Getting to the bottom line with Jem
Time is money …
I’m sure that you and I are kindred spririts in that we both feel there are never enough hours in the day to manage all the things that we have on my/our plates.
In this economy, this struggle is even made more difficult by our need to effectively manage our household budgets, something that takes a combination of both time and effort (clipping coupons, scouring sale papers and writing grocer lists – not mention finding time to actually go to the store!).
I thought I’d share one of my dirty little secrets for not only managing the “grocery thing,” but also saving a couple of bucks in the process.
The magic words are at-home grocery delivery. Here’s how I do it.
• First, I signed up for membership in the Grocery Game (www.grocerygame). This is a service started by an at-home mom looking for ways to effectively manage her household budget. The Grocery Game provides its members with a weekly list of items on sale at the grocer you’ve designated and the corresponding coupons from the national coupon providers from your local Sunday newspapers.
• Second, I signed up for the weekly newsletter from my favorite grocer. Every week, I receive a newsletter via e-mail that highlights the weekly sale items. As an added perk, be sure to take time to visit your grocer’s site for recipes, and meal suggestions. My grocer also allows you to set up a standard weekly grocery list for the items that you routinely purchase.
As an added bonus, I also use at-home grocery shopping to simplify my holiday meal planning. I create standard shopping lists for each holiday (if you’re anything like me, you usually serve the same dishes every year for the majors -- Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s). This is a great tool to avoid the grocery store’s holiday madness!
• Third, I review the coupons from the Sunday newspaper for those items that I generally purchase (I group them in categories, i.e., diary, laundry, personal items, etc).
• Next, I compare my weekly grocer’s newsletter with the weekly list provided by the Grocery Game and gather the corresponding coupons, putting a check mark next to the items that I’ve decided to purchase.
• Lastly, I make myself a cup of hot tea and head for the computer. I pull up my standard list – checking to make sure that I need all of the items for the coming week, and then I add the additional items that I’d like to purchase. Once my list is complete, I add everything to my shopping cart and proceed to choose the delivery date/time. I usually pick mid-day on Sunday, to allow for running errands on Saturday.
• To prepare for delivery, I usually put my coupons in a plain envelope w/my customer account number on it and had it to the driver when I accept delivery (credit for the coupons will appear on the receipt for your next order).
To be sure, there is a cost for having your groceries delivered, but I’m usually able to minimize the cost with coupons (also the more you use the service, the more you will receive coupons for free delivery at least once every eight weeks). My grocer also offers discounted delivery charges based on your selection of delivery date/time.
Just think, you’re also able to save yourself from falling prey to impulse buying. Personally, I have difficulty resisting BOGO’s (Buy One, Get Ones) and introductory products on sale. How many items do you have in your pantry that you haven’t used and probably never will?
Once you factor in the cost of gas and the time you save – it’s well worth it.
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