ONE Loyalty Card Instead of Fifteen? Yes, Please!

You know how I feel about saving money on groceries. I even wrote a book about it. Although I buy a lot of food at local stores, a local farm, warehouses and other sources, I still do a significant amount of grocery shopping at actual grocery stores. A key component to saving money at a grocery store is to take advantage of their sales combined with coupons (where available).

It gets complicated, though, because each grocery store (with one or maybe two exceptions) only allows you to access your deals through membership to their savings club (or whatever they choose to call it). And that means you can only get the sales prices if you scan your membership card at the register.

For someone who likes things to be as simple and uncomplicated as possible… it’s a nightmare. Right now, I’m planning my monthly grocery shopping trip, and I have no less than 5 grocery store ads sitting on my table. All but one of them require a membership card to get the deals, which means that all of those cards are filling up my wallet and weighing down my key chain.

This does not include loyalty cards to non-grocery stores like bookstores, office supply stores, warehouse club stores and more. These days, it’s rare for a store to offer you their sales prices without requiring a card to track your purchases.

As much as I would prefer to shop without such hassles (although then I suppose one would run into the issue of tracking via credit card numbers like Target does… which I definitely do NOT like!), it’s just a fact of modern life, which is why I‘m excited about a new program that would help all of us consumers reduce the number of cards in our wallets - and on our keychains - to one simple little card.

It’s called the LOC Card. It’s still brand new, and not readily available just quite yet, but it promises to be the next best thing since sliced bread.

Here’s how it works:

  • You pick up a FREE LOC Card at any merchant that participates in the program.
  • Once your LOC Card is swiped at the register, you can use it to replace that store’s loyalty card.
  • You can then begin to use your LOC Card at any participating retailer, replacing each individual loyalty card with that one LOC Card.
  • You can keep track of all your loyalty programs and rewards by registering your card on the website.
  • All your information is private and securely protected. In fact, you are not required to share any personal information (unless you register on the website and create an account).
  • Once you have a LOC Card, you can also access the free app for your smart phone to keep track of all your loyalty programs there.

LOC Card is still in the process of signing up merchants and getting things rolling, but you can help spread the word and make this a reality. “Like” their page on Facebook and enter the “Show Your Cards” Contest. Snap a picture of your pile of loyalty cards or your keyring of loyalty cards, and be entered to win $50! Three people will win… and who doesn’t love free money?

You can also suggest your favorite retailers on LOC Card’s website.

Still curious? Watch this video for more information (and don’t forget to follow LOC Card on YouTube for even more informative videos):

If you like the LOC Card concept, be sure to give them a holler (or a tweet, I guess!) on Twitter, and let them know I sent you.

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A Simple Christmas #10 – Go Without Gifts


If you want more information, click here or on the graphic itself to take you to a full-length post on the topic. Click here to see all the posts in this series.

Come back tomorrow for another quick tip to help you simplify your Christmas by focusing less on spending and more on celebrating.

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A Simple Christmas Tip #9 – Give Gifts from Your Kitchen


If you want more information, click here or on the graphic itself to take you to a full-length post on the topic. Click here to see all the posts in this series.

Come back tomorrow for another quick tip to help you simplify your Christmas by focusing less on spending and more on celebrating.

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Organizing on the Cheap Recap

Have you ever been frustrated by all the creative organization ideas you see in magazines and on blogs, only to realize that you simply can’t afford (or don’t want to spend the money) all those gorgeous bins, boxes, baskets and other containers? Me, too! I’ve learned to organize my home (uh, to a certain extent) without spending an arm and a leg, and I have a whole week’s worth of money-saving organizing tips that you will love!

 

Plus, I have a great list of other ideas from bloggers around the internet who also have a passion for organizing with repurposed and recycled items. You will not lack for inspiration!

I’m not the only one with great organizing ideas - far from it! Click on the image below to read posts by more than 20 other bloggers who also shared 5 days of organizing tips. You’ll find ideas for organizing naturally, for cleansing your mind and body, for organizing schoolrooms, offices, kitchens, linen closets and more.

Sharing at Fellowship Friday, Frugal Friday, Homestead Barn Hop, Better Mom Mondays, Titus 2sday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, The Mommy Club, Simple Lives Thursday, Your Green Resource,

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Even More Cheap Organizing Suggestions {Organizing on the Cheap}

I’m so happy you are here with us this week for 5 Days of Organizing - more than 20 bloggers will be bringing you daily inspiration for organizing every aspect of your life. And with back-to-school days breathing down our necks, we all need it!

Have you ever been frustrated by all the creative organization ideas you see in magazines and on blogs, only to realize that you simply can’t afford (or don’t want to spend the money) all those gorgeous bins, boxes, baskets and other containers? Me, too! I’ve learned to organize my home (uh, to a certain extent) without spending an arm and a leg, and I’ll be sharing my tricks with you all week long. Stick with me for great cheap organizing ideas!

 

 

Today’s your last chance to enter the giveaways! You can enter the cash giveaway right here on this blog post - just scroll down to the bottom - and if you click on the footer image, you will be directed to a page with a whole bunch of other giveaways.

I am not the only crazy person who organizes her home with other people’s cast-offs, recyclables, and cardboard boxes (Hey! Sometimes I get new stuff at the Dollar Store!). A quick browse through Pinterest reveals that many other people prefer to re-use, recycle and repurpose when it comes to organizing their homes.

Proof? Here ya go:

Take an old cylindrical wipes container and use it to store and dispense plastic bags. Keep one in the car, one under the kitchen sink, one in the diaper bag, and one in the beach bag!

This blogger used containers from IKEA to store kids' games and card games. I like IKEA and all - hey, it's cheap! - but I happened to have a surplus of empty wipes containers (the box kind this time) that served exactly the same purpose! Now the Toy Story 3 Memory game is neatly contained. Awesome.

So simple, so quick, so CUTE! I love this idea from Martha Stewart. Now I just have to find some of those adorable little tins somewhere.

I need to remember this idea from My Repurposed Life the next time I'm staring at a shutter in an antique or thrift store and wondering, "Now what was that really cool project I was going to do?"

This is one of those head-smackers. You know, the kind where you smack your head and say, "Now why didn't I think of that?!" Repurpose old TicTac boxes into bobby pin holders (perfect for your purse!).

Use a toilet paper tube to corral cords. Brilliant!

From oven rack to jewelry organizer. That's just about the coolest thing ever. From Just Sew Sassy.

Do you have an organizational idea for repurposed items? Do share!

Visit these blogs for lots more ideas on organizing your kitchen, your office, or your homeschool room!

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How to Organize for Less at the Dollar Store {Organizing on the Cheap}

I’m so happy you are here with us this week for 5 Days of Organizing - more than 20 bloggers will be bringing you daily inspiration for organizing every aspect of your life. And with back-to-school days breathing down our necks, we all need it!

Have you ever been frustrated by all the creative organization ideas you see in magazines and on blogs, only to realize that you simply can’t afford (or don’t want to spend the money) all those gorgeous bins, boxes, baskets and other containers? Me, too! I’ve learned to organize my home (uh, to a certain extent) without spending an arm and a leg, and I’ll be sharing my tricks with you all week long. Stick with me for great cheap organizing ideas!

 

Scroll down to the bottom to enter the cash giveaway; and when you’re done, click on the footer image to see other posts by other bloggers in this series PLUS lots more giveaways (including a copy of Your Grocery Budget Toolbox!).

The Dollar Store (we have Dollar Trees around here) is the cheap homemaker’s best friend. Granted, not everything there is even worth one dollar. And granted, they don’t have a lot in the way of “natural”. But you certainly can’t beat their price when it comes to organizational products!

I’ve mentioned already that I love to look at yard sales for my organizational tools, and I also love to reuse and repurpose items that come through my house, like the empty jars I wrote about yesterday. But if I ever want a matching set of containers, the Dollar Tree is where I go. Unlike at other fancier stores (The Container Store comes to mind), I can buy as many of an item as I need to have a coordinating set without going over budget.

For example, in my linen closet, I have toiletries and over the counter meds organized in matching white boxes:

It’s not gorgeous, but… it’s hidden away in the closet, so I wasn’t particularly going for the gorgeous look. Practical is more my style when it comes to closet storage!

Also, in my kitchen cupboards, I have my small food storage containers and lids all neatly contained in Dollar Tree plastic boxes. I also have similar baskets in a different cupboard that contain toddler utensils and the like.

I’m sure I could show you lots of other examples from my own home, but for now, I’m going to give you a little tour of a Dollar Tree near me, where you can see for yourself the selection of organization tools they have. All for a dollar!

Organizational Products Available at the Dollar Store

On the left side of this picture you see a display of a variety of under-the-bed storage bags. I will remind you that you get what you pay for: these are not super sturdy, folks! However, if you are careful and don’t over-stuff them, and then leave them where they are without going into and out of them a lot, they’ll last you for quite a while. I use a couple of these to store baby onesies, bibs and such underneath the crib.

In the middle, you see the dollar store version of a canvas bin - cute, no? I love the colors on it! The Dollar Tree has a whole collection of those right now, which you can see in the display on the right. I have similar boxes (I think I bought mine on clearance at Target) that I use to store stuffed animals and other toys in The Boys’ room. The fabric has gotten a little pilled in the past couple years, but other than that, they’ve held up very well. These types of boxes fit very nicely in deep shelves on entertainment centers, coffee tables, and home office units to store a huge variety of items.

I’ve personally moved away from using baskets as storage, mostly because the little people in my house tend to destroy them in, oh, about 5 nano-seconds. I find the little pieces of reed or wood or whatever all over the house. But if you don’t have destructive little ones, or if you have some nice up-high but still visible storage areas, OR if you have angelic children who never mess with your stuff… you will find baskets to fit your needs at the dollar store. Wow, can you believe all the possibilities in these pictures? All kinds of boxes and bins in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes to suit your needs. These containers have applications all around the house: in closets, in the laundry room, in bedrooms, in drawers, in cupboards, on shelves, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, etc. Anything you need to contain can be contained in one of these, I’m pretty sure. Unless you’re trying to contain a wild animal (or small child), and well, that ain’t gonna cut it. Ice cube trays and vases for storage? Why not? They are containers, are they not? Ice cube trays can fit easily inside a drawer in a desk to contain all those annoying little things like push pins and paper clips. And vases or glass containers like these can be used on a bathroom or kitchen counter to hold utensils, cotton balls, toothbrushes, scrub brushes, or whatever!

Have you ever organized your home at the Dollar Store?

Visit these blogs for lots more ideas on organizing your kitchen, your office, or your homeschool room!

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How I Organized My Spices With Yard Sale Finds {Organizing on the Cheap}

I’m so happy you are here with us this week for 5 Days of Organizing - more than 20 bloggers will be bringing you daily inspiration for organizing every aspect of your life. And with back-to-school days breathing down our necks, we all need it!

Have you ever been frustrated by all the creative organization ideas you see in magazines and on blogs, only to realize that you simply can’t afford (or don’t want to spend the money) all those gorgeous bins, boxes, baskets and other containers? Me, too! I’ve learned to organize my home (uh, to a certain extent) without spending an arm and a leg, and I’ll be sharing my tricks with you all week long. Stick with me for great cheap organizing ideas!

 

AND>>>>>> Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a cash giveaway!! You might win a little cash to do some organizing yourself!
I’m so glad I finally get the chance to share with you how I organized my spice cupboard. An embarrassingly long time ago, I invited you to help me figure out a cost-effective way to organize my spices, and you all certainly delivered! I got lots of great suggestions:

  • The spice rack (more of a small set of drawers) I was eyeing at a more expensive online store is available at Amazon for only $35, which was significantly cheaper than the one I had seen. I figured I could save up my Swagbucks Amazon gift cards to buy it, but unfortunately, I keep finding far more interesting things to spend my free money on!
  • Others suggested cheaper spice rack alternatives, like this SpiceStor Organizer Rack 20 Cabinet Door Spice Clips
    or Spectrum 43778 Scroll Wall Mount Spice Rack Boxed, or Swivel Store Organizer Storage System, all of which seemed like they would do the trick nicely.
  • Ami suggested I organize them in baby food jars in a drawer a la this example she found on Pinterest. Unfortunately, I have no spare drawer to use for spices, although I did spend a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how I could rearrange my drawers and cabinets to accommodate the concept. Alas, it was a no-go.
  • Rita and Kristine were the ones who really helped me out! Kristine had seen an idea on America’s Test Kitchen to organize all your spices in zippered plastic storage bags like these, then label them, and store them upright, organized alphabetically, in a container of some kind (like a basket or box). Rita had a similar thought, but recommended using small glass jars (like baby food jars, or 1/2-pint canning jars).

First, I tried Kristine’s idea, but I ended up ordering the wrong size of bags (they were way too small!) from Amazon, which set me back on my little project. I was all set to order a larger size, but then I started to get concerned about the effects of storing food long-term in plastic. The danger is probably minimal, but it was enough to worry me that I started leaning towards Rita’s idea of using jars.

So between the two of them, I came up with the idea to store spice bottles like these in some containers I had lying around the house. That way, all my spices would be contained in jars of the same size,which I could easily label myself, and those jars could then be contained in small boxes that I could easily pull in and out of the cupboard as I needed them. I hadn’t quite gotten around to ordering those spice bottles from Amazon, though, when I went yard saling one day and found this:

BINGO! Now, I wasn’t all that excited about the spice rack itself - I have hardly any wall space in my kitchen for one thing, and for another I kind of thought it was dog ugly. It is now awaiting a chance to be spray-painted and repurposed as a rack for my nail polish bottles and other manicuring supplies (that as a busy mommy and blogger, I almost never use by the way). But the bottles were exactly what I wanted, and for a fraction of the price! A set of the 6 spice bottles on Amazon would be $6, which is not a bad price at all, but twice the number of bottles, and for only $2?! And new!… or at least still in the packaging! You bet I snatched those babies up.

I took them home, ran them through a cycle in the dishwasher, dried them thoroughly, and poured my spices into them. I didn’t have the time then (and haven’t taken the time since) to beautify them with pretty labels, but one day I will get around to that. For the moment, though, I’ve just written the name of the spice on the neck of the bottle with a Sharpie. Works for me!

So here you see the finished product, my cheaply organized spices, thanks to a yard sale find:

On the left, you see a basket containing my large jars of bulk spices, the ones I use most often: granulated garlic, cinnamon, oregano, etc. I opted to keep them in their original containers, because pouring them into smaller jars would just be too time-consuming, and I would have to do it far too often for it to be an ideal situation for me.

On the right, you see more spices that I kept in their original containers. Eventually, I will get another set of spice bottles and finish the transfer, but for now, I left these spices in their original plastic bottles. Most of them are spice blends (like lemon pepper) that I don’t use too often, and most of them are a relatively uniform size that fits nicely into the container.

In the middle is the box where I put the spice bottles. These spices mostly came from plastic bulk containers or even bags. These are the ones that I typically buy “loose” so I need a neat and organized place to put them. The glass jars fit the bill perfectly!

As for the boxes that I used to hold all the bottles, I originally had bought them at the Dollar Tree, I believe (more on that later this week!), for another purpose. Having served their original purpose, they needed a new home, and found a perfect fit in my spice cupboard! The box in the middle is a Rubbermaid container that used to contain brown sugar. I don’t buy brown sugar anymore, so the little plastic box needed a new job. Now it holds spices, which is a much more worthy endeavor.

How to find cheap organizing ideas at yard sales:

  • Have a list, at the very least a mental one. Know what you need and what you’re looking for. Are you trying to organize your bathroom cupboards? Or your linen closet? Do you need boxes? If so, what size? Or would bottles fit the bill better? Maybe even bowls? Is the storage going to be visible? Then you will want it to be pretty. Is it going to be in the closet? Then, pretty is not quite as important.
  • But don’t get stuck in a box. Literally. Although I had mentally settled on the idea of using spice bottles, I was willing to consider any other workable option. As I was yard-saling, I kept my eyes peeled for ANYthing that might potentially work in a spice cupboard. I was beyond thrilled when I actually found the exact thing I was looking for… but that doesn’t always happen! Sometimes I end up finding something better, just by being a little more creative and open.
  • Know your price point. I knew that the glass bottles on Amazon were $1 apiece, so there was no way I would pay more than that at a yard sale, especially if it were used.
  • Don’t be afraid to haggle. My personal rule of thumb: if I don’t like the price, I offer half what they are asking, but I’m willing to pay 75% because typically, that’s what their rebound offer will be (although, usually, they just take whatever I offer). In the case of my spice bottles, I took the $2 and ran! No need to haggle with that one!
  • Be prepared to wait, or have a plan B. Some things I will just keep looking for at thrift stores and yard sales until I find something that will work. Other times, my need is more immediate, so if I don’t find what I need right away, I’ll go to my plan B. I was not in a huge hurry (obviously) to finish organizing my spice cupboard, but I also knew in the back of my mind that if I ever got completely fed up with it, I just needed to place an order on Amazon and be done with it.
  • Clean the items thoroughly. Depending on what it is, run it through the dishwasher or washing machine, or just give it a good scrub. No need to obsess about it, but it is a good idea to wash away whatever it might have collected at its previous home.

Other cheap organizing ideas with yard sale finds:

  • I found a big pourable Tupperware container for a couple bucks that I use to store the oatmeal that I buy in bulk.
  • I keep books that we don’t use very often (and don’t fit on my bookshelves) in 2 large trunks that I bought at yard sales for less than $10 each. Those trunks also double as a side table in our living room! I’ve used the trunks previously to store extra linens as well.
  • I’ve found those hanging canvas shelves (the kind you use for shoes and sweaters) at thrift stores and yard sales, and I have several of them in different closets throughout the house.
  • I’ve also bought several under-the-bed storage boxes at yard sales for one or two dollars each. I’ve seen plenty of other sizes of plastic storage boxes like those at yard sales, too, although those sizes don’t usually work well for me.

What yard sale treasures have you found that have helped you organize your home or life?

Visit these blogs for lots more ideas on organizing your kitchen, your office, or your homeschool room! Just click on the image below (And by clicking below, you can access even more great giveaways!).

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BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Get Your Act Together Before School Starts (for $10 - limited time offer ;)

Whether you home school, private school, public school or go to college, it seems like the new school year is the perfect time for a fresh start. The perfect time to organize your life with a routine that will keep your days from unraveling at the seams when you’re drowning in the middle of field trips, school concerts, school plays, permission slips, assignments, and lunchboxes that need to be filled.

Several blogging friends have joined forces to give you a little “boost” and help you make that new organized you a reality! For the cost of $10, you will get 5 eBooks that will help you:

  • finally hammer out a real, practical schedule that actually works for you and your family
  • figure out how to keep the house clean while you’re running around like a chicken with your head cut off
  • establish a wardrobe that will keep you looking your best w/o a lot of fuss
  • eat well every night in 15 minutes
  • make some cupcake magic for all those birthdays and other special school events that you find out about at the last minute

All that for only $10?! Yes, please!

The Back to School Boost for Moms contains the following 5 eBooks:

  1. Tell Your Time by Amy Andrews of Blogging with Amy (this book transformed my approach to scheduling!)
  2. Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule by Christine of I Dream of Clean
  3. The No Brainer Wardrobe by Haley of the Tiny Twig
  4. Cupcakes!: 12 Months of Happiness by Liz of Hoosier Homemade
  5. Feast in 15 by Tiffany at Eat at Home

Together, these books are valued at $28.95, but you can get all 5 of them for only $10. That’s a deal, even for cheapskate me! Let’s get this new school year off to a smashing start!

This offer expires August 8, 2012.

This post contains affiliate links.

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Scope Out a New Grocery Store {7 Days, 7 Tools: Build a Better Grocery Budget}


In 4 days, my new eBook, Your Grocery Budget Toolbox, is scheduled to be released! All this week, I will be giving you sneak peeks of what you will find in the book, and whet your appetite for more. Because trust me, there’s a lot more. Your Grocery Budget Toolbox is over 150 pages long, each page loaded with all the tools you need to build a better grocery budget. Join with me this week (subscribe so you don’t miss a single post), and share with your friends (use the buttons to the left)… I have a feeling they’d appreciate a little grocery budget makeover, too.

In Chapter 2: Price List, and Chapter 3: Sourcing Healthy Food, I teach you how to make a price list and how to populate it with the best resources in your area for healthy foods. Part of that is scoping out new grocery stores and other food venues (farms, farmers’ markets, CSA’s, etc.) as they come to your area. If you’re serious about trimming your grocery budget, that is. If you don’t care how much you spend on food, then it’s not a big deal. You can stick to one grocery store and do all your shopping there, or source all your food from local organic farms. For most of us, though, it (literally) pays to do the research and find the cheapest sources for the foods we buy.

As it happens, a brand new store opened in my area earlier this week, so I have a perfect example for you. We’ve actually been waiting for this particular store to open for what seems like years now. It really has been years, I guess, having been stalled in the red tape and political obstruction that is surbuban America. But finally it opened, and I made it a point to go visit it the first few days. For one thing, I wanted the grand opening deals - naturally - and for another, I wanted to do a little scoping out.

The store in question is Wegman’s. I was already familiar with Wegman’s, having had ready access to one when I lived in Virginia before getting married. But my diet and my grocery shopping methods have changed considerably since the days when I loved to shop at Wegman’s so I was curious to find out if Wegman’s would still be as wonderful for me now as it was back then.

The Boys and I headed out to Wegmans at the first possible opportunity, along with all the other people in a 20-mile radius that had been waiting for several years right along with me. The only problem I have with crazy crowds is when they affect the automobiles. Traffic jams, full parking lots, irritated drivers… ugh. Once I was finally parked, though, the fun began!

Since Wegman’s was crazy busy and I had 2 little boys in need of naps with me, I didn’t do the full-fledged research that I would normally do. I’ll get to that this weekend when I have a little more time. However, in a quick stroll through the aisles, I determined the following:

  • Yogurt is well-priced. I make yogurt for myself and Baby Boy, but DH prefers store-bought, so that’s what he gets.
  • They have an extensive selection of special diet foods, like gluten-free, allergen-friendly, etc.
  • They also have an extensive selection of all-natural, healthy foods.
  • Some of the prices of the healthy and allergen-friendly foods are better than other local stores, and some not.
  • Both organic and conventional milk are great prices.
  • Conventional meat is available for really good prices, for example pork shoulders $1.29 a pound. Until I am able to buy only local grass-fed meats, this is good news for me.
  • I was stumped by the fact that they had plenty of white rice for really good prices but only very expensive ($3.49/lb) brown rice? I also couldn’t find any dry beans other than Goya, which are typically priced higher than I like to pay. At this point, I’ll chalk it up to them being not quite fully stocked. Hopefully, they do begin to stock those items at some point.
  • They also had only one - very expensive - brand of canned salmon.
  • Tuna was a good price!
  • The bulk food prices were higher than the local health food store’s prices.

I was able to learn all that from a quick walk through a crowded store. Imagine what I will be able to discover when I can walk leisurely through the store, and take note of the prices by snapping pictures with my phone and adding them to my price list later. Because Wegman’s doesn’t run sales in the usual way (they reduce prices for months at a time, rather than a week or two) and because their prices are consistent - and usually on the low side - I can count on getting an accurate feel for what foods I will be able to buy on a regular basis at Wegman’s. This will give me direction when planning my monthly shopping trips and making my grocery lists.

So here’s my challenge to you: is there a grocery store in your area that you’ve never explored? Or maybe haven’t been there in a while? Go check it out - a quick stroll through, glancing at your favorite items, will tell you if it’s worth further research or not. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to reduce your grocery bill further than you thought!

By the way, in Chapter 3 of Your Grocery Budget Toolbox, I go through all the major national (and even one or two local) chains and online resources and tell you what I have discovered to be well-priced at each location. You get the benefit of all the research I have done for the past few years! Don’t forget to like Your Grocery Budget Toolbox on Facebook, so you can get it on Monday at half price. Happy shopping!

Your Grocery Budget Toolbox

on Facebook

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Internet Grocery Shopping Resources {7 Days, 7 Tools: Build a Better Grocery Budget}


In exactly one week, my new eBook, Your Grocery Budget Toolbox, is scheduled to be released! All this week, I will be giving you sneak peeks of what you will find in the book, and whet your appetite for more. Because trust me, there’s a lot more. Your Grocery Budget Toolbox is over 150 pages long, each page loaded with all the tools you need to build a better grocery budget. Join with me this week (subscribe so you don’t miss a single post), and share with your friends (use the buttons to the left)… I have a feeling they’d appreciate a little grocery budget makeover, too.

Chapter 9: Saving Money in the Internet Era is all about … saving money using the internet. Surprising, no? There are a lot of fabulous tools I cover in the book, and I daresay you haven’t heard of several of them.

In fact, just this week, a brand new grocery shopping tool was unveiled… a little too late to make it into the book, so I’m going to share it with you now! (You’ll just have to get the book to find out all my other online grocery shopping secrets.) The tool I speak of is Safeway’s new Just for U online program and app.

I had the privilege of attending a blogger event hosted by Safeway to learn all about this new program, and even got to test drive it during a little shopping spree sponsored by Safeway. (It’s always so much fun spending someone else’s money!)

Photo Credit: Laura at Beltway Bargain Mom

My friend Laura the Beltway Bargain Mom was there, having fun, too:

Photo Credit: Laura at Beltway Bargain Mom

 

Jill at Musings from Me, and Holly from I Like it Frantic also joined us for the event and did some serious grocery shopping as well:

Kristina of Prince William County Moms was another fellow shopper, and I was quite jealous of JJ of Caffeine and a Prayer’s kickin’ awesome avocado deal: $0.89 each!

Other blogger friends attending were Maggie of Family Frugal Fun, and Gina of Moneywise Moms. We all had a great time together, shopping (without kids!) and learning the ropes of Safeway’s new Just for U program.

Photo Credit: Holly at I Like it Frantic

I am really excited about the potential of Just for U as a means of saving money on healthy food, and if you have access to a Safeway (or a store in the Safeway family), I highly recommend you sign up and check it out!

Just for U capitalizes on the latest technology to bring you convenience and savings in one neat little package. It’s very new, so it’s still developing and improving, but already, it’s fantastic!

Steve Neibergall, Safeway’s East Division President, explained what the program was all about before we headed to our shopping.

Here’s how it works: you sign up on Safeway.com to join the Just for U program. It’s fast and easy, and doesn’t require extensive information. (Plus, you can be assured that Safeway will never sell your info to anybody.) Once you’re signed up, go to the Just for U section of the Safeway website, where you will find 3 categories of deals that are just for you:

  • The Coupon Center contains digital coupons, and it pulls from all of the available digital coupons on the market.
  • The Personalized Deals section has deals that are literally just for you - they are non-transferable special prices offered to you based on your purchasing history (which is based on information from your Club Card transactions). The personalized deals are much like the store coupons you can clip from Safeway’s weekly ad, and are kind of like your own personal mini-sale. You can stack these deals with manufacturer’s coupons.
  • Your Club Specials is filled with current deals offered at Safeway that you might be interested in, based on the items your normally buy. I was surprised to learn that Safeway typically has 5,000-6,000 items on sale at any given time, and only about 450 of those items make it into the weekly circular. There’s a good chance that plenty of those items are ones you’d consider buying at Safeway if you knew they were on sale, but you’ll never know because they’re not in the ad. With Just for U, there’s a good chance you will be alerted to these sale prices, if they are items you would normally buy. The sale prices in Your Club Specials are available to anyone, but you will be specifically notified of them if the algorithm determines that you like to buy similar items or brands.

When browsing through the Just for U website, you can add the digital coupons and personalized deals to your club card simply by clicking the red “Add” button. When you scan your card at the register, your deals will be applied to your purchase! Simple as that.

But there’s more! You can also download an app (for Android or iPhone), where you can easily see all the Just for U deals available as you’re shopping at the store.

Using the Just for U program - without the aid of paper coupons, which I didn’t have with me - I was able to get the following items for $35:

  • Mini Watermelon $2.99 - We enjoyed this for Father’s Day!
  • 2 pkgs Hormel Natural Choice lunch meat $4.99 (BOGO) - my favorite brand of lunch meat, and pretty much the only one I will buy
  • 1 dozen Lucerne Large Eggs FREE (you automatically get free eggs when signing up with Just for U) - Normally, I order eggs from a local farm, but for free? They won’t kill me.
  • Lucerne Mozzarella/Provolone shredded cheese $1.99 - I don’t usually buy pre-shredded cheese, but I was pleased that this package was full-fat mozzarella, which is hard to find! Plus I wanted pizza for dinner the next night and wasn’t sure I had quite enough cheese at home.
  • Artisan Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil $5.99 - I always need olive oil. We go through it like water around here!
  • Starbucks Blonde Roast $8.99 - totally a splurge, but this is my favorite roast of coffee
  • Stash Peppermint Tea $2.49 - to make my Sweet Peppermint Tea all summer long!
  • Oreos $2.40 - a splurge for my DH cuz he’s a nice guy and Father’s Day was coming up. That man loves his Oreos!

I also should mention that I stared longingly at the Open Nature New York Strip Steaks that were gorgeous and thick and on sale for $13.99/lb. I opted not to buy them at the time because I didn’t want them to spoil in the heat on the way home, so I picked them up a couple days later. My DH was certainly spoiled this Father’s Day!

So… here’s the question: for someone who likes to buy mostly healthy foods (minus the occasional package of Oreos) that are all-natural, and organic when possible, is Just for You worth it? Time will tell more definitely, but my opinion is that if the program works the way it should, then yes. Theoretically, if your club card stats reveal that you buy a lot of minimally processed, natural, and organic ingredients, then those are the deals that will show up on your doorstep (figuratively, of course). Safeway carries a great deal of natural and organic foods, and even has their own lines of natural and organic brands (Open Nature and O Organic).

EDITED TO ADD: Since writing this post, I have had opportunity to use the Just for U program a little more, and I can say that it does indeed help in buying healthier groceries for better prices. At a recent shopping trip, Safeway JFU personal deals, which are based on my shopping history, included a coupon for $3 off a $10 produce purchase, and Hormel’s Natural Choice Lunchmeat for only $2.29 (It rarely goes that low, even on sale!).

What do you think - will this help you save money on your groceries?

Your Grocery Budget Toolbox

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