Teri's Blog

Department Store Divas Defecting to Drugstores

Starting near the end of 2008, department stores’ cosmetic sales were beginning to show decline. Meanwhile, drugstore cosmetic sales began to rise, and have continued to do so.

With so many great values on cosmetics and other health & beauty products in drugstores and supermarkets, I wonder how many will go back to paying more, once this economic crisis recovers. After all, lots of women are discovering that they can save half or more on comparable cosmetic purchases buying different brands at their local drugstore. Even better, Grocery Gamers know that with stacking deals of sale with manufacturer coupons, store coupons, and register rewards, alot of cosmetics can be “bought” for 75% or more, and often times even free! After all, I have three of my favorite Maybelline lip glosses ($9 value) in my purse, that were all free!

I’ve had a number of press interviews on this growing trend. Not to blow the cover on some magazine and newspaper articles coming out, I thought I would just share a snippet of my favorite substitutions.

Shhh…. Yes, I’m giving away a few LIST deals here. But there’s about 10 times more health and beauty deals this week in the national drugstore LISTs.

Note: “S&C” = Sale and coupon, and possibly also stacking in store coupon and/or register rewards. Membership to www.TheGroceryGame.com or a free 4 week trial will reveal details on how each of these deals work and where to find them. Also note prices are approximate for comparison purposes.

I like:

Victoria Secrets Lip Gloss $7.50/ Bath & Body Works Liplicious

Substitute: Cover Girl Wetslicks or Lipslicks ($6 / S&C $1.49 this week CVS)

I can’t tell the difference in these lip glosses. And would rather pay $1.49 at CVS with sale and coupon, etc.

Mac foundation $30 and up

Substitute: L’Oreal True Match ($11 / S&C 4.99 this week Walgreens)

Most studio makeup artists use Mac. Admittedly, Mac probably holds up better on
camera.  But I feel smothered in it. And I usually seem to break out.
When I do my own makeup for local TV, I use L’Oreal True Match.

Shiseido moisturizer $50

Substitute: Oil of Olay (S&C $15 plus get free body wash this week Walgreens)

Awhile back, I got talked into buying the Shiseido Benefiance for day wear. Expensive!
And honestly, I cannot tell the difference between that and Oil of Olay.
I’m sure there must be a difference, for that price!

Pricey Mascaras

Substitute: L’Oreal (S&C $2.49 this week Walgreens) or Maybelline

For years, Mac loving makeup artists have pulled out Maybelline or L’Oreal to put on my lashes. I recently bought a Maybelline mascara on my supermarket LIST for about $2. And I really like it!

Mineral based foundation and powders, like Sephora

Substitute: Neutrogena, Maybelline ($9-$14 regular price at drugstores and supermarkets)

These are two brands that offer mineral base within their line. We get these on sale with coupons for about $2-$5 final price.

Skin calming lotion for after waxing

Substitute: drugstore brand hydrocortisone cream

In my home town, our #1 European Skincare spa uses Jane Iredale, and nothing but the
best high end, and freshly made products. However, after facial waxing, they cleanse,
and then apply a drugstore brand hydrocortisone cream. I rarely break out, and I get
almost no redness. I recently invested in a professional waxing system for $89 
on sale at a beauty supply. I’m doing my own now, and with the hydrocortisone cream,
all is well, and the wax system has paid for itself.

If you don’t already know this, www.TheGroceryGame.com has
weekly money saving LISTS for drugstores and supermarkets.
There’s a free trial for 4 weeks. So if you want to find out how we got those few deals
mentioned above, and get tons of other deals this week on cosmetics and beauty
products, most of these sales are good through Saturday. During your free trial,
you can also save a ton on groceries. Membership is $1.25 a week if you decide you want one list. If you don’t want to become a member, just cancel before the 28 days are up. Check it out!

Kids learning lessons on thrift

Last night at our school’s basketball game, a new Grocery Gamer told me she saved 50% on her first shopping trip. She was thrilled! She added that she’s doing something alot of Gamers do… Her teenage daughter cuts the coupons, and helps her shop, in exchange for half the savings. “Mom” is happy with the help, loves the savings, and her daughter is thrilled to be able to make a significant amount of money every week!

