Grocery Shopping

So, I do recognize that the title of this blog post may cause some people to flee immediately. Who cares about grocery shopping, and what is there to discuss on a blog, really? Well, in case you've been living under a log and haven't heard about this "extreme couponing" craze, it can be actually quite satisfying. Who doesn't like getting really great deals on stuff that you have to buy anyway (like food)? There are all kinds of guides out there on how best to organize your shopping so that you can save most efficiently and effectively, but here is my own personal take on what works for me.

1) Grocery Gadget - This is a free app I downloaded off of itunes for my iPhone. Get it (yes, it works for Androids too). You can sign up and access your grocery list either through the app or through the online portal when you're on your computer.

2) Weekly Circular - I shop for groceries primarily at Harris Teeter; I used to make a trip to Giant once a week too, but under detailed comparison found Harris Teeter to be superior as far as the price goes for all but maybe one or two items that I buy. Other than Harris Teeter, I only tend to shop for groceries at either Target or the local H-Mart (Korean grocery) -- but those stores only for specific items.

3) Online Shopping Cart - I hate when the weekly circulars only tell you "buy one get one free"... that still doesn't tell me how good of a deal I'm getting. If I type the item into the shopping cart, I can find out for sure how much the non-sale price is and what the sale price is. It even provides the nutrition info so that I don't have to go searching around the internet to find and compare products.

4) Coupon Binder - I was just putting all of my coupons into a little checkbook-sized folder, but I had a challenge remembering what was in there. After deciding to try the coupon binder approach -- which involves using baseball card protector sheets purchased on Amazon and organizing the coupons alphabetically-- I have gotten a lot better at actually making sure I use the coupons I have in conjunction with sales.


5) Wunderlist -  This is another free app that helps me keep things organized and has an online version too. I have a whole "list" set up for grocery coupons; each item in the list specifies the product brand, specific item name, coupon amount, and I place the expiration date under the task "due date". As I build up a larger selection of coupons, this will help me keep them organized and also provides me with a quick list that I can look through to see if I have a coupon for a particular item. You just have to be good about updating the list when you use the coupons.

Once a week when Harris Teeter sends me the weekly circular, I open items 1-3 and 5 in tabs on my browser. Starting from the circular, I create a grocery list from sale items that a) I actually need b) are a good price and ideally c) have a coupon to go with the sale. Sometimes they will try to be tricky and say "sale!" but the sale price is only 10¢ cheaper than the item would be regularly, so not exactly a great deal. I really try to keep this in mind and make a goal of saving at least as much as I spend. Although this doesn't always happen, I think it's a good goal to try and reach. If you can stock up on items when they are on sale, especially for shelf-stable items, it really helps to reduce the overall grocery expenditure. And once you get used to what kind of prices are good in general, you'll be in a much better place in the future for knowing when to buy and when not to.

For right now, my biggest weakness/problem when it comes to grocery shopping is making sure that I look around for coupons. There are a lot of websites available where you can print your own coupons, and I am really bad about doing that. I should also look at manufacturers' websites when I'm making up my list to see if they have coupons, too. Kashi and Seventh Generation are two brands that come to mind that usually have coupons available when I take the time to look.

This American Life

If you've never listened to This American Life, there are a lot of amazing and powerful stories that you're missing out on. You can listen to all of their past episodes for free on the website, or put them on your ipod. What I like so much about this program is that I feel like I am getting something important and interesting out of it every time I listen. Some stories teach about important topics (like detailed explanations of what exactly caused the financial crisis), and others spark a lot of emotion from hearing about someone's story. Although I haven't had the chance to listen to all of the series (some of the recordings go all the way back to 1995), there are a few that I have heard that stick out vividly as the most compelling:

414: Right to Remain Silent

Stories about people who have the right to remain silent... but choose not to exercise that right—including police officer Adrian Schoolcraft, who secretly recorded his supervisors telling officers to manipulate crime statistics and make illegal arrests.

409: Held Hostage

A kidnapping victim in Colombia spends his nights listening to a radio station that plays messages from the families of the kidnapped. That and other stories of people held captive—by criminals, by paperwork, and in one man's case, his own body—and the ways they try to cope. 

423: The Invention of Money

Five reporters stumbled on what seems like a basic question: What is money? The unsettling answer they found: Money is fiction. 

394: Bait and Switch

Stories about people who take the bait, and those who place it. Including the story of man who tries to investigate a neighborhood crime and ends up in jail himself. And the story of the pitfalls of luring customers to a make-believe pizza delivery place.