Yes, y
ou heard it correctly. The Grocery Game is running a contest on Twitter, and it is so easy to enter!
The 100th person to retweet this tweet will win:
RT @thegrocerygame is giving away a Free copy of Shop Smart, Save More. The 100th RT Wins! http://bit.ly/bdOWJw #thegrocerygame #coupons
Shop Smart, Save More Twitter ContestSimply retweet the Tweet above. If you happen to be the 100th person to retweet this tweet you will win a copy of this amazing book of Teri Gault’s grocery savings secrets. Here is more information on the book and Teri.
Setting the record straight: Store brands or name brands, which is cheaper?
Before I give you the answers, let me just say that TheGroceryGame.com has databases that go back as far as 10 years. These databases track sales at over 200 supermarkets’ marketing divisions, with over 10,000 items in each of those divisions. The numbers are both fascinating and revealing. All that to say, I know what I’m talking about. Numbers don’t lie.
In a survey released today by SymphonyIRI, on consumers’ beliefs and trends on all things “back to school”, I see that consumers don’t really know what the best deals are or where to find them. But there is something that consumers are right about and finally learning in this economy:
“58 and 57 percent of all respondents, respectively, are stocking up on items because they are on sale and buying what’s on sale versus their favorite brands” – That’s a good thing. Glad to hear it. That’s what Gamers call “investing”, the only way to make sure you never have to pay full price for groceries.
But are they getting their groceries at the lowest possible price. Are they going to the right place to shop? The survey further reveals: “… among households earning more than $100,000… 46 percent are visiting supercenters, such as Walmart Supercenter and SuperTarget, more often.” That’s more often than before this rough economy. Sigh… Walmart is not the best place for savings. Grocery Game databases reveal that the best savings on groceries are at the hi-lo supermarkets, which are major supermarket chains. Their sale prices typically dip lower than their EDLP (every day low price) counterparts. And no, Walmart doesn’t match all the sales at your local supermarkets. I’ve blogged about that ad infinitum. So I’ll step down off of that soap box for now.
Now on to the store brand vs. name brand question… The survey reveals that “half of … survey respondents note store brand lunch box components… provide better value versus national brands.” Sigh… Here’s the facts…
Nationwide in 50 states, we see the following levels of savings. Most of the time, it goes like this, starting with highest prices to lowest prices when it comes to nearly everything in the supermarket:
1. Name brand at regular price (not on sale)
2. Name brand on sale or Store brand at regular price (about equal)
3. Store brand on sale
4. Name brand on sale with a coupon
Here’s what this means, going through the above list from most expensive to least expensive:
#1 - Name brand products at their regular price will kill your budget! That’s what you get if you are brand loyal and shop only for what you need each week. This is the worst thing you can do. Fortunately, most people know that.
#2 - When name brands go on sale, they are usually about the same price as the store brand at regular price. Better than #1, but not good enough…
#3 –When store brands go on sale, they will usually beat name brands on sale. Getting better. But it gets better still…
#4 – Here’s where you want to live! Shop name brands and use a coupon to go with it. According to our databases, this will give you the lowest final prices on your groceries most all the time.
Grocery Gamers save an average of $512 a month for a family of four, have top quality food and household products, and don’t have to keep a coupon file. By playing the game, they invest in the 4th scenario, and only venture into the 3rd or 2nd level up when they “need” something they haven’t invested in. They rarely pay full price, as in the first scenario.
Listen and learn… There will be a test. I would like to see the statistics improving on the next survey.
SymphonyIRI Research: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100823006270/en
Yes, I’m whipping WalMart… AGAIN! I probably blab about it too much. But I can’t help it. So without further ado…
Even though they’re losing some market share to alternative markets, WalMart still has consumers under their spell. This article articulates some of the problem, although not news to Grocery Gamers:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/walmart-raises-prices/19587730
Now see Grocery Gamers’ comments here:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000582090002#!/TheGroceryGame?ref=ts
IN addition to what the Daily Finance article has to say about Walmart pricing, let me tell you the foundational reasons why WalMart is not the cheapest place for groceries. Despite their convincing sales pitches which imply that they meet or beat all local sales of their competitors, that’s not entirely true. Here’s the facts:
#1 – WM will not match competitors’ UN-advertised sales. This is important, because sometimes, more than half the best deals at your local supermarket are UN-advertised. And those UN-advertised sales will typically dip lower than WalMart’s “every day low prices” (EDLP).
