Anyone Play the Grocery Game?

Does anyone here play the grocery game?

For those of you who don't know what I mean, I'm talking about The Grocery Game website that is built around saving as much money as possible on groceries. Here's how they describe their service (you can watch their video here if you like) :

When you play, you'll get a weekly list (called Teri's List) of the lowest-priced products at your supermarket matched with manufacturers' coupons and weekly specials -- advertised and unadvertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, and presents it to you in a straightforward format.

Of course this information isn't free. But in true "you have to spend money to save money" fashion, if the cost of the service is less than what you save, you're better off in the long run. And since it's not that expensive to join, it seems like a no-brainer idea that can save lots of people both time and money.

Their trial period is 4 weeks and costs only $1. After that, the cost for a 1 store membership is $10 every 8 weeks. A 2 store membership is $15 every 8 weeks, a 3 store membership is $20 every 8 weeks and so on. You can cancel any time, with no fees. They say that their members report savings of up to $100 a week -- so it does appear to be a no-brainer. But is it really?

I searched around the web and the findings are mixed. Here's a quick run-down on a variety of opinions:

• How To Play the Grocery Game & Is It Worth It? - "I think the Grocery Game makes shopping the sales a lot easier and can very much be worth the money. I did notice some glitches, but they aren't there for everyone. Join for the trial membership and see how it works for you. It is super easy to cancel at any time and even if you do cancel, you will still learn a lot about how the grocery sales work and ideas on getting the best deals. These things alone are worth the $1 trial membership fee."

• Incomplete Projects- The Grocery Game & Sewing Classes - "My area had a limited amount of grocery stores listed and, honestly, they only offered one store near me that I was interested in really shopping at for the membership. I found that I shopped more often and was spending more money than I typically would on my grocery budget. While I was able to score some great deals, I felt pressured to shop more than my typical bi-weekly or monthly shopping schedule. I did not see a big savings compared to my regular Aldi shopping and typical stockpiling of discounted items at stores. This is not to say that the savings weren't there, but for someone who does make almost everything we eat and rarely buys convenience foods, the deals weren't as great for what I needed and rarely beat the great prices at Aldi."

• Tightwad Tuesday: Playing the Grocery Game - "The Grocery Game isn’t for everyone. If you eat a completely natural and organic diet, it probably won’t be a good deal for you. Before you sign up for the trial, I suggest you collect 4 weeks worth of coupon inserts, or you’ll be disappointed that you don’t have the right coupons for the deals. After the trial, membership is $10 for 8 weeks, which is completely worth it for me.  I save more than that each week, even when the price of the Sunday newspaper is taken into consideration."

• The Grocery Game: It Works, but Not for Everyone -  "If you really want to save money on groceries with The Grocery Game, you have to be willing to follow a few unwritten rules. The Grocery Game works if: 1. You have coupons or are willing to get them. 2. You're willing to organize and use your coupons. 3. You have room to stockpile the products you buy. 4. You're willing to spend time getting ready to shop each week. 5. You don't know the rock bottom price for products or you don't want to or have the time to keep track of them. 6. You know rock bottom prices, but you don't have time to pore through the store sales flyers to identify the best deals of the week. 7. You can control yourself when a good sale is in your line of vision. If you think you can follow these unwritten rules, then I encourage you to sign up for the trial month. But if you know you can't follow the unwritten rules, be honest with yourself. The Grocery Game just might not be the best game for you."

• The Grocery Game - Many comments about people using the service and saving a ton of money.

One of the ladies in our office recently joined The Grocery Game as a trial member. She printed off a list for the week and I took it home all excited that we were about to save a ton of money. My wife poured over the list, then concluded that she had already identified the items we would want off it using her own method (a combination of coupon clipping and reading the weekly ads.) I noted that this could save her some time, but she has her "system" and doesn't want to change it. And since she's doing a pretty good job (I've had comments here that our food bill is very low), why mess with a good thing?

In addition, she also shops multiple stores (Meijer, Family Fare, Costco, Walgreen's, Rite Aid, Walmart, Aldi, etc.) so we'd have to buy multiple stores to take full advantage of The Grocery Game. In the end, we might be able to save a little but going through all the lists might take up a ton more time. So for now, we're going to pass.

How about you? Anyone out there using or has used The Grocery Game? What are your thoughts on it?

Comments

[Momma @ 3princessesmomma.com]

I use The Grocery Game and have for almost a year now. It's great and it's not. If I wasn't getting my weeks free for referrals at the moment, I would likely let my subscription lapse. It's convenient, for sure. But I can find the same information (MORE ACCURATELY) with a few mouse clicks... for free.

[Pat]

I have used the Grocery Game for almost four years now. It is well worth the money to me since I do not track prices myself and I only shop at one store that doubles coupons. I know that I would not bother doing research myself (I have better things to do) and I typically save about 75% off my total bill so $10 every eight weeks is a bargain for me.

Coupon Mom is the same basically thing but free.

As for the savings, they only really work at the levels advertised if you have a place that still doubles or triples coupons. I can't think of a store in my entire state that still does that. Now the value is gained when you have solid coupons that you can combine with electronic ones and buy one get one free.

From my experience, lot's of the deals are on things that are already expensive. If you already buy the things, great. But if you are buying something because you have the coupon, you often are probably paying more than you have to.

