Does anyone use the grocery game list to save money on groceries?

[Lisa loves Pooh]

This may be a convienience, but there is just no way that it represents any monetary savings over preparing the same dishes at home --you are paying in excess of $15 an entree. There is a chain here that does the same thing, but they try to market it as a social thing, "bring your friends and all prepare at the same time".

I'm paying $2.63 per serving actually (and I have leftovers).

For me it saves money b/c I like the dishes they make and by the time I figure out how to prepare it and then go buy it--it is either break even or it saves me money..time is money as you pointed out earlier.

In speaking with a friend and telling her about it...I can spend an hour per meal in the kitchen (not including baking time) or I can spend 2 hours once a month (at this time) and save 22 hours since my 12 meals are divvied and make 24. Takes me 1 minute to say "hey we'll eat this tomorrow" and then 5 minutes to pre-heat and throw it in the oven. So it really is only 21 hours saved. (Does not take into consideration recipe time & shopping time)

I think I can stand the "savings" as my time is worth that much to me.

I am very particular with my tastes and I LOVE restuarant prepped foods (good restuarants not chain stuff--though it can be good).

As I said it works for me and I can trim $200-$300 from my budget for doing this since I don't have to have "convenience meals" on hand.

And as geetey said it is cheaper than eating out.

If you are a $200 a month grocery person--then no it isn't going to save you money.

 

[lbgraves]

WOW! I wish that they had this around me! Even though I am a super couponer & stockpiler this would get me to eat better when DH is gone. The kids probably wouldn't eat any of this stuff but it would last me a couple months! Cooking for one person gets expensive so this would be much better than frozen dinners & offer a better variety.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm surprised at what my girls are eating.

They've consumed crab cakes, parmesan chicken fingers (okay so they've had that before), the pork tenderloin--we ate that in December so I forgot what was special about it, and tonight it is Honey-Lime Porkchops.

(Just saw your siggy that you are upgraded to a 4--lucky girl you are!!!!!!!)

 

[lbgraves]

DS is strictly a hot dog & chicken nugget kind of kid. At least it is easy to get dinner ready for him. Thanks! It was wonderful! No way would we have paid that much for a 4! It was twice the price of the 8 we did pay for.

 

[wackywexler]

I have been doing the grocery game so long now I can't remember but I would say at least three years. Yes, the majority of it is prepared foods. Mostly what is on special and coupons tends to be prepared foods.

However, if you only used it for the following items you would do great! I typically get free or for pennies: toothbrushes, toothpaste, bandaids, I usually get for under a dollar brand name shampoo and conditioners. I get very good deals on medications (cough syrup, pain releivers, childrens medicines too) household cleaners (windex, pledge, fantastic, 409 etc) and air freshners and toilet paper, paper towels and tissues.

There are always plenty of non food items on the list you should consider.

 

[BedKnobbery2]

Just a quick note to those couponers in the New England area: Shaw's currently has Chex Mix & Bugles on their 10 for $10 special. In my Shaw's, in the Snack aisle (not the end cap display), they had a coupon dispenser with 50 cents off 2 bags coupons. The coupon states no doubling, but when it was scanned, the machine doubled it. Usually the machines are very precise about that, so I was really surprised.

With the doubled coupon, they work out to be 50 cents per bag (75 cents if it doesn't double--still a good deal). Just that I'd pass that on in case anyone has teens/kids who like Chex Mix or a youth group they can donate to!

 

[melag]

I did it for 2 months but found that many of the items were very processed and I do try to stick to healthy stuff (at least in the house, take out and mcd's is another thread) so when we grab something to eat it at least has some nutrition to it, so we cancelled.

 

[umaangel00]

Would this work for a family of 2? I am considering it but I am not sure if it will save us anything to make it worth my time.

 

[Spoisal]

Would this work for a family of 2? I am considering it but I am not sure if it will save us anything to make it worth my time.

just try it out with the $1 trial. it is hard to judge at first because #1 - you don't have all of the coupons yet (you build these up & pull from coupons from weeks earlier each week) ...and #2 - you spend a little more at first because you are building a stockpile.

I just started 12-1-05...and we are a family of 4....but I just love it & can't believe how much this is saving me! Not only am I saving MORE than 400-500 dollars a month, but I have never had so much food & extras in the house. my freezer, cabinets, bathroom, pantry are packed!! I used to spend $1000 a month on groceries (including dog food, paper & cleaning goods, toiletries, etc) ....in Jan so far I have spent only $500...I am not shopping again until 2/1/06.