the grocery game

I love to go to the grocery store. My mom thinks this is insane but i love it. it's like a little retreat and I can slowly just stroll my cart up and down the aisles. (I hear from family and friends that one day when andy and i have a bigger family that this might quickly become a dreaded part of the week but for now, i'll continue to enjoy it) Anyway, my sweet and ever money conscious sister-in-laws got me hooked on the grocery game.


It basically is an online service that costs $5 a month that tells you when to buy what and what coupons to use. So every Sunday I clip out the coupons from the N&O (which i love doing and andy gets a good chuckle out of) and wait for the list to come out. The grocery game website then takes the weekly sale papers and matches the sale items up with the specific coupons I have clipped and gives me a list of what things are good buys that week. I have been doing this since September of 07 so that's a little over 6 months. I kept my receipts for proof that it was worth it and today I was ready to get rid of this huge pile so I decided to figure out my savings.

the results are in:
Total spent on groceries: $941.93
Savings: $802.72
Savings from coupons specifically: $308.50
Cost of grocery game and newspaper: $77
Total savings minus expenses: 802.72-77= $725.72

and this comes out to only about $150 per month on groceries and our pantry and freezer are FULL! Savings confirmed... i will press on!