Over the years, Gamers have set up rewards systems for even the youngest of kids. There’s almost any level of reward that you can agree upon. For the little ones who can use a pair of scissors safely, it’s as simple as giving them the savings equal to the face value of the coupons that are cut and redeemed.

On the same theme, this morning, I got an email that www.TheGroceryGame.com is in Seventeen magazine’s March issue. Since magazine lead time is 6 months, I couldn’t remember what the nature of the press interview was about. I’m thinking, “What tip did I give to teenagers?” Turns out that we suggested that teenagers could offer to play the Grocery Game for parents or grandparents in exchange for half the savings. Good one! It’s a win win situation.

A discussion on Facebook about the article brought lots of comments related to “teaching them young”. Playing The Grocery Game is a good weekly lesson on thrift. It’s on-going. And the reward is immediate!

Supermarket Technology AND Easy Savings!

The first half of 2009 showed a 308% growth in digital and internet coupons as compared to the same time period of 2008!  Wow!

In an age of cell phones, mobile apps, digital coupons and the internet, supermarkets have gotten on some bandwagons, and off of some others. With each new application or changed technology, The Grocery Game asks two things “How much money can Grocery Gamers save with this new technology?” And “Is it easy?”

Suffice it to say, the past year has seen new technology developments that have come and gone. I can’t even begin to tell you how many we’ve had on our lists, and no longer have. By the time I post this blog, things will have changed again, improved, or disappeared. But for those that are in existence at this moment in time, many are really quite good and easy. Here’s a brief overview of what’s out there, and what to look for in terms of new technology and easy grocery savings!

First, cell phones and digital coupons… Cellfire is a company that offers digital coupons that can be accessed from your mobile phone or your PC. However you choose to access Cellfire, you can select coupon savings to be downloaded right onto your club card. In most cases, these coupons can be combined with manufacturer coupons from your Sunday paper or otherwise. This is allowed and acceptable. For groceries, you can find huge savings upwards of 70, 80 or even 90% off, and sometimes for FREE! And you know I love free! www.Cellfire.com

There’s also Shortcuts.com, which works like Cellfire for Kroger stores, Safeway stores, and others. Here’s a link to those that participate:  http://shortcuts.com/stores Incidently, most stores will also accept Cellfire as well as Shortcuts.

Many supermarkets are starting to develop their own digital coupons. Last December, Kroger company announced the ending of their relationship with P&G eSaver digital Coupons. Almost seamlessly, Kroger began offering digital coupons that can be downloaded to your Kroger club card using  “SoftCoin”.  This applies to all Kroger banners, Fry’s, Smiths, Ralphs, Dillons, etc. You can visit your Kroger store website to sign up, and load up digital coupons.  Pathmark and others have also begun to offer digital coupons on their websites. Bottom line, check your grocery store’s websites to see what new digital coupons may be available.

Mobile applications are also now being used by supermarket chains to convey sales information, recall alerts, discounts, and digital coupons. Shoprite, among others, offers specials through the Iphone application. Food Lion and Marsh supermarkets will send text messages with savings potential, discounts, coupons, and sales. Also in December, Whole Foods Market launched a website optimized for web-enabled mobile devices, where you can find recipes and specials.  http://m.wholefoodsmarket.com

The Grocery Game launched a new mobile application for accessing any of our 170+ LISTs nationwide from your cell phone. At this point, it is only for Windows Mobile phones. I use Verizon, so I switched to Imagio HTC which can handle professional applications, just so I could see what this thing does. Wow! Even for me, as non-techy as I am, I’m loving the ability to pull up my list at Joe’s softball game on my phone, and start planning my money saving shop! We’re going to develop apps for Iphones, Blackberry, and whatever else comes along as well. And I’m sure there will be lots more as technology keeps forging ahead!

