THE GROCERY CHALLENGE

[debinwa]

Dec 30, 2010 16:47:31 GMT -5 misspt said:

Alpha-I ended up using my stockpiled St. Ive's body wash to refill my hand soap dispensers, I really like it, it works well, moisturizes and doesn't gunk up my sink.

misspt - thanks for the great idea! I have lots of the St Ives too, and I like the smell. Gonna try it in my Lysol automatic thing.

I think I exalted you, but I'm not sure if I did it right!

[dancinmama]

Dec 31, 2010 2:29:59 GMT -5 debinwa said:

Re the Extreme Couponers show: The first lady, Amanda, used to be a mod on HCW and is now a frequent poster on another board I use. She said TLC wanted her to do the most extreme purchase she could, and encouraged her husband to act frustrated with her purchases. She said they taped 20-something hours of her and her husband, and edited out many things she thought were important, including that she purchases for her parents and grandparents, and that she also donates lots of stuff. She is upset that she was portrayed as a bit of a lunatic, although her stockpile seems over the top to me.

I have also read that the 'jello guy' (Nathan) sells most of his stuff. He was apparently on another tv show some time ago and got quite a bit of overage, and was heavily criticized. For this show, he was getting cats for the cereal and soap, but it wasn't so clear on the show. That's one reason he was okay paying $200 for his purchases.

Okay, that explains it!! I remember that Nathan said in his planning stage (before the big shop) that the cereal would be free so I was having a hard time understanding how his total went from around $80 in the first two transactions to $245 at the end. Now I remember that it wasn't just free after coupon; there was some other promotion (apparently the CAT) that made it free.

That's too bad about Amanda because they really did portray her as a total WHACKADOO.

[dancinmama]

I am HOPING, HOPING, HOPING that anyone who checks in at the MSN boards after they shut down is also on the Grocery Hound list. That way all they'll have to do is email someone and ask, "Hey, who turned out the lights?"

[dancinmama]

debinwa: So glad to see that you made it over. Are you on the Grocery Hound list?

I guess the Extreme Couponing show is going to be on weekly. I'd LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to learn something new!!

[suziq38]

No, it's just a personal challenge to get the best deals you can. We aren't competing against each other or anything like that.

This is the first post of the Grocery Challenge from the MSN Money board. It was posted by Talk2Me2 nearly 4 years ago..1/26/07!

"Suzi Q and I were talking and I think OP might get a kick out of this one. I was thinking it would be fun to post your current food budget and then how far you can shrink it. Give your strategies, your great deals. I was, at my most extravagant, paying $100-$200 per week to feed our family of four plus five kids that I look after Monday through Friday each week.

I used to feed DH and myself on $25-30 per week back in the day, so I thought hmmmmm...wonder if I can pull off feeding everyone for $50 a week now? How low can I go? To be fair, I still have some food in my pantry, but this will help me to use it up instead of push it to the back and eventually throw it away. I'm going to try to do the $50 per week challenge, you may want to adjust the amount up or >eeek!< down according to how many you are feeding.

As for us, my goal is to hit the $200 a month while not compromising health. I am planning on making lots of stuff from scratch and stocking up when I hit bargains. Anyone game?"



And THAT, my friends, is how The Grocery Challenge began!!

Thanks for the memories, Shelly. Our 4 year anniversary is coming up.

The idea was to try to see how low you could go with your food budget.
Talk 2 Me 2 Challenged us to all lower our grocery bills and talk about it on our thread. I still like talking about it.


Read more: notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=wir&action=display&thread=51&page=11#ixzz19fxhWcRi

[hopetoberich]

Not sure if anyone else posted this, but FREE betty crocker cake mix & frosting at wally's right now. It is on sale for 50 cents each, on an end cap. I still had a couple of $1/2mq, so it is FREE!
Its not often i manage free but it feels good. ;D

Happy new year everyone!

