grocery shopping

Dealing With Coupon Huffers

July 20, 2009 By Jennifer Derrick 21 Comments

If you use coupons with any regularity, I’m sure you’ve had run-ins with the people I call “coupon huffers.” These are the people who get behind you in the checkout lane and then huff, tap their feet, and practically climb over you in their impatience to check out. Your transaction is taking too long, they think, as the cashier scans your coupons and manually enters the ones that don’t scan. Heaven forbid the cashier has to call over a manager for an override. That sends a huffer ballistic. