Grocery Savings
Whomever says there’s no inflation, hasn’t bought milk lately. OR bread, or meat, or eggs, or gasoline. You get the picture. What’s going on here? Why do these government bureaucrats insist that inflation is under control.

For one, the governments formula to figure inflation doesn’t include food or gas prices! Presto! Low inflation. Just like that. Hey, Uncle S, when I’m calculating my taxes this year…can I exclude the income from….my job? Of course not! So why do we exclude food and energy from the Consumer Price Index (CPI)? I suppose it’s so the general public won’t panic. Like we haven’t noticed that gas has almost tripled from just 5 years ago.

Do you believe that inflation has been running 2.5% for the last 12 months?

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With prices continuing to rise and with no end in sight, it’s time to fight back! Implement the following 5 tips and start saving on your food bill today.

Shop Smarter

1. Join a frequent shopper program

Many supermarkets today offer a frequent shopper or a rewards program. This will entitle you to special pricing, coupons and mailings not offered to non “card holders”. The savings can be significant! On a recent visit to the store, I purchased $115.93 worth of groceries. All items I bought were on sale, including milk. I had coupons for about half of the items. All coupons .50 and under were doubled. I had a “Save $7.00 on $70.00″ frequent shopper coupon. My final bill was $49.68. I saved $66.25 (57%) in one trip! And I do this week in and week out. My savings are not always this drastic, however I enjoy significant savings every week. I plan on detailing how I do this in future posts. Some stores offering Card Programs: Albertsons, Food Lion, Kroger, A&P, Giant Eagle, Harris Teeter & Safeway

Become a bargain Hunter

2. Shop sale ads

Become familiar with the regular and “good” sale prices of items you use often. Actively look for bargains, blow outs and discontinues. Stock up when your price is right!

3. Use coupons

Collect and clip those coupons. Get the coupons from your friend who foolishly tosses them out. Sign up at CoolSavings.com for special offers. Visit manufacturers websites and sign up for special offers and coupons. And then just remember to take them to the store with you!

Get paid to shop

4. Sign up for Upromise

I love Upromise. I have been a member since January 2003. As of today, we have saved…are you ready…$1437.51…One Thousand-Four Hundred-Thirty-Seven Dollars and Fifty-One cents. Just simply buying and shopping for what we normally use. That’s about $287 per year! Why that’s a car payment! A weekend getaway! Two weeks worth of groceries! Or whatever. Now, this is our total savings, not just from groceries. But the grocery savings have really added up. You can save anywhere from 1 -5% on eligible items PLUS if you use your CITI Upromise Card you will save an additional 10% per participating item. That’s some serious savings! After accumulating some dough, you can just take the money and run. OR you can open and fund a 529 college savings plan. Next, you can link it to your Upromise account and the accumulated funds can be automatically swept to the 529 account.
S W E E T ! Start saving for junior today!

5. Get a rewards credit card 

Here is another cool one. Sign up for a rewards credit card like the Chase Freedom MasterCard and save 3% on groceries. Use it at non-Upromise stores! With this card, you get 3% for purchases in your 3 categories where you spend the most. All other purchases net you a cool 1%. It adds up fast.

A word of caution

You should only use credit cards to shop if you can afford to pay off the balance in full every month. If you are already carrying consumer debt, this option is probably not for you. Because, as common sense should dictate, it makes no sense to collect 3% cash back, if you are paying 13.9%++++ for that privilege. The funny thing about common sense, is that it isn’t so common. :)

Have a suggestion for saving on groceries, we wold love to hear it!

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