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Back to the grocery stores, ladies and gentlement.  It’s time for a challenge!

When I grocery shop, I am never satisfied unless I save at least 30% of the regular retail price.  This past week a friend who had laughed at my shopping habits in the past called me and asked if she could ride to the store with me.  Thinking she was having car problems I told her I would pick her up at 5:00 p.m.

When we got to the market she handed me her shopping list.  I tried to give it back to her, not understanding why she was handing it to me.  She issued a challenge.  Save 30% on this list!  Not one to back down from a good challenge I took her on.

Let me say that I regularly shop at three stores.  They are pretty much in a straight line from my house so I try to make one round trip per week. 

Of course, I had read all the circulars before I left home, so I had a good idea of what was on special where.  And, I always leave home at 5:00 p.m. because the butcher marks down the meats at 5:30. 

I put my list aside and took hers.  We shopped for tomatoes first, as an example.  She was looking at Roma tomatoes, but I picked up a carton of grape tomatoes.  She didn’t mind the difference so we took the grape tomatoes.  The Romas were $1.99 for a carton as were the Grapes.  But… the circular at the front door of the market had a printed coupon for $1.00 off published in the circular.  I tore the coupon out and handed her the tomatoes and the coupon.

The same applied to spaghetti.  The in store circular had a coupon for $1.00 off a 32 oz. package of a name brand of spaghetti.  The regular price is $1.99.  At the deli bread counter, my friend was looking for French bread.  I asked if she would use Italian rather than French.  With a positive nod, we saved $1.80 on the fresh cooked loaf, paying $ .99.

The meat counter had just been marked down.  But, my friend picked up a pack of ribeye steaks, indicating that there was a “Bonus Card” discount on them.  So, rather than pay $10.99 a pound, they were $7.99 a pound.  That was a great savings that actually would have saved her about $6.00 on the pack.  I pointed out to her that the sell by date was the next day and motioned for the butcher to come around.  He did and when I asked when he was going to mark the pack down for further savings, he said that he would do it now.  So, we picked out several packs of steaks, pork tenderloins and extra lean ground all with a “sell buy” date of the next day.  The butcher marked the pack of steaks down another $4.00, the pork tenderloins another $2.00 and the ground beef another $1.50.

Coffee that is usually $10.45 for 34 ounces was on sale for $5.99.  We bought two since she is always going to drink coffee with breakfast. 

Anyway, you get the idea.  We actually saved 42% off the regular price of the groceries we purchased.  Of course, every shopping trip is going to be at a 42% savings.  Sometimes you just need to buy things that are not on sale.  And, over time when you do find one of those items on sale, I always suggest that you buy two or three so you won’t have to purchase again until the next sale comes around.

The benefit of shopping to save is not to buy “stuff” you don’t need.  It is to take advantage of the sales on the things you use and need.

So, I challenge everyone to try to save 30% on the next grocery shopping trip.  It will get easier and easier because you will find over time that you can wait until the next big sale to stock up on some things. 

For those who are truly interested in living within your means, I offer this challenge.  Strive to save 30% on your next trip to the grocery store.