Penny’s Favorites: The Grocery Game

You may have heard about the Grocery Game or perhaps you have no idea what I am talking about. Either way, you are going to learn a lot right now.

I joined The Grocery Game a long time ago after reading Teri Gault’s book, Shop Smart, Save More: Learn The Grocery Game and Save Hundreds of Dollars a Month. (Please note that I was only a member for about three months.)

Teri is the founder and CEO of The Grocery Game and the first half of the book is really good, explaining her theories on stockpiling and saving money. The second half of the book you can pretty much skip over. She puts a lot of entertaining ideas and recipes in the book which might interest you but I thought it was just filler to make her book thicker. The book is available at the pulic library and at Amazon.com. I definitely recommend that you read it BEFORE you sign up to try the website.

How does The Grocery Game work? You sign up, using your credit card information and pay NOTHING for the first four weeks. From there, you have access to every list available for your area. You can bring up the lists any time during the week, even though they are only updated on Sundays, even if a new sale starts on Wednesday, such as Winn Dixie. The cost after the trial is $10 for 8 weeks with one list and $5 for each additional list. Teri recommends in her book that you not try to keep up with every store but pick your main store and then maybe another one for comparison shopping.

The Grocery Game operates on the principle that items are placed on sale for “rock bottom” prices within a 12-week cycle. Teri says to “trust the list” because they know when the lowest price will be available.

Within each list, items are marked by color-code to tell you which sales are “wait, if possible,” “stockpile now,” or “free.” Yep. I said, “Free,” and sometimes, you even make money on an item. Beside the item, you see the regular price, the store’s sales price, any coupons that apply, and register rewards/rebates that apply, the estimated final price and the percentage off the original price.

Now, what do I think about the Grocery Game website? Several things:

1. I think it is an amazing resource for someone just starting out.  However, if you are a seasoned couponer, stick with a match-up website like SouthernSavers.com.
2. I love that you can try it out for four weeks for FREE and that you can try all of the lists during that trial for no additional fee.
3. Using the website is a definite short-cut to making a price list.  It is like brain training to help you recognize a low price.
4. The idea of using The Grocery Game to track Walmart sales is not something I recommend. The list is very different from any other store since they offer comparison pricing. For my area, she only lists the comparison prices for Winn Dixie against Walmart. I could do that myself with the weekly sales ad, available in the mail each Wednesday or at their website.
5. It really does save you some work but it cannot read your mind and does not know about any coupons you get out of magazines or with free samples.
6. Tracking the sales at the area drugstores proves the most beneficial when you are starting out.

If you are thinking about trying The Grocery Game, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. The Grocery Game is all about stockpiling. You will probably be able to save money even if you do not stockpile but probably not enough to pay for the cost of keeping the membership past the trial. But, still try it and see what you think.
2. Read the book, Shop Smart, Save More, first so you can know what to expect before starting your trial.
3. Also, collect coupons from the newspaper and websites for two or three weeks before signing up.
4. If you decide not to keep your subscription, cancel it BEFORE your trial deadline. You can see this date each time you sign-in and mark it on your calendar. If you miss this date, they will debit your card and you WILL NOT get a refund.
5. You do not need to use this website forever.  Once you feel comfortable with recognizing low prices or have your personal price list made, cancel your membership.

Have you tried The Grocery Game? Please share your experience with us!