Use A Price Book To Save Money On Groceries

Use A Price Book To Save Money On Groceries

By cwalters March 21, 2008

For the ultimate in pricing transparency when shopping for groceries, use a price book. Frugal bloggers everywhere write about it like it’s the GTD of grocery shopping, and our own reader marsneedsrabbits suggested it in a thread earlier this week:

The solution to all this is a price book. It costs whatever a cheap notebook costs you, and saves a surprising amount of money and starts saving you money immediately.

If you’re detail oriented and ready to start cutting costs at the supermarket, here’s more info along with links to downloadable forms, spreadsheets (for those spreadsheet junkies), and advice.

Birds Live In Virginia Safeway Store

Birds Live In Virginia Safeway Store

By cwalters February 12, 2008

Jose writes, I thought that the long lines and the produce always being out of stock was bad enough, but then I noticed the small family of birds living at my local Safeway (Nutley St, Fairfax, VA).

Supermarket Trick: Wait One Month Before Using Coupons

Supermarket Trick: Wait One Month Before Using Coupons

By cwalters January 24, 2008

Trent at the Simple Dollar describes the “one month coupon strategy”—a cool trick that lets you line up coupons with in-store sales for massive discounts. Set aside grocery coupons for a month, then go through and select the ones you’re interested in. Bring them to the store and you’ll find that many of them are for products that are now on sale. On Trent’s last visit to the supermarket, approximately 40% of the coupons matched on-sale products—in the most extreme example, he was able to purchase some ice cream for 19 cents.

Microsoft Testing Ads On Shopping Carts

Microsoft Testing Ads On Shopping Carts

By cwalters January 16, 2008

If you buy groceries at ShopRite, you might start seeing special shopping carts with little monitors attached later this year, when Microsoft and MediaCart roll out a new loyalty program that tracks shoppers’ purchases and displays targeted advertising while they shop. Ostensibly, the monitors will also provide useful information, such as the location of products within the store, access to recipes, and personalized shopping lists. We’ll be curious to see whether any of these services are actually implemented in a useful way or are just used to disguise the advertising.

By cwalters January 12, 2008

Target’s in-house brand, Archer Farms, is going trans-fat free this year, announced the company today. The private label has over 2,000 products and “will be the first national store brand to eliminate added trans fats from its entire product line.”

Whole Foods Computer Crash Results In $4,000 Grocery Giveaway

Whole Foods Computer Crash Results In $4,000 Grocery Giveaway

By consumeristcarey December 23, 2007

What did Whole Foods Associate Manager Ted Donoghue do when his West Hartford store lost its computer system during a major snowstorm? Nothing! After realizing that the registers were down for the count, Donoghue issued simple instructions to his cashiers: bag the customer’s groceries and wish them a happy holidays.

Survey Says 73% Of Shoppers Don't Care For Their Grocery Stores

Survey Says 73% Of Shoppers Don't Care For Their Grocery Stores

By cwalters November 20, 2007

Earlier this month, IBM released some interesting findings about grocery shoppers from its new study “Why Advocacy Matters to Grocers,” including:

  • 73% of shoppers “feel either antagonistic towards or have no loyalty to their local supermarket”

Are Your Cooking Spices Too Old?

Are Your Cooking Spices Too Old?

By cwalters November 9, 2007

In the grand scheme of things to watch out for—heavy metals, date rape drugs, foreclosure—a jar of less-than-potent nutmeg might not seem like such a big deal. But most ground spices lose their potency after only six months, which means households all across the country are about to enter the most spice-centric time of the year with expired spices. Spice seller McCormick now offers a handy spice-dating service via its website, which is how one highly excitable reader discovered that her local supermarket was selling stuff that was 5 years old.

Should Artificially Colored Meat Have A Warning Label?

Should Artificially Colored Meat Have A Warning Label?

By cwalters October 2, 2007

Over a year and a half ago, we alerted readers to the sneaky practice of using carbon monoxide to indefinitely preserve raw meat’s red color—several stores admitted to the practice, and while the small amount of gas used does not pose a health risk, the perma-red meat can make it harder to detect spoilage. Now, in the wake of so many food and product safety scandals, the government has proposed a new mandatory warning label as part of the Food and Drug Import Safety Act of 2007. It would read:

Carbon monoxide has been used to preserve the color of this product. Do not rely on color or the ‘use or freeze by’ date alone to judge the freshness or safety of the product. Discard any product with an unpleasant odor, slime, or a bulging package.