For New Year’s: Tribute to a Southern Belle

In thinking about the New Year, I’m reading through our message board, and re-capping the year. Love this post by one of our Grocery Game members, who saved $7,000: http://terismessageboard.thegrocerygame.com/showthread.php?t=149656 And there’s SO many more. That board is a goldmine of inspiration and just good ole money saving advice.

I’m very proud of our Grocery Game community. Read the message board and find that we are people who live within our means, come rain or come shine, and we’re having a good time doing it. This is how we should resolve to live in 2010. Then my mind kept going back to a Southern Belle I once knew, who could tell you alot about the good life…

Her name was Dixie. 

Dixie never had much in the world’s eyes. She wasn’t born rich. In fact, her father was shot down in World War 2 when she was a year old. Her mother was young and gave her up to be raised by her grandmother and aunts. When she was about thirteen, her mother had married into a better situation, and sent for her. I’m told by her sisters, that Dixie always wore a cheery smile, always saw the best in a situation, always had fun, and was kind to her much younger sisters. She carried no apparent animosity for having been left behind all those years. To know Dixie, one would expect that “chin up” attitude. Make the best of it. Enjoy…

Dixie was eventually married to a minister, and continued a life of simplicity in terms of shopping frugally, cooking food that was delicious, and yet inexpensive. She didn’t have the Grocery Game. But she sure had that Grocery Game spirit! 

Dixie sewed her own clothes and her three kids’ cloths. Beautiful outfits, using remants creatively to save money at the fabric store. She also bought clothes at Salvation Army, and always looked like a million bucks! She was one HOT lady!

Dixie wasn’t one to follow the crowd. She liked bright colors, and once decorated her whole kitchen in stars and stripes. One day, she was wearing a particularly wild looking pair of shoes, that she probably picked up on some clearance table or garage sale. Someone made a joke that they looked like something the kids made in Vacation Bible School. No offense taken. She laughed out loud!

Dixie knew how to have a good time. She didn’t have money to spend on extravagant family outings. But she would pack a picnic lunch, and head out to the beach or a park. And if the crackers accidently got soggy in the ice chest, it was “all good”, “Look, we can roll it into balls and feed it to the ducks!” She was a hoot! Dixie had a zest for life, and wasn’t going to let soggy crackers spoil her day!

Dixie was nicknamed “Dr. Pursy”. If you needed a bobby pin, a nail clipper, an aspirin, a bandaid, or anything else, ask Dixie. She’d have it in her purse for sure. And might even tell you how she got a deal on it. Her famous line was, “I know just the thing.” She knew all the cheap, tried and true remedies. Dixie was a survivor. She rarely complained about her “simple” life. Rather, she enjoyed each day as if it were her last.

I was nineteen when Dixie died at the young age of thirty nine after a long battle with a terribly painful disease. Though she suffered on and off for the last thirteen years, she did it with grace, and never let a day go by without squeezing out every last bit of fun that could be had. I think it was her battle with her health that made her value every moment of every day that she had to live, as if it were her last. Who would know? She never showed anything but joie de vivre, the joy of life! She would rather take the kids to the park, than to mop the floors. She had her priorities straight in my book.

Alot of what I live by, is due to her and her zest for life. Her zeal was not contingent upon how much money was in the bank, but rather, just how much fun she could have with whatever she had.

No matter what life deals to you, richer or poorer, sickness or health, poverty or wealth, I hope you will resolve to live 2010 and years ahead like Dixie would.

I’m missing Dixie today. I will miss her always. I’m afraid I can’t say anything more, except, “I love you Mom.”

If You Dream It, Build It

“If you build it, they will come.”, a famous line from “Field of Dreams”. It all starts with a dream. Hey, Dreamer, I say, “If you dream it, build it.” Now is the time. The time is now.

History shows that in recessions and depressions, new ideas emerge, new products are developed, newer and better ways to do things are conceived. Fellow Dreamer, this is when we grow up and out!

This wonderful business called www.TheGroceryGame.com, started as a dream. If I wasn’t going through my own personal financial depression, I never would have had “the dream”. But it was only a dream until desperation drove me to step out into a field I knew nothing about. In November of 1999, I had never literally seen the internet. But I hoped it would be the avenue to make my dream come true. Naive? Yes. Foolish? Maybe. Risky? Definitely. But hey, this is what America is made of: The American Dream. And at the core of that dream is you. Yes, capital Y-O-U!

The entrepreneurial spirit is made up of dreams and risks, and fed by tenacity to see a dream to fruition. In the vernacular, I picture storms, a windy night, and a weary traveler with coat blowing, face down, and forging ahead. This was me, and most often still is. I can’t say I did it right all the time. I know I didn’t. But I kept forging ahead, and still do, day by day. But I’m not alone. I have a staff of tenacious and positive people who share this dream and keep the wheels spinning day in and day out. All the while, it’s an adventure I don’t think any of us will ever regret.

I hear lots of ideas, even really good ones. I believe in many of them. And even the ones I don’t understand may be great. In the end, it doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what the Dreamer does with the dream. In the end, it might be as real as if it truly existed at this very moment in time.
But…
Be forewarned Dreamer… very few of those closest to me understood what I conceived until they saw it years later. Without a doubt, I had much more discouragement than encouragement in the first few months. Even still, I sometimes get disparaging remarks from those who have no clue what “we” do. But it’s easier to take now, because www.TheGroceryGame.com is more than just a dream. It’s reality. And it’s more than I had ever dreamed it would be. (Ephesians 3:20)

As I write this, I believe that there are countless dreams that are ready to be born. I earnestly hope that all those dreams don’t end up frozen in time by fear.

Hey, Dreamer… What’s your dream?…

Oh really? Hmmm… Sounds sort of odd…

Build it!!!

Our family’s birthday cake

Greg’s birthday is coming up. And it never fails, all my boys ONLY want Tunnel of fudge cake.

Greg has had this cake since he was in Vietnam. His mom used to make them and ship them to him, wrapped in tin foil, and in a fruit cake tin. By the time he got it, it had been a month. And he said it was as good as the day it was made. Kind of scary, actually!

It’s the 1966 Pillsbury bake-off winner. And it IS a winner. My friend, Kathy Langnehs is in the finals this year! I’m SO excited! Imagine, her name and her recipe her Pecan Thumbprint Cookies will be SO famous!!!!

You can make it as is, but I do a few things different. And here are my tips after making it several times a year for 29 years:

Thinking of starting a web business?

Lots of people are going through some tough economic times. That’s the understatement of the decade! But the silver lining of this cloud is that tough economic times usually gives birth to innovation.

Over the years, I’ve had alot of people ask me about how I started my web business and for general advice. But since these times have hit, I bet those requests have increased 10 fold! And that’s a good thing! We’re thinking!

I just answered an email with alot of the usual questions. So I decided to share my response here, in hopes that if anyone is thinking of getting something off the ground, this may shed some light on the subject. 

If you have money to burn, you can do it better. But for me, in the beginning, it was just “fly by the seat of my pants”. And probably still is!

As you read this, please realize that I’m not techy, or software savvy. I didn’t even know how to do email and had never been on the internet when I built my own first website almost 10 years ago. So this will sound juvenile to a web developer. But this is how I understand it in my little brain… 

I built my own first website, and had no custom software. Growing out of our platform was the problem that we had after about 6 months. I was using shared application software running on a host site. It started crashing when I got too many members. But it got me started on a shoestring. Which is actually a good visual… Picture me with one shoestring with both feet tied together and trying to walk!

I knew I needed a better platform. So I reinvested everything I was making so that I could lease better software, and switched to a more robust host. Neither one of those companies exists anymore. In fact, the first one went under overnight and disappeared along with all my data. Poof! In my mind, it was floating out there somewhere in cyberspace, and I wished I could capture it with a space shuttle, and re-attach it to the mother ship. Seriously. That’s about all I knew. Fortunately, I had everything backed up on my computer to rebuild. So…

Backup, backup, backup! Never trust a server that is not your own. And even then, now that we’re on our own servers, (12 of them I think now all load balanced), our web developer backs up everything on a schedule, and in more than one geographic location. 

