually save my $200 in February!
Two Frugal Fairfielders 