Have you ever read of those ladies who claim to save so much money on their grocery bill? Oh yes, they can feed a family of 6 on $50 a week including all cleaners, diapers, and paper goods. They clip coupons, shop several different places, and then some actually take a picture of what they bought for nearly nothing and post it on the internet so the rest of us can envy their thriftiness. Ok, if you're taking pictures of your groceries you have way too much time on your hands.
Well, after seeing all the ads and coupons in my huge Sunday paper I decided to give it a try. I have always raised an eyebrow to this coupon thing anyway b/c the only thing that has a coupon is a brand name item. Saving a whole quarter on the most expensive toilet paper in the store really doesn't help me out any. Well, I clip about 30 or so coupons. I write down all the sales and where they are on sale so I can ad match it at Walmart. I make my list and check it twice putting a fancy star beside everything I have a coupon for. I even grab a calculator (a first for me) for my shopping trip. I am ready to save some money!
Shopping at WM with my list, calculator, and coupons I finally finish. Know what? There wasn't one single thing that had a coupon that was a better deal than the store brand...even those items on sale. However, there were some things that I usually buy that were on sale somewhere else that I could ad match.
At the check out line I put all my stuff on the conveyor belt and separate the ad match items. When the lady gets to those things I start to go down the list. "These are 2 for $3 at Safeway" I tell her. She looks at me and says, "Do you have the ad?"
Do I have the ad?! Yeah, like I can balance 6 newspaper ads along with my list, coupons, and calculator! Besides, don't they keep those under the cash register? They did at my old store. "No I don't have the ad." She says, "You have to bring the ads with you or I can't ad match it." Unbelievable.
So now I wonder, do I still buy this fancy jelly or do I put it back and get the Great Value kind? The frugal part of me would put it back. But I can't do that to the folks lined up behind me or my hungry toddler in the cart.
I am convinced that the whole "save a million dollars in the grocery store" plan is a big hoax. It doesn't work. The fact is it costs a lot of money to feed 11 people and there is no way around it! Stick to the store brands and cook from scratch and leave the coupons in the paper.
Oh well, lesson learned. The good news is that my pantry is nice and full. That is a good feeling. I would've taken a picture.....but you know.....
1 comment:
haha, yeah, mom has tried all those grocery saving things, too... didn't work for us either!
D'ya think the grocery stores pay bloggers to write stories and photograph their 'great deals'
haha, just kidding, but I do think the cheap grocery thing probably works best where you have several grocery stores in an area competeing
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