For the last 8+ years, we’ve been on our own servers and custom software. Millions of dollars in software and web development. And it’s an on-going full time work in progress, keeping up with new developments of ours and updated everyday to accomodate changes to the web, and better technology. So it’s all been dynamic for some time, and our web developers work full time for us to keep us rolling smooth and safe.

I hope that helps someone. “Now” is as good a time as ever. Just DO it!

I have lots more details about how I started in my book:

http://www.thegrocerygame.com/con_Shop_Smart_Save_More_Book.cfm

I wish you all the best of success!

What are “Smart Choices”?

The Centers for Disease Control and prevention survey recently released disturbing, but not surprising statistics regarding our teens. Fewer than 1 in 10 US high schoolers are consuming the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables. (sigh) I worry. I wish teens and parents would begin to make smart choices. So…

You’ve probably seen the new “Smart Choices” with a checkmark logo on some grocery products. And you’ve probably heard alot of negative press. I’ve read alot about this over the last few months before and after it came out on the shelves. My final conclusion is that we need to be “smart” to make good “choices”. I’m providing a link to an article that has spun a negative argument about the checkmark logo. But…

Please, before you read this article, let me tell you that while this article may contain some revealing information, it is extremely biased against major food manufacturers. In all fairness, the article doesn’t really tell the whole story. Many of the products bearing that “Smart Choices” checkmark, have indeed been improved to a notable degree to include more fiber, and/or less sugar, and/or less fat. But those same products may not be deemed “healthy” or a “smart choice” by your standards or mine.

The bottom line is, know what you’re buying. You should take the time to read the ingredients of those items you purchase. Then YOU make the smart choice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/05smart.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&adxnnlx=1255619130-RjQuUpvC4ePQUXt80JhyKw

Ratpiles!

I posted on Facebook that I was tackling “ratpiles”. Someone asked, “What’s a ratpile?”

To understand ratpiles, you have to first understand rats. A ratpile is created by a family of rats. Once started, ratpiles grow almost organically. One item mislaid on a counter by one rat is an open invitation to the other rats to add their odds and ends to the ratpile. The motivation to contribute to a ratpile is due to one or more of the following reasons:

1. It’s an ”ignorant rat” and doesn’t know where it’s supposed to go. Or…

2. It’s a ”lazy rat”, and simply doesn’t want to bother. Or…

3. It’s a “busy rat”, and doesn’t have time to put it away.

Note: While there’s no legitimate excuse for any of the three ratpile motivations, alot of rats will claim to be a “busy rat”, but really is just a “lazy rat”. Either way, HE, err, I mean “it” is just a “RAT”!!!

Here’s the pathetic thing. I’m the Rat who started the ratpile on our laundry room counter. But it was purely innocent, and not attributed to any of the three reasons that categorize me as a rat in the truest sense. I laid the dogleash on the counter, because it’s by the backdoor that leads outside. I wanted to keep it there, so that when I take Marley in the car, I can grab the leash on the way out the door. See? I did it on purpose, and it was purely innocent. I wanted the leash to be able to “live” there, alone. Ha! Fat rat chance! In the flash of an instant when I first laid the leash there a few weeks ago, I thought, ”The rats are going to think I’m starting a ratpile. But I’m not! This cannot, and should not become a ratpile! I simply won’t allow it.” But the invitation was made, and the rats RSVPed. In the eyes of the rats, a ratpile was in its infant stages and had to grow into a full grown ratpile!

The next day, I noticed the leash on the counter was accompanied by a flashlight. I let it go. Big mistake… I went out of town for four days, and when I came back and wanted to put Marley on his leash, I had to plow under a huge ratpile consisting of: A tape measure, a sash for a robe, a hammer, a dish towel, a half empty water bottle, swim trunks, and a baseball belt. A baseball belt? It’s not even baseball season!

