Grocery Smarts 101

Well, I've had a few people ask about how this works. Without going into crazy detail, I thought I would give a beginner lesson. Basically go to the website http://www.grocerysmarts.com/ and put in the password g84ccl. This will help you access the Utah stores. After you enter your password, you can pick your store. I don't usually shop at Albertsons or Smiths but on this program I find some great deals there. You will want to look at the deals that are highlighted with red stars. 4 stars means it's a good deal so if you need it or will use it, go buy it. If it's a 5 star deal, get your butt in your car and buy it! Some of the deals require no coupon so under coupon index it will say N/A. If you get the Sunday paper (which I do. Infact I get 3 for more coupons) then it will tell you what coupon to look for in our coupon packet you recieved ie: Snuggle Créme Liquid Fabric Softener or Dryer Sheet product, any $1/1 (4-12-09) RP-1/18. That tells me the product, what discount I'm getting ($1 off of one), the expiration date (4-12-09), and that it's in the Red Plum packet that was sent on Jan 18th (RP-1/18.) You usually get a Smart Source and Red Plum packet in your Sunday paper. Smart Source is listed as SS. When I get the papers, I take out the coupon packets, write the date on the top in bright marker and put it in a binder for the future when the website tells me I have a coupon in there. The other way to get coupons is by printing them online. They will give you a link, you go there and print your coupons and most of them let you print them twice so you can buy more than one. If you have more servers (like your husband's computer at work) he can print them for you too so you have more. The way the program works is that everything goes on sale in a 4 month period. You don't really save a lot of money by clipping a few coupons and saving a little money off of things that are regular priced. The way you save a lot of money is by buying things on sale and then using a coupon on top of that price. The website tells you when something is a great price.

If you use the all in one button, you can get all the stores in one and get each deal for all of the stores and then take that into Walmart and they will price match. I am not sure if this works on programs like "buy so many items or spend so much money, get money back" though so be careful with that. When you click on a store or the all in one, push start. That will turn the list grey. Then you can click on the deals you want and they will turn white and when you're done, click on shrink and it will shrink your list to only the items you want. It's very handy. Then it will tell you where to get the coupon. That's the basics of it. It takes some practice and some time to work up your coupons, especially if you're getting the paper. It's completely free and the way they keep it that way is that they get a kick back from the paper. If you want to start getting the paper, go through their customer service number. It's cheaper and they get the money for bringing the paper another customer. It costs me $12.30 a month for my 3 papers a week and it's well worth it!

Let me know if you have any questions. I'd be happy to help. I know the program is in Las Vegas and Utah and hopefully will expand to surrounding states. Happy savings!!!

Swiss Days Update

So Cyd and I have been going back and forth about how we feel about the news we got about Swiss Days. A part of me was relieved but another was so incredibly bummed! Cyd decided she was going to contact them and just ask a few questions since we have been in the fair for 4 years. Particularly about being an 'alternate' and what we could expect with that. She called them and left a message just asking for feedback. She got a call from them and they said that they only choose a few alternates and that our chances were very high. They called all of their alternates last year so we are going to plan on it at this point. We will have to re-design our booth a little because we aren't guaranteed a corner booth as an alternate and our booth is made to be a corner booth. Anyway, that's what has been on our minds the last few weeks. One of my friends has been doing Swiss Days for 3 years now and they didn't get in either and were not chosen as alternates so I guess count your blessings that we have a little chance. I also have another friend that applied with her cute jewelry and she didn't get in either. We aren't sure we're going to be taking the squeaky shoes this year so we're going to have to get creative and start thinking of cute new products that we can sell. Any ideas are welcome. :)

Follow Up

I just wanted to do a follow up to my previous post. Today I went to Smiths to take advantage of some good deals they were having. My total was $112. Then she started scanning my coupons and my rebates (buy so much, get so much back) and my total was $40. I bought 6 boxes of name brand cereal, 6 snack pack pudding 12 packs, granola bars, chicken nuggets, and a huge cart load of other things (48 items) and that was my total. I was stoked! Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that it really does work. :)

I also wanted to note that Cyd and I got the Swiss Days letter today and unfortunately we're not going to be participating this year. We were bummed but oh well.....life goes on. We are an alternate though in case someone drops out. It's kind of a blessing because I will have a 3 week old baby when Swiss Days actually happens and I was really worried about that. We have been thinking lately about the future of our little business because of our growing families. I look at this as an answer to prayers. Although it's my favorite time of year and we love it so much, we'll be just fine. Saving all that money today on my groceries has made the blow a little softer though. :)

What have I turned into?

I really hate to admit it but I have turned into the lady that usually drives me crazy at the checkout. I am the one who brings a stack of coupons and annoys everyone behind her. My sister told me about this website that she uses that has helped her cut her grocery bill in half. I've decided to try it and I have saved so much money. I know it's only available in certain areas. The website is called grocerysmarts.com. The passport to access the website is g84ccl. It's completely free and they don't even ask for your email. The only cost that I have is the Sunday paper that I get each week for additional coupons but that's not necessary to save money. Last week I went to the store and my total was over $90. Then she started scanning my coupons and my total was $37. I'm a believer!!! The website takes practice and a little bit of teaching to master. If any of you are interested in learning about it, I would be happy to show you. If there are enough people interested, we could have one of their consultants come and teach an actual class. Like I said, it's free and there's nothing to buy. They get paid from advertisements on the website and by a kick back from the paper. There's a consultant coming to my ward enrichment in May as well and my ward is so excited that they don't want to wait that long! It's really a fun thing and it's made me enjoy grocery shopping (which I usually DREAD) but now I look forward to it to see what kind of savings I get every week.



I also have found a store that I love. They sell awesome produce at crazy prices. I've started going there since stores don't usually have coupons for produce. You just get the price per pound that they are advertising. Wednesdays are their "produce specials" day so I go on Wednesdays. Last week I bought 7 oranges, 9 apples, 12 roma tomatoes, 2 onions, 12 kiwi, a head of lettuce, a cantelope, 2 boxes of pre-cut mushrooms, and 3 cucumbers for $10. I thought they had made a mistake but they hadn't. It's just that cheap! It's called Buy Low and it's in Provo by Movies 8. www.buylowmarket-utah.com/. We are all really excited. I even got my mom on board. She saved $40 last week. :) Anyway, I just wanted to let you know about my adventures in coupons.