Grocery Shopping Strategies

Happy Monday!  Today I'm pondering my kitchen agenda for the day.  There are a few things on my list:

1. Make bread
2. Make jam out of the blueberries I bought on a great deal last week.  Don't want them to go bad before I get the jam made!
3. Prepare my list of things I need for my big tomato canning day tomorrow.
4. Make the rest of my shopping list and do a little grocery shopping.
5. Plan meals for the week based on what I have in the freezer, what's on sale, and what I got from Bountiful Baskets this past weekend.

Hmmm... will I accomplish it all?  We shall see.

Speaking of grocery shopping... I thought you might like to see how I try and save a few dollars on the groceries.  I use a great website called Pinching Your Pennies to look at all the grocery ads for the week.  The grocery ads are all done by state in the State Forums.  They usually have them posted on Wednesday.  The nice people there on the forums go through the ads for you, list everything out with the price and any matching coupons.  They also let you know if the price is a good "stock up" price.  Many times I've gotten free or nearly free things at the store because of a deal I saw on Pinching Your Pennies.

If the grocery items I want are at a local store, I print out my list and coupons and use that as my shopping list.  I try not to buy anything not on the list while I'm there.  It helps to go by yourself so things don't end up in your cart by accident.  In general I only clip online printable coupons.  Mainly it's because I don't want to take the Sunday paper since I really would only use it for the coupons.  It seems more than a little wasteful to me.

If the grocery items I want are not at a local store, I print out the list and coupons, grab the actual newspaper ad (I get them in the mail) for the non-local store, and got to Walmart.  Walmart will price match groceries just like they will electronics or anything else.   You just have to have the print ad with you in case they want you to prove it.  If I haven't gotten the print ad in the mail for some reason, I have gone to the store's website and printed a shopping list from the online ad.  I've had no trouble using that at Walmart.  Here are some helpful hints on price matching at Walmart:

1. The first rule of Walmart Price Matching is... DO NOT GO WHEN IT'S BUSY!  People will get really cranky with you if you try to price match a ton of stuff on a Saturday afternoon.  Ask me how I know! I find Monday morning to be a nice quiet time at Walmart.
2. Walmart will allow you to substitute their store brand for another store brand.
3. Walmart will usually allow you to substitute their store brand for an advertised brand they don't carry.
4. Always check the Walmart store brand price versus the sale price on a name brand item you are thinking of price matching.  The Walmart store brand might be cheaper.
5. Sometimes Walmat has already lowered their price to match a competitors ad and then you don't have to go through the hassle of price matching.  They often do this on milk and sometimes on other popular items.
6. When filling your cart, try to separate your price matching and non-price matching items in your cart.  I usually divide my cart down the middle.  You'll understand why when you get to the cashier.
7. When you are shopping for meat and you aren't sure what the right package is, try and flag down a meat department employee and ask them.  After they show you the right package, make a note on your shopping list of the employee's name in case the cashier gives you a hard time.
8. Get to know your cashiers and try to go to the ones that are nicer and more experienced.  They will be less stressed about doing the price matching on a lot of items, which in turn will help you (and the people in line behind you) be less stressed.
9. When I get in line to check out, I'll often warn people that come up behind me.  "I'm price matching, so my order might be a little slow.  Just wanted to warn you."  Most people will either move to another line or say they don't mind, thus sparing you dirty looks while your order takes forever to ring up.
10. It's really important to separate your price matching and non-price matching items on the check out conveyor.  Put your non-price match items on the conveyor first, then add one of those divider bars and put up your price matching items.  Make sure you put like items together. 
11. Tell the cashier before he or she starts your order that you are price matching.  Let them know that after the divider everything is price match.
12. When it's time for price matching, stand at the register and tell the cashier each price BEFORE they scan the item.  It's helpful to have your lists and ads right there with you so they know you are serious and know what you are talking about.  Be prepared for them to challenge you if something is a significantly lower price.  I've only had this happen to me a couple of times.  If you are challenged, just calmly look in the ad for the item in question and show them the price.
13. Don't forget coupons. I had one cashier tell me that I couldn't do a price match AND a coupon on the same item.  I usually try anyway and have only been told that once.  It's not included on their official price matching policy on the internet so I figure it's perfectly fine to use a coupon and price match at the same time.
14. Lastly, be sure to thank your cashier for doing all that extra work for you.  It is stressful for them, especially if the store is busy and there are people in line behind you.

That's how to price match at Walmart!  Here's a link to Walmart's Price Matching Policy if you are curious.  There are a few things they won't price match, like buy one get one free deals and fresh bakery items.  But for the most part, I've had very good luck with it.  It is a bit stressful to do and not for the faint of heart, but if you can get over that you can save a lot of money. 


One last note, I only price match at Walmart for store ads that are more than 10 minutes from my house.  It's just not worth the hassle for stores that are close.  Plus, Walmart won't double or triple coupons, so if you do a lot of coupons you will save more money by going to the local store.

Well, I'd better stop yakking on here or I won't get any of that to-do list done!  I'm such a procrastinator! 

Thanks for playing!
Jan