#2 – Whether advertised or not, WM will not match BOGOs. You know those great “Buy one Get one Free” sales at your supermarket? WM does not match those. Again, a BOGO will typically dip lower than WM’s EDLP.
#3 – WM don’t match % off sales. If Kraft products are all 50% off for example, Walmart doesn’t match that.
Even though I’ve preached it until I’m blue in the face, www.TheGroceryGame.com has been forced to offer lists for Walmart! Yes, forced! Because people want it, we have Walmart LISTs nationwide. Here’s the funny part though… People get the four week FREE trial, in which they have access to all our LISTs. So, in some areas, there may be as many as 9 other LISTs during their trial. So those who come to www.TheGroceryGame.com looking to save at Walmart rarely end up keeping Walmart as one of their store choices. By using their trial period to compare prices at all supermarkets in their area, they learn that I’m not crazy after all! The local supermarket beats Walmart over all, every where!
Just poked into our databases to make sure I’m not crazy, and that nothing’s changed. Here’s just one typical example, some hard #s for Ragu pasta sauce this week:
Walmart in Meijer area with coupons: $1.20
Meijer with coupons: 52 cents
Walmart in Winn Dixie area with coupons: $1.20
Winn Dixie with coupons: 90 cents
I could go on and on with the above exercise. But suffice it to say, this is what we see nationwide on most of the grocery prices in our databases.
So, take your blinders off, and take a good hard look. Or don’t look in that direction anymore. Liberate yourself! And enjoy winning The Grocery Game at your friendly, beautiful, local supermarket, and save even more money!
There now… Doesn’t that feel better?
About this time last year, I blogged about how vacation condos can save alot of money on family vacations. I still prefer condo vacations for families, instead of a hotel for lots of reasons. So don’t abandon the condo idea, but listen to this…
This morning, I spoke to a friend of mine who runs a vacation rental business. He said that fraud has become rampant in recent weeks. His clients, vacation home owners, have had numerous families show up to their rental properties to check in. But alas, these poor unsuspecting vacationers fell for a scam, and gave their money to some erroneous scam artist. Yes, this property was advertised for rent with photos of the property, a description, list of amenities, etc. But the person who posted the advertisement and received payment for the rental was not the owner of the property. It was so disheartening to hear that while this used to happen occasionally, the problem has recently become epidemic. And the saddest part is that the unsuspecting vacationers are out of money, and out of a place to stay. The true owner of the vacation property has nothing to offer these poor people, except for where to find a local hotel. The tip here is that many of these vacationers answered an ad on Craigslist. So if you plan to rent a vacation property, be safe and rent from a reputable agency. To find out who is and who isn’t, google the property and rental agency associated with the property. Read all the information available and then decide if you’re dealing with the real proprietor.
Most of us can now recognize an internet scam, since so many of them have been going around for so long. But there are more and more born and morphing every day. A quick check on the “iC3” website, which works with the FBI, can keep you apprised of the latest internet scams. Read it and get creeped out! http://www.ic3.gov/crimeschemes.aspx
Being in the business I’m in, I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you about coupon fraud. Since the popularity of coupons is on the rise, con artists are luring unsuspecting victims with too good to be true coupon offers. The NGA, National Grocers Association, lists the most prevalent fraudulent coupons, most of which are distributed throughwebsites or by email. You can view updates here: http://www.nationalgrocers.org/Coupons/2010%20Coupons.html
It’s important to be aware of fraudulent coupons, because you, the victim, could be a party to the scam if you try to redeem one. To be safe, you should only print coupons from reputable websites, and as a general rule steer clear of PDF coupons. However, some manufacturers of foods don’t have sophisticated software and will offer coupons by PDF. If you’re sure the site is indeed the manufacturer of the product, then you’re probably safe to print their PDF coupon. But instead of spending time trying to find certified coupons on the internet, I can proudly say that there is no reason to look any further than Teri’s Coupon Center, where we update with the latest REAL coupons on a daily basis. In Teri’s Coupon Center, you can print FREE coupons from our website (encrypted, limited, and secure), from individual manufacturers’ websites, load virtual coupons to your club card, and more. Save money, but do it wisely!
http://www.thegrocerygame.com/con_Teris_Coupon_Center.cfm
According to the PLMA, Private Label Manufacturers Association, store-brand sales of food for 2009 reached a record high of $55.5 billion, marking a 6.7% increase in store brands, and 1.7% decrease in name brands.
One might assume the increase in store brand popularity is solely due to the economy, and to the consumers’ new mindset for value. In part, that must be part of the reason for this dramatic record breaking shift. But it’s been a long haul for store brands to gain the reputation they deserve as a plausible alternative to higher priced name brand products. In short, they’ve worked hard for it, especially over the last three years, building their brands in terms of quality and value. Of the recent shift, Brian Sharoff, president of PLMA states, “The statistics document the amazing increases in store-brand popularity… But as most market researchers know, the growth of store brands is by no means a recessionary phenomenon. Its success began years before the current downturn and is rooted in increasing assortment, quality ingredients, innovative product concepts and retailer commitment.”
I shop Vons, which is a Safeway store. And As CEO of TheGroceryGame.com, I’m well acquainted with store brands nationwide in over 200 markets that we serve. I’ve been pleased with most everything I’ve had the opportunity to try in all the banners nationwide, including Giant Eagle, Publix, Kroger, Supervalu owned supermarkets and more. As for Safeway store brands, I’ve personally been very happy with their various brands. http://www.safeway.com/ifl/grocery/our-brands Safeway Select is absolutely fantastic. The frozen party size entrees like lasagna, enchiladas, and cannelloni can’t be beat. Lately, at $6.99 on sale with Safeway coupon for a “10 serving” tray, I can hardly justify making it myself! I stocked up, and they’re great for nights when I don’t want to cook (like tonight after a long busy weekend). Their “Primo Taglio” artisan deli products recently pleased even the most discerning European palates at my Father’s Day BBQ. Of course, I didn’t tell them I got a great deal on on my lovely salami and cheese appetizers! I can’t say enough about how much we love Rancher’s Reserve meats. And the Lucerne dairy products on sale are the bomb! Until tomorrow, June 29, Safeway has the one pound butter on sale with Safeway store coupon for 1.99 each. I invested in the limit of 3, because it’s good quality butter. And Greg and I are sort of snobs about butter! (BTW, you can freeze butter).
If you got duped in the early “generic” days, and have since had an aversion to store brands, you may want to give them another try. But if you’re still reticent about that, don’t despair. Grocery Game databases show a marked savings of 50-60% over store brands, when buying name brands on sale with a coupon. Just a few examples… Kroger store brand frozen vegetables go on sale for about 7 cents per ounce. But when Green Giant goes on sale at Kroger, and you use a coupon with that sale, it goes for about 3 cents per ounce. That’s a 57% savings over buying the store brand. Kroger Granola bars, $1.88, against Nature Valley on sale with coupon for a final price of 60 cents (74% less than store brand). Safeway plates vs. Hefty (14 cents each vs. 6 cents each), and so on in supermarkets nationwide.
So why am I so thrilled with my Safeway store brands? They’re great quality for things that I need, when name brands aren’t on sale with coupons. Nuf said!
A reporter just asked me what is the greatest deterrent to saving money on groceries… Being stubborn, being old fashioned, believing a cliché… “Coupons are just for junk food”.
If you believe that one, you haven’t taken a good look in a long time, probably years. Welcome to the 21st century. The world has changed in many ways, and the smartest people are changing with it.
“Well-Off and Well-Coiffed Adults Use Coupons More, New Research Shows Affluent, Educated and Metro Consumers Have Adopted a Couponing Lifestyle” as documented here: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100525006709&newsLang=en
Sure. If you run out and buy a Sunday paper, you’ll thumb through and find lots of things you won’t want to buy. Not everything in there is for my family either. But I’m sure you’ll also find lots of coupons for things you DO buy. So why throw out the baby with the bath? Of the 150 new coupons I get every week, I only redeem about 20-30 of them. And because I actually use those coupons, I save 67% on the average. Grocery Gamers do the same nationwide every week (avg. savings $512/month for a family of four).