If you’re considering starting a rat family and allowing ratpiles, just know this… In rat families, there are designated areas that are grandfather-ed in as ratpile zones. Even I will turn a blind eye for days or even weeks, as long as the ratpile is starting and building in a designated ratpile zone. A designated ratpile zone is one of usually about two or three areas of the house that typically are proned to be hosts to ratpiles. It doesn’t make it quite so bad, if you’re accustomed to seeing ratpiles beginning and thriving in a desgnated ratpile zone. They almost become invisible over time. But…

Don’t try to start a new ratpile zone! For a few days in a row, Greg started laying a jacket and hat on a chair near our entry way. That chair was becoming his new coat rack! First of all, this is a “ratpile foul”, as there has never been a ratpile zone in our entry way! And it’s NOT going to start now! To make matters worse, I could see it coming… There was a small end table next to the chair. Nothing had been laid on it yet. But horror of horrors! I KNEW what would become of that chair and end table, if I let it go for even a moment. Not going to happen on my watch. “Either hang it up, or start a ratpile in a designated ratpile zone!”

Phew! So glad I nipped that in the bud!

Exercise and prevention

Exercise and prevention go hand in hand. Thinking about it today, especially, for a lot of reasons…

When Greg was a stuntman, wrecking cars, motorcycles, doing stair falls, ladder falls, etc., his secret weapon was lifting weights. He said that building muscle protects the bones and holds you together. SO true!…

I have neck and back issues from a snow skiing accident in 96. Then, in Sept. 2006, I fell down some stairs and landed so hard that my ears were ringing for about an hour, and I couldn’t see straight. It was bad! But I didn’t go to the doctor, because I didn’t know how bad I was. I “recovered” well enough to move on. I was able to go on, because I was in such great shape. I dealt with on-going pain, traveled all over the map, and continued to work out. (Probably not a good idea in hindsight). Eventually, I hurt my neck again in May of this year just doing my normal routine in the gym. But this time, it was so bad that I went to the doctor and got an MRI. And low and behold, I had a 9 mm herniated disk in my neck, which partially paralyzed my left arm. Since I had been experiencing pain in that arm and shoulder from my fall in 06, the doctor said I probably herniated that disk in that 06 fall. My doctor and therapist attribute my resilience and recovery to my commitment to being strong and staying strong.

Yesterday, Sami and I were out at the pool. Our two big Dobermans ran into her from behind, and knocked her feet out from under her. I can still see it in slow motion… She flipped into the air, and her back and head hit the pavement with a loud “whack”!!! As I rushed over to her, I feared she could be dead, paralyzed, or at least unconscious. But she spoke to me and said she just wanted to lay there for a few minutes. When I helped her up, she said her neck and head hurt, but that she was fine. Sami works out. She does palates 4 days a week, and tons of core work on top of it. She’s in her late 50’s. She’s resilient, energetic, and… (Drum roll please)… she still looks hot!

Since May, I got out of shape while I was going through all this physical therapy and pain from my disk. I kept working out, but very light weights, and cardio, because that’s all I could do. It was dis-heartening, because I was gaining weight, and hated slipping backwards. But I resolved to be patient and follow doctor’s orders. Slowly but surely, I’ve gotten stronger. Now, I’ve been back to my normal weekly routine for about 3 weeks: Pilates 2 days, free weights 2 days, 35 min. cardio 4 days. And I’m feeling great again! I know that 3 weeks is the magical number. It’s really hard when you’re out of shape to work out consistently for 3 weeks. But once you get over that hump, you begin to look forward to how good it makes you feel.

On top of protecting from injury and promoting fast recovery, exercise helps the immune system. And that’s great news as we approach flu season. 

If you’re going to start back to a workout routine, be sure to eat healthy and feed your body what it needs to be strong. And take supplements as needed for recovery from the workouts. And it’s a good idea to get a physical from your doctor before starting to work out again. Especially if you’re really out of shape or it’s been awhile.

In finality, if you’ve been putting off getting back into a workout routine, I hope my story today will encourage you to just suck it up for 3 weeks. Yes, it will be hard! But… you’ll start feeling a reward by the 4th week. I promise! Contact me on Facebook in 3 weeks, and let me know how you’re feeling. And tell me I was right!