[cheerleadingmama7]

Well I was considering joining, but this thread is already like 13 pages long!!!! And we just got here! LOL!

I have been a lurking and occassionally posting for about 2+ years now and one of the biggest spends we have outside of regular bills is the grocery bill. I am looking to get some good tips and information here to hopefully reduce that. For the past 6 months I have been a member of thegrocerygame dot com for our local giant eagle and that has really helped so I want to keep up that momentum here as well.

I will do my best to keep up but no promises

A little about me - I live in PA with my DH and 2DS (age 8 and 3) and 2 dogs. I am the director of a career school and my biggest goals for 2011 are to save more money! I need to build an EF and if I can save more on my grocery bill then I can put that savings into my EF.

[constanz22]

Just called Wallyworld. Their Christmas went 75% off this morning so I am off to see what I can find. They still had quite a bit when I was there Wednesday! Woohoo! Called Target and they are still 50%, so, guess who is getting my $$ this year?!

[misspt]

constanz: My Target had almost everything at 75% with no signs, but I checked at the price scanner and everything except some food items, paper plates, napkins, and outdoor light timers/plug ins were ringing up at 75%. HTH

[misspt]

Dec 31, 2010 2:40:04 GMT -5 debinwa said:

Dec 30, 2010 16:47:31 GMT -5 misspt said:

Alpha-I ended up using my stockpiled St. Ive's body wash to refill my hand soap dispensers, I really like it, it works well, moisturizes and doesn't gunk up my sink.

misspt - thanks for the great idea! I have lots of the St Ives too, and I like the smell. Gonna try it in my Lysol automatic thing.

I think I exalted you, but I'm not sure if I did it right!

I appreciate the exalt!!! TYVM. The St. Ives discovery actually happened by accident as I was "taking stock" of my stockpile to pass some things along to my husband's co-workers, and I found one of my St. Ive's bottles was cracked. At the same time, my hand soap dispenser was empty at my kitchen sink (I can't use St. Ives for body wash, my skin is super sensitive) and voila! Hand soap was born. My SIL asked where I purchased that brand of "Dial" when she was at my home at christmas and I had to tell her it was body wash. I'm glad that you and Dancin can use that tip! ;D

[misspt]

Deb, I "exalted" you right back.

[dancinmama]

Dec 31, 2010 7:43:25 GMT -5 cheerleadingmama7 said:

Well I was considering joining, but this thread is already like 13 pages long!!!! And we just got here! LOL!

I have been a lurking and occassionally posting for about 2+ years now and one of the biggest spends we have outside of regular bills is the grocery bill. I am looking to get some good tips and information here to hopefully reduce that. For the past 6 months I have been a member of thegrocerygame dot com for our local giant eagle and that has really helped so I want to keep up that momentum here as well.

I will do my best to keep up but no promises

A little about me - I live in PA with my DH and 2DS (age 8 and 3) and 2 dogs. I am the director of a career school and my biggest goals for 2011 are to save more money! I need to build an EF and if I can save more on my grocery bill then I can put that savings into my EF.

clmama: WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME to the Grocery Challenge from me - dancinmama!!

What a great way to build an EF and you will be able to do it!!

If you go to Page 3, Post #85 - there is a link for our Grocery Challenger's Handbook. It will tell you how we do what we do, particularly at the drug chains where many times throughout the year you can purchase items for free with coupons/and or drug chain reward dollars and then turn around and submit your receipts for rebates. Those rebate checks add up quickly and can help to fund your EF, to say nothing about the money that you'd be saving by getting most of your health, beauty, hygiene, and household items for free.

I don't know much about the grocery game except that I THINK you have to pay for the service, isn't that right? You MIGHT be able to ween yourself off of that and save the $10/month or whatever it is per month. That would be an additional $120 in your EF in 2011 right there!!

[jax]

Something just occurred to me that I thought I'd share while I wait for the Quicken software I just purchased to download (see how serious I am? ;D )

If you have an "international" type of grocery store near you (where your Asian, Hispanic and Indian neighbors stock up on their food staples), that's often a great place for exceptional quality & bargain on fresh fruits and veggies! I haven't been to the one near me since we moved here a couple years ago, and hope it still holds true. May check it out today.

Where I used to live, that's where I bought most of our fruits and veggies. Much cheaper, and much better, than a chain grocery store.

[dancinmama]

Dec 31, 2010 9:35:01 GMT -5 misspt said:

Dec 31, 2010 2:40:04 GMT -5 debinwa said:

misspt - thanks for the great idea! I have lots of the St Ives too, and I like the smell. Gonna try it in my Lysol automatic thing.

I think I exalted you, but I'm not sure if I did it right!

I appreciate the exalt!!! TYVM. The St. Ives discovery actually happened by accident as I was "taking stock" of my stockpile to pass some things along to my husband's co-workers, and I found one of my St. Ive's bottles was cracked. At the same time, my hand soap dispenser was empty at my kitchen sink (I can't use St. Ives for body wash, my skin is super sensitive) and voila! Hand soap was born. My SIL asked where I purchased that brand of "Dial" when she was at my home at christmas and I had to tell her it was body wash. I'm glad that you and Dancin can use that tip! ;D

misspt: What a great "accident".

Have you found any brand of body wash that your skin can tolerate? I have sensitive skin too (eczema prone) and have found that I can use the Olay. I hadn't tried the St. Ives yet though. Now, I'll just use it in my soap dispensers.

[misspt]

Olay is my "go to" for bodywash and I can do the soft soap in the apricot scrub body butter, and that's it. I think the rest of it has too much alcohol based stuff in it that drives my skin cuh-razy. I can only use unscented dove in bar soap.

[misspt]

Happy New Year, y'all (channeling Paula Deen's voice)! I'm off to do 1 hr 40 minutes of yoga in my P90X program.

[carolinagirl]

Hey guys! Long time lurker..newbie couponer and poster!

I have studied the handbook and have a list a few q's to start small today.
I have a question though....what is a VVQ? I saw on the example by murpath that for the progresso soup i need a $1/2 VVQ and I dont know what that one is. TIA!!!

[pubbler]

Not sure if anyone has posted this before, but swagbucks has the coupons dot com IPs available too. You earn 10 SB for every Q you print & redeem.
Misspt/dancinmama - I also have sensitive skin. The St Ives (light brown one) works great for sensitive skin - its my favourite kind. The Olay also works for me.
HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Hope 2011 brings us many more great deals. I'm off to lunch & shop with DMIL

[murphath]

carolinagirl:
VV q stands for Video Value coupon. Rite Aid has videos you can watch for various products and then you can print a RA vv q for that product. The beauty of these is that they can be "stacked", or used with a manufacturer coupon. In addition, RA publishes coupons in their weekly circular (like for the Lamisil this past week) and you can also use that one with a manufacturer coupon. Sometimes, when the stars are in the proper alignment, you can have a RA weekly circular q, a manufacturer q, and a VV q for the same product. Pure heaven in our world.

The videos usually change each month but the coupons have a very long expiration date. You have to go to riteaid dot com and register. That's where you would go to register for the Single Check Rebates, as well (SCRs in the abbreviation).

RA also had a coupon booklet out during Nov/Dec that you could get by either getting a flu shot (thus, called flu book q's) or with one of their vv coupons. I used several of those in my transactions yesterday. I forgot to add the Vicks q for $1.50 off my Sinex purchase when I was typing them out.

I'm seeing lots of new names here so WELCOME! I'm a quasi newbie myself-@ 1.5 years of doing this. It really does work. I kept track this year and will post the numbers on Jan. 1.

Happy New Year!

[murphath]

Almost forgot, someone was asking about spreadsheets for keeping track of their savings. You can go to iheartcvs dot com and it will be on the lists on the right side. I believe you can find it on the iheartwags and iheartriteaid as well.

[JennysMom]

*Jumping Up & Down* I made it over here. Let's see if my name: JennysMom, Jmo or the *Giggle* Ms. Potato Head comes up. Sooo happy that the Pound is alive and woofing on this new site! And the new emoticons are adorable!

Now to catch up on the last 12 pages while I'm seemingly on eternal hold. And look! There's no (infamous) word police here! I still have 59, 634 characters to go...

[JennysMom]

What??? I just posted and I'm a "guest". I've been on the Grocery Challenge since nearly the beginning. How do I sign in? I saw no place to do that and every time I have to do the "wonky letters".

[JennysMom]

I wonder how to quote something from a previous post... I don't see how to do that! But I love, love, love all the "smiles". Can I go by "Jmo" instead of "JennysMom"--if I have to type my name in every time I post?

[dancinmama]

Dec 31, 2010 10:59:10 GMT -5 @carolinagirl said:

Hey guys! Long time lurker..newbie couponer and poster!

I have studied the handbook and have a list a few q's to start small today.
I have a question though....what is a VVQ? I saw on the example by murpath that for the progresso soup i need a $1/2 VVQ and I dont know what that one is. TIA!!!

carolinagirl: WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME to the Grocery Challenge from me - dancinmama!!

I'm glad you have the handbook. That should answer A LOT of basic questions. I went through several cuts of the doc and TRIED to be as clear and concise as possible. As a newbie, if you find anything that you think could be rewritten so that it is easier to understand, PLEASE let me know and I can try to modify the doc.

You're VERY SMART to start slowly. FREE stockpiles are not created overnight. Do not be tempted to pay even $1 for something like shampoo because you have been used to paying over $3 for it. In no time, you will have several bottles of name-brand shampoo (and many other products) FOR FREE!!

[dancinmama]

Okay, you guys. I went back and modified the very first post to make it more welcoming to newbies (and oldbies too). If you have any suggestions as to how we can make that "first impression" more friendly, please let me know. TIA

[misspt]

Dec 31, 2010 11:10:26 GMT -5 pubbler said:

Not sure if anyone has posted this before, but swagbucks has the coupons dot com IPs available too. You earn 10 SB for every Q you print & redeem.
Misspt/dancinmama - I also have sensitive skin. The St Ives (light brown one) works great for sensitive skin - its my favourite kind. The Olay also works for me.
HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Hope 2011 brings us many more great deals. I'm off to lunch & shop with DMIL

pubber: this must be why I like it so much as hand soap, b/c that's exactly the bodywash that had a busted bottle.

[misspt]

Dec 31, 2010 12:55:02 GMT -5 dancinmama said:

Okay, you guys. I went back and modified the very first post to make it more welcoming to newbies (and oldbies too). If you have any suggestions as to how we can make that "first impression" more friendly, please let me know. TIA

dancin:[b][/b]I am so glad you did that! I meant to suggest a while back, but as usual I got sidetracked reading other people's posts. It looks good.

P.S. I am "exalting" you for all your hard work with welcoming the newbies and modifying the first post, thanks!

[misspt]

dancin or a computer savvy hound: is there a way to link to the grocery hound handbook to that first post or post the handbook to the wikispaces page we have and then link to wikispaces?

[misspt]

jmo: I'm glad to see you found your way over here! I think jmo is perfect, and I switched to misspt for the same reason.

[tam2243]

Dancin - the updated post sounds great. Nice job - as usual.

I was thinking of the Bertoli deal a few days ago. At that time I remember you saying we should stock up when the deal is good because we don't know when/if a situation will change. I stocked up on Electrosol (enough for about 5 years) around then because of the $2.50 q and the super Target deal running at the time. I was paying .25 or .50 box. Then, just as you predicted, the situation changed. My supply of free inserts dried up and my area has not seen the $2.50 q since.
One of my couponing rules is - always listen to Dancinmama! ;D