[Sarah]

I think you can find a lot of this information for free on various blogs and websites. I've been using MoneySavingMom.com, which highlights deals at Walgreens and CVS every week, and also frequently gives links to the week's deals at Target, Walmart, or Kroger stores.

[DW]

I, too shop at multiple stores, so cost-wise, it isn't worth it. My area has a local Website (which I think is affiliated with the local food banks) that offers the same info on the major supermarkets. There are also several blogs that do the same for Walgreens, CVS and WalMart.

[RG]

I used to play the grocery game, and had great fun. I was able to stock up on soap, shampoo, toothpaste and cleaning supplies for free or nearly free. The downside was that there was so much stuff that we had to buy storage totes and stack them in the garage because we didn't have the room to store all of it. I quit playing because I'm convinced if I brought another bottle of suave shampoo into the house my husband would have killed me. We also buy mostly fresh items at the store, ie. fresh meats and poultry, and tons of produce. The grocery game doesn't help much there. I've found it's much better for us to search the weekly circulars for all of the good deals at various grocery stores, and take them to our local Walmart who does price matching. I'm able to benefit from all of the store specials, and I can find them all in one place, which is great when you're hauling around small children!

[thomas]

Interesting site - I'll check it out.

[Alison]

A friend did the trial a year or so ago and she said the only drawback for her was that the lists ran Sunday-Saturday, whereas our grocery ads run from Wednesday-Tuesday. This meant that the list was essentially late and you only had three days to shop from it before it was out of date.

[Amy]

I've used the Grocery Game on and off for a couple of years now. The "on and off" is because of the situation others describe -- you can get overstocked pretty quickly. So I've been using it for a couple of months, then I stop, then I start again when my stocks get low.

I am currently subscribing to two lists, Meijer and CVS. I've noticed that the Meijer list often has misses on coupons or other mistakes, while the CVS list is usually very correct. I think they franchise out the lists to people around the country, so any individual might be more or less accurate in producing a list. I used to get the Walgreen's list and it was very accurate.

I've also noticed that different times of the year seem to have better sales. November/December seems to be a time for lots of sales, so I subscribe to the lists then. Summer seems to be a lull, so I don't bother then.

In comparing these lists to the other free lists available on the internet, I have found that the Grocery Game list saves me a lot of time. The way it is organized is easier for me to process. I just don't have the time to keep my own price book.

The other thing is that the other lists don't indicate if a price is at a 12-week low. The Grocery Game keeps a database of prices and highlights when a price is at this 12-week low. Some items seem to be on sale all the time, but it's only occasionally that the 12-week low is reached.

There is another subscription service that is advertising in my area called Savings Angel. I looked into it, but it is $20/month! Maybe that is worth it for a big family who buys a lot of groceries. It sure makes the Grocery Game look like a bargain, though.

[Andy]

I've been using the grocery game for a while, and it's been working pretty well for me, at least in a sense. I buy groceries more now than I used to, so I don't eat out as much, which is a real money sinkhole. Sometimes the lists get me to buy things I otherwise wouldn't, which can be a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, I'm spending money I normally wouldn't, but on the other, it's introducing some new variety to my pantry. And I only buy stuff that I actually would use. I use HEB mostly HEB, and sometimes Kroger. HEB works because the prices are already fairly low, and they have a lot of in-store coupon deals, BOGO deals, discounts, so you don't even have to do a lot of coupon clipping, which I have a tendency to fall behind on. It depends on what kind of stores you have in your area. It also helps to have a chest freezer to store the more perishable items you might buy. Sometimes the savings are larger than other times. First week I tried it, I bought like $200 worth of groceries for $150. I usually only have to do a large shopping trip once or twice a month, the rest of the time just a few staple items. Maybe not for everyone, but it's worth trying for a bit.

[Amber]

The Grocery Game works for people who have the extra time to put into shopping. I recently became a stay at home mom and love the site because I feel like I'm doing my part to same our family money. We have experienced the over stock piling thing but I never pay more than $1 for certain items; toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, soap, deodorant,ect. This week we spent $61, but saved over $100. For $1 try the trial and see if ti works for you.

[Monroe on a Budget]

The problem in my community of Monroe MI, and this might also happen in other places, is that I live in an area where three Sunday newspaper markets overlap. That's right, not just two, but THREE Sunday papers are available in much of my local readership area.

And sometimes the coupons are different depending on what marketing campaign is running in Ohio and what is running in Michigan.

So it's a little difficult for any web site to reflect all the possible coupon matches for my local stores.

[Longtime Grocery Gamer]

The Grocery Game is a good service and is much easier to use than the free services. True, you can do it yourself with a sale ad and some organization, but if you are pressed for time it is great. I am not saving much more money since signing up, but I am saving a ton of time. And I am definitely saving the $10 a month that I pay for the service ($20 every 8 weeks for 3 stores), so it technically doesn't cost me anything.

Watch out for their affiliated message board. The people on that board tend to promote this "addictive" feeling (they literally describe it as a euphoria) and the create a sense of urgency associated with shopping. Good deals come out, everyone gets all excited and orders 20+ coupons from a clipping service, and newbies tend to get caught up in the excitement and go along for the ride. Next thing you know, you've got 20 bottles of laundry soap, nowhere to put it, and you are actually spending more money than you did in the past.