By cwalters September 21, 2007

Vosges makes a chocolate bar with actual bacon in it, while a mom & pop company offers powdered peanut butter that you can add to anything you like (and has 75% less fat than regular peanut butter). [Washington Post]

8 Tips For Fish Shopping

8 Tips For Fish Shopping

By cwalters September 21, 2007

If you grew up in a landlocked area like this author did—or you’re just not a foodie at heart—odds are you’re a bit clueless when it comes to fish shopping. Alton Brown of the Food Network offers some quick advice on how to find the best fish the next time you go to the market.

By cwalters September 20, 2007

“Recent events have exposed weaknesses in our nation’s food safety net,” says the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which has released a blueprint to strengthen federal oversight of food safety by making new FDA guidelines mandatory, requiring proof of compliance from suppliers, and increasing the FDA’s budget. The association’s support of the plan has pleasantly surprised some consumer advocates and politicians. [Reuters]

The Earlier Ingredients Are On A Label, The More There Is Inside

The Earlier Ingredients Are On A Label, The More There Is Inside

By consumerist.com September 18, 2007

Did you know that ingredients on ingredients labels are listed in their descending order of proportion?

Whole Foods Mocks FTC By Actually Lowering Prices In Colorado Stores

Whole Foods Mocks FTC By Actually Lowering Prices In Colorado Stores

By cwalters September 5, 2007

Now that the Whole Foods organic supermarket chain has finally completed its acquisition of former competitor Wild Oats Markets, it’s time for the horrible price gouging we were warned about to kick in. That’s why today Whole Foods announced a permanent price reduction at all Wild Oats stores in the Rocky Mountain Region, and stated that all Wild Oats stores in its hometown of Boulder will remain unchanged. Wait—what? Of course, this amounts to mostly a publicity stunt (or goodwill gesture, depending on your level of cynicism); at least one Wild Oats store in another part of the country has already been closed.

By consumerist.com June 27, 2007

IKAN is a barcode reader for the home that you scan your groceries under when you run out. The device places an order with your local grocer, who delivers a resupply.

Ethanol Raises Prices As Part Of Continuing Crusade To Liberate Nation From Expensive Foreign Oil

Ethanol Raises Prices As Part Of Continuing Crusade To Liberate Nation From Expensive Foreign Oil

By consumeristcarey June 17, 2007

Ethanol is billed as the answer to America’s addiction to foreign oil, but the immense demand for the corn, from which ethanol is made, is also raising prices in supermarkets and restaurants across the nation. The demand to transform corn into ethanol has already doubled the average price for a bushel of corn from $2 to $4.

The corn price increases flow like gravy down the food chain, to grocery stores and menus. The cost of rounded cubed steak at local Harris Teeters is up from $4.59 last year to $5.29 this year, according to TheGroceryGame.com, which tracks prices. The Palm restaurant chain recently raised prices as much as $2 for a New York strip. And so on.

Michael Pollan best summarized our little-known reliance on corn in The Omnivore’s Dilemma:

FreshDirect Packaging Is Extremely Wasteful

FreshDirect Packaging Is Extremely Wasteful

By May 14, 2007

FreshDirect is a grocery delivery service that is very handy if you, like many urbanites, do not have a car. Sadly, we have to limit our Fresh Direct usage to the 2 weeks before we move, because they pack everything in huge, mostly empty cardboard boxes. It’s insane.

Flatter Your Favorite Brands For Coupons

Flatter Your Favorite Brands For Coupons

By consumeristcarey April 15, 2007

Faye over at “The Dollar Stretcher” doesn’t wait for desirable coupons to appear in the weekly circular. She writes directly to her favorite brands asking for coupons. The results are surprising.

Since September, I have been sending emails and making toll-free phone calls to manufacturers who make the products we like. The email I send is nearly the same for each company. First, I let them know how much our family likes their product. Then I mention that I am a stay-at-home mom who needs to stick to a budget. Next, I politely ask if they have any coupons available. Finally, I thank them again for such a great product. Here are the results of my little coupon request experiment:

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