Last year, while standing in line at Walmart with my large purchase the godsend-of-an-employee said to me, “Honey, you know you could save so much money on your purchase if you’d start Price Matching, even your fresh food savings would be worth it.” What a wake-up call! That day in March, I began a focused endeavor to save money on our general family expenses through Price Matching.
My original goal was to save $500 for the year. I saved $505 after three months. So I reassessed. I adjusted my goal to save $2600 for the year in Price Matching. In 2012 with my 9.5 months of implementation, Our family saved $2217 through Price Matching and I was hooked. As I continued my savings process throughout the year, I was able to get more organized and methodical and increase my savings exponentially.
Here is how to prepare for Price Matching success:
Set up your Price Matching/Grocery SparkBook.
I use a 3-ring binder with a purple pencil pouch for my pink highlighter, green highlighter, pen and coupons for the week. The 3-ring binder has tabs for each grocery category, and coupons are organized in baseball card files (thank you Mindy Maddux for that great tip!) My other SparkBook files are stored in clear sheet protectors: Grocery List, Current Ads, Annual Savings, Weekly Itemized Savings, Family Budget for Groceries.
My SparkBook Grocery Categories are: Breads/Grains, Body, Box/Pkg Food, Dairy & Eggs, Drinks, Frozen & Meats, Fruits & Veggies, Home, Kids, Medicine, Sauce/Soup, Snacks & Candy, Misc & Extras.
Weekly Ads on your Computer.
Spend 30 minutes one week to bookmark all of the local grocery, big box and pharmacy-style stores weekly ads for your computer tool bar. Or sign up to get the weekly ad sent to your inbox. I have both set up on my computer.
Print Relevant Weekly Ads.
Set aside a regular time each week to print relevant ads for your grocery shopping trip. I print my ads every Wednesday. I staple the full ad together and organize them alphabetically.
Circle Items in Weekly Ads.
It is simpler to make your grocery list and reference Price Match sales if you have the items circled in advance. I use my green highlighter. I circle items, make my grocery list and find my coupons each week on Wednesday nights while I’m watching the Middle and Modern Family, great task for the commercial breaks.
Make Grocery List.
We have two grocery lists in our house: Price Matching and General. The General Grocery List is posted on our kitchen fridge and we list items that we need. Items remain on the General Grocery list until they are on sale and/or we must have the item. The Price Matching list is populated from the Weekly Ad sales.
The Price Matching Grocery List is a Word Document with Tables, the columns are:
- #: The number of items needed to purchase to “activate” the sale from the grocery store or the number of items I have a coupon for. This is also where I list my coupon symbol: *
- SparkBook Grocery Category Title: The same categories that my Price Matching SparkBook is organized into. Breads/Grains, Body, Box/Pkg Food, Dairy & Eggs, Drinks, Frozen & Meats, Fruits & Veggies, Home, Kids, Medicine, Sauce/Soup, Snacks & Candy, Misc & Extras.
- Store: The abbreviation of the store referenced in the Price Matching Ad: D is Dillons, T is Target, W is Walgreens
- Size: The maximum size of the item allowed on the Price Matching sale.
- Actual $: The Price Match price listed in the ad.
- Original $: The actual price sold in the store.
Find Coupons, Mark Items.
After I’ve completed my Price Match Grocery List, I search through my Price Match SparkBook for related coupons. If I find one, I take it out, mark my Price Match Grocery List with a * and put the coupon in my front purple pencil pouch. Always check the coupon expiration date before you plan to use it. I’ve searched coupon sites in the past and also have some coupons emailed to my inbox directly from the company. You can also find coupons in the weekly newspaper. I sort through my coupon book every 2 months to remove the “soon-to-be expired” coupons for recycling or use.
These steps take planning and organization, but the payoff is big in the end. It took me 2-3 weeks to purchase the supplies, make my materials and organize my schedule. Schedule 1 hour per week for a few weeks to get yourself into the groove of Price Matching Preparation. Once you’ve got your rhythm, you’re much more likely to stick with it and be successful.
After you’ve completed the Price Matching Preparation steps, you’re ready to go to the store and Price Match! For step by step tips, read my next post: Price Matching In Store & After.
[…] that you’ve completed your Price Matching Preparation, you’re ready to go […]
Aw, this was an exceptionally nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I hesitate a lot and don’t manage to get nearly anything done.
It’s hard to come by experienced people in this particular topic, however, you seem like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Hi, I do think this is a great blog. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going to return yet again since I saved as a favorite it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help others.
Having read this I believed it was rather informative. I appreciate you spending some time and energy to put this article together. I once again find myself spending a lot of time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
You should take part in a contest for one of the greatest websites on the web. I will recommend this blog!
[…] 1. Prepare to Price Match: I still use price matching as my main method of grocery savings, but since I’ve been price matching for a year now, I’ve also found success shopping directly at places that have great deals–like Sam’s and Aldi. I purchase select items from each of these stores, because I know when I have a good deal and save the other shopping trips for my price matching at Walmart. I’ve been going to Sam’s and Aldi once a month and Walmart twice a month. Our cabinets are stocked with food and our grocery bills are down! Down by 50%! […]
The information and facts mentioned in the post are a number of the ideal out there
[…] receipt for correct pricing ever since I started Price Matching. After all, with all the work for Price Matching Preparation and Price Matching in the Store, I want to make sure when I’m calculating my savings, I […]
[…] be able to reduce my grocery bill this month by 80%. I’m going to continue to use my price matching preparation and shopping strategies, but this month we’ll also make it a point to use what we already […]
[…] spent time Preparing to Price Match, shopping & Price Match saving in the store and now you’re home. What to do? Make sure […]
That is a good tip particularly to those new to the blogosphere.
Simple but very precise info… Appreciate your sharing this one.
A must read post!
Great information…
This is exceptional. All of us checked out this amazing content so we are thunderstruck. We are most certainly attracted to this kind of activities. Our team appreciate your prospective assistance, and cost the effort with this. Please keep enhancing. …
Great information…
This is fantastic. Our team looked at good results levels therefore we are greatly surprised. We are precisely fascinated by this kind of gear. Many people appreciate your old collect, and enjoy your precious time inside this. Please keep modifying. Th…
Google…
one of our guests just lately encouraged the following website…
[…] use my price matching grocery list to purchase on-sale favorites using my price matching preparation and in-store […]
[…] Tip! You may be able to get your favorite company to price match the competitor’s ad (even Groupons!). Try contacting them to ask about a deal match–it usually works. […]
[…] good, interesting experience. I’ve purchased most of my items from thrift stores or through price matching and we’ve saved a bundle. And I’ve stopped rushing to the store every time we want […]
[…] some months is close to hoarder potential–I can’t pass up the good deals (especially price matched ones) I know we’ll use. I stock up on our food in the fridge, freezer and pantry–but […]
[…] Grocery Hero for the past 18 months. I’ve gotten 90% of my savings (aka $3000 savings) from Price Matching Preparation and In-Store Strategies . And since I’ve been doing it for so long with the other […]
how am I just now following this blog 😉
[…] what you already own. Since I’d been price matching for more than a year, we made a plan to use up the food we’d already purchased and only buy […]
[…] in the grocery store, as the cashier was ringing me up, she said, “Oh honey, you should be price matching all of these items, you’d save so much money!” I purchased my items, thanked her and […]