There’s another reason not to get the Sunday paper just yet. You won’t see everything there. Far from it. “Nowadays”, a great portion of the best coupons are found elsewhere… on the internet, electronic downloads to your club card, etc. So how do you find them, and what’s out there for you? Take a quick, free, easy look right now. Our Coupon Tracker is the most comprehensive coupon database on the web. I just entered my zip code to bring up the info on 1650 coupons available to me right now, and where to find them, whether in the Sunday paper, internet, electronic, or whatever. Enter a keyword or browse categories to find coupons for things you buy.
http://www.thegrocerygame.com/app/couponTracker/#SearchCoupons
So you found some free money?! But wait! Don’t buy a coupon file! Years ago, Grocery Gamers quit cutting and filing coupons. Watch this video and tutorial to learn how and why.
http://www.thegrocerygame.com/app/couponTracker/#Help-GettingStarted
Now that you see there is money to be found in the world of coupons, you can continue to build your own shopping list and find coupons using our free coupon tracker. Or you can pay a professional $1.25 a week to build a strategically planned money saving shopping list. That’s membership to The Grocery Game, where we do the work for you by matching coupons to advertised and Unadvertised sales, tracking sales cycles for you, telling you when, how and where to buy at the lowest of lows. There’s a no obligation 4 week FREE trial, in which time you should save enough money to buy a deep freezer. And on your trial, you can access all supermarket and drugstore lists in your area. Enter your zip code in the red box here to get started: https://www.thegrocerygame.com/con_Free_Trial.cfm?function=order&smt=0&srm=1
For more info about what Grocery Gamers get with membership:
http://www.thegrocerygame.com/con_What_Is_The_Grocery_Game.cfm
So whether you decide to pay the professionals or just use our free Coupon Tracker, let me leave you with this parting thought…
Leave your past, and embrace your future.
There are tons of scholarships and grants available for college. I could write volumes about this, but these days, it’s easy to find scholarships… A google search!
Foundation grants are specific to certain areas of interest. Most will bear on the career choice or major of the student. Some are related to certain ethnicity or place of residency. Either way, google searches that pertain to your student’s major should be done separately from a google search for ethnicity. For example, Davi, my foreign exchange student is black, and wants to study architecture. So I googled “african american scholarships” and came up with lots of results. I also googled “minority scholarships” and came up with more.
Next I googled “architecture scholarships” and came up with a number of them specifically earmarked for that field of interest. This is one of them, which is actually a very useful site for researching any kind of scholarship:
http://www.collegescholarships.org/scholarships/architecture.htm
Read carefully through the requirements and exclusions. If your student fits every bit of criteria listed, you can apply and should. Some are for 2nd, 3rd or 4th year of study. So applying for grants and scholarships can be ongoing through college.
Corporate grants can be very specific in terms or major, or may be general scholarships based on being related to someone who worked for the corporation. For example, think of relatives who have worked for a certain company for many years. Even if the relative has retired, there may be grants designated for children or grandchildren of their employees past or present. The grants may be specific to a major or not. Walmart has a general scholarship for children of employees: http://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/corporate-scholarships/walton-family-foundation-scholarship.aspx And a different one for students who are employees: http://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/corporate-scholarships/walmart-higher-reach-scholarship.aspx
Some corporations offer scholarships for anyone pursuing a major in their industry, set up through a foundation. For example, if the company is a drug company, the scholarships may only be for those studying the medical field, like Bayer Foundations: http://www.bayer-foundations.com/en/homepage.aspx. Or Warner Brothers Hanna Barbara has a $10,000 scholarship for anyone studying animation. This one, like many corporate grants has nothing to do with relative employees, but has everything to do with the major. http://www.awn.com/news/education-and-training/wb-animation-creates-scholarship-honoring-bill-hanna-joseph-barbera
Here’s an informative page on some corporate grants, and great website for researching grants of any kind: http://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/corporate-scholarships/corporate-scholarships.aspx
Government grants: Again, google search. Check your city, county, state, etc.
Lots of google searches using different keywords can turn up many opportunities.
There’s a good discussion taking place on our message board.
http://terismessageboard.thegrocerygame.com/showthread.php?t=161261
Along with lots of other good pieces of insight, someone mentioned the CLEP exams, basically what we call “testing out”. This is a great way to save money! And we all love that! Share your ideas, and let’s put our heads together to come up with money to send our kids to college!
Now that Christian’s going off to college, there are so many things I wish we would have known long ago. Thankfully, Christian got accepted to the private university of his choice, and even got a partial scholarship. But during this process there were things I wish we had known to do before he started his freshman year in HS.
#1 Spend some time going through college applications on college websites with your child. - Once you start to see the fields information that must be filled in on the applications, you and your student will have a better idea of what he or she needs to be doing now, in order to give great answers to those questions in the future.
#2 - Start taking SATs as early as possible. You can take them again and again, and the higher score prevails. This is VERY important. While a high GPA is ideal, a good SAT can counteract less than perfect grades. Also, some scholarship grants are based on either a high GPA and/or a high SAT.
#3 Take advantage of all the support materials and programs at www.CollegeBoard.com. This is the site where you sign up for your SAT. All you have to do is opt to participate in the many support programs available. Sign up for the free Collegeboard SAT “Question of the day”, which gives you a daily dose of how the questions work, and is very helpful. If Christian had been doing this every day for just a few minutes for a couple of years, I think it would have helped him immensely with his score. There are also lots of other great tools on the website. There are also SAT study DVDs, CDs, etc for purchase.
#4 Become active in an extracurricular - Nearly every college application asks about extracurriculars. If your child excels in academics, she should join a chess team, a debate team, spelling bee, or any other academic activity for which you can attain accolades and awards. It needs to be an official extracurricular through the school or other reputable organization. Your student should strive to win awards, which he can cite on the college application.
#5 Another extracurricular can be a sport. Scholarships abound for athletes. If your son or daughter shows outstanding athletic ability, it can pay off big to augment their natural ability with ongoing private lessons in the sport. $6,000 invested over the course of 4 years in high school for our first son Joe resulted in a six figure scholarship. A great investment! To reach for an athletic scholarship, your child will also need to excel in club and tournament teams during the off season, which means all summers and all vacations will be booked! If they don’t “make” a good tournament or club team, chances are they will not be competitive when it comes to winning an athletic scholarship for that sport. Be realistic, and try to look at your child objectively. Basically, if your child tries out for several good tournament teams or club teams, and doesn’t make the teams, chances are those coaches are going to be seeing what college coaches see as well. Maybe they’re not as athletically competitive as you may think. So be careful about putting your eggs in the wrong basket!
#5 Make the extracurricular a “job” - Our boys knew they were not going to get into college on the merit of their academics alone. So we made rules about their sports, baseball for Joe, and football for Christian. They knew that this is what they do, not just for fun, but primarily to get into college, and hopefully win scholarships! In addition to keeping their grades up, their “job” was to go to the gym, get proper rest, and practice their sport on a regimented schedule. Their commitment, along with our financial support paid off for both of my boys.
#7 Be active in a charity or community service organization - College applications will want to know that there was a consistent commitment to some sort of organization. The longer you’re involved the better. The frosting on the cake is that it builds character. Note: Christian helped an Eagle scout friend with a number of his projects. He got some very nice thank you letters on Boy Scout letterhead. But it wasn’t his own project and wasn’t something he could mention on the college application or in the admissions interview. Christian had participated in several “IServe” projects through his school, spent weekends landscaping at youth camps, construction work at Salvation Army camps, etc. He did talk about that on his college admissions interview, which he felt was helpful in getting accepted.
I hope this helps you to realize that getting into college, and especially getting a scholarship is something that requires alot of work and commitment throughout the high school years. It’s more than just good grades. Talk about college often. And make college a goal. It’s worth it!
I’ve had a few requests for the recipe. After all, as one person said, “Tis the Season”! Potato Salad is a cheap filler, and also full of fiber, more than pasta salad. Fattening yes. But I don’t want to hear that right now. We’re talking potato salad, people!!!
For all of the above reasons, potato salad should be a part of every summer BBQ. But keep it cool. You don’t need any fancy set up… just two different sized bowls. Serve the potato salad in a medium sized bowl, nestled in a larger bowl full of ice. And…
If you’ve been using sweet pickles, try dill instead. You’ll probably get some new converts to potato salad. And… NO mustard, please!!!
Of course I don’t measure anything:
10 pounds potatoes
1 chopped red onion
5 stalks celery - diced… See More
8-10 boiled eggs
2 diced kosher dill pickles
loads of fresh dill (use one whole package from produce section)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 jar mayo (more or less)
Boil the potatoes until just fork tender (not too much), drain and chill in ice water. Once chilled, drain again, and into fridge. After they’re nice and cold, dice small about 1/2” to 3/4”. With clean hands, mix all together in a BIG bowl, except mayo. Then add mayo, as much as you like. Don’t be stingy on the mayo! You’re using your hands so that you have control over how much you want to squish the potatoes. The squishing is what makes it creamy. You’ll need to add mayo, the more you squish. But don’t turn it into mashed potatoes. Sometimes if potatoes are cooked too much, using the hands, you are able to be more gentle and not squish it, like you would if you were using a spoon. Hands are perfect either way!!!
I love potato salad too, because, yes, it’s alot of work, but you can do it the night before. And it’s even better if it sits overnight, and gets better for several days thereafter.
Let me know how you like it!
Grocery shoppers are changing how and where they shop. Those who never set foot in smaller discount alternative markets are now going where they “think” the savings are. So supermarkets are chasing these consumers in various ways…
Most major supermarket chains have and still are lowering a thousand or more prices to EDLP (Every Day Low Prices). Safeway and Kroger banners did some lowering over the last few years. A&P just started a new price lowering campaign, with a new spokesperson, Kelly Ripa. Probably one of the biggest celebrities ever signed on to a supermarket. They mean business!
Some major chains are opening up smaller alternative markets, with a focus on discount groceries. Delhaize, who owns Food Lion, has their smaller discount version called Bottom Dollar. And Wakefern owned Shoprite has their PriceRite discount version. Both companies have vowed to roll out more this year and next. Delhaize has held at 28 Bottom Dollars since 2008, and are now expecting to move forward again, and double the number of stores by end of 2010. Properties are cheap, and it’s a good time to roll out more stores.
We also have numerous dollar stores on the rise, along with discount grocers like Aldi. Together, they’re taking a greater share of the market than ever before, and expanding with more stores. Aldi opened up a plethora of stores in the Dallas area. Plus, they’ve managed to attract shoppers even in more afluent areas of DFW. Consumers are on the move!
With all that said, I promised to reveal the Aldi comparisons that we did for some press in the DFW area. We spent $95.67 at Aldi on groceries, health & beauty and paper goods. Using coupons with sales at Kroger, we bought the same quantity or more of brand name products for $65.69, a 31% savings over Aldi. The same results are expected when playing www.TheGroceryGame.com nationwide. Remember, we’re investing at the right time, with rock bottom sale with coupon.
Now, dollar stores… Our Quality Control department put together some figures from our databases nationwide compared to “Dollar Tree”. Frozen fruit was the best deal, and was the same or beats the frozen fruit at most supermarkets when on sale with coupons. Other than that, supermarket sales beat Dollar Tree by an average of 34%. Add a coupon to the mix, and supermarkets blew them away. The difference with coupon and sale was as high as 80% savings over Dollar Tree.
Don’t try this at home… If you do your own comparisons, you’ll come up confused. But if you play www.TheGroceryGame.com, you’ll agree. We’re not eliminating Aldi and Dollar stores from reality. We know there are good deals, and even Gamers stop in for “need shopping”. But they’re not the last word in savings. If you understand The Grocery Game, you know that EDLP (Aldi), has low prices all the time. But when major supermarkets (Hi-Lo pricing) goes on sale, their sale prices typically dip lower than Aldi. Add a coupon, and you’re saving even more. It’s a 12 week cycle that we follow to invest in Grocery Game style. It’s strategic and it works, with or without coupons.
Too bad consumers don’t know all that. If they did, the supermarket chains wouldn’t have to build all those smaller version discount stores… sigh…