Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Okay, I have a question???

I just got done posting a comment back to Hippie from my last post.. she said that I'm lucky to have as many stores in my area and that she wishes she had that many stores in her area (PA). So here was my response.

HI there.. yeah it's all great and dandy that I have so many stores EXCEPT the fact that there are so many stores it's easy to miss a REALLY GREAT sale and/or deal or use a coupon at store xyz and then the next week an even better deal pops up at store abc! lol!

I have Aldi, Jewel, Dominicks, Meijer, Super Target, Super Walmart, K-Mart Butera, Woodmans, and several family owned produce type grocery stores in the area plus of course CVS, Walgreens and all the dollar stores 99 cent store, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Everythings a $1, etc. So I could easily go to all those stores in one day and/or week just to hit several sales. not to mention Jewel and Butera always have special deals just over the weekend so I could easily miss good deals if I go on a Monday vs a Thurs-Sun!!

Okay so my question is this.. how do you work full time and/or take care of a household and hit every sale/deal/store each week? How do you choose from one week to the other what sale is worth it to make sure you get to? I started this hounding/couponing thing only because I am unemployed and need to stretch my dollars. Right now I have TIME to stop on the way here or there while running other errands or I just make sure I have a morning/afternoon free to get to these places. Plus, many of them are 24 hours in my area so really there have been Friday nights when I dragged my son out at midnight to shop.

6 comments:

*Hippie* said...

I have Redner's, Super Walmart, Weis and CVS. We also have a Dollar General (we call it Generally Not a Dollar...) and I think we might have a Dollar Tree as well. I do my couponing at Walmart and CVS the most but I have been trying to go to Weis and Redner's if I see sales in their flyer that are better prices than WM. None of our stores give out catalinas or double/triple coupons!! It's such a bummer when I see others post such great GROCERY deals!!! I am a stay at home mom (who also homeschools) so my time/energy is limited because our schedule is full and I usually have to take all four of my children with me shopping. I have found it easiest to do it all on one day when my hubby can be at home with our kid. When there are good weeks at CVS and I want to do more transactions than I can in one trip, I usually take the kids along for a trip or two during the week!

Dr. Mom said...

I work full time and have three children (3, 5, & 7). The only way I fit it in is by watching the blogs. When I see a really great deal, I'll plan a trip. I'll look for anything else that is a great deal at the same place by going through the paper, or checking other blogs on the same topic. I'll create a detailed list and attach the coupons to it. I have a mini coupon organizer I take with me for other possible great deals. This way, I can get in to somewhere like CVS during my lunch hour or the 20-30 minutes I have after work and before picking up kids. I have two extra hours on Friday afternoons that I save for bigger trips. It takes planning and doesn't work 100% of the time, but it is much easier than taking the kids with me. I tried staying home and it was much harder to shop, actually much harder to do everything. My sympathy goes to the SAHMs who have to take their kids grocery shopping. My time as a SAHM gave me total respect for those who do it well.

Anonymous said...

I agree with dr. mom (although I don't have kids!) I work full time and go to grad school, and I live in the D.C. metro area so much of my time is spent commuting. The blogs are my saviour. The fact that some wonderful folks have taken the time to research, blog and tell me exactly what's on sale and what coupons to use is amazing!!! I also have tried to make it a habit to do certain stores (especially CVS/Rite Aid) on Sundays to help ensure they are in stock on the hot sale items that week.

Unknown said...

I don't, in answer to your question. I work FT an hr away from home. Add a child and hubby and a house, well.... No way to hit all the sales. Just do what I can...

Jessie said...

i have a 1 and 3 yr. old. they are a nightmare to shop with. i signed up on the grocery game website and chose the 4 places in my town that i shop at (ingles and bilo (grocers) and rite aid and cvs) and then i let them do the work for me. it costs a minimal amount, but the time it saves in figuring out if things are a deal or not is worth it to me. all i have to do is keep up with finding the coupons that are out there and then i pick one maybe 2 evenings a week to go out BY MYSELF (which is the like the equivalent to a bubble bath for me) and pick up my deals that have already been worked out for me. i just staple my coupons to there printouts. it does take a little while to find the right ones (probably need a new coupon storage system).

Lisa B. said...

"Okay so my question is this.. how do you work full time and/or take care of a household and hit every sale/deal/store each week?"

I dont. I miss some of them, and I dont have as many stores as you. It's easier the more organized I am.

One thing that helps is learning the sales cycles for your stores. Keep track of the 20 things you buy the most to start with. Grocery stores typically rotate their sales every 9-12 weeks. The longer you hound the more you will remember that... "Hey, even though CVS has ragu on sale for 2/$4, if I wait a week or two my Meijers will have them on for 3/$5 and they will double my .25 cent coupon. Have you read the mini series on this buy Jennysmom? If you need a copy let me know. I've also posted some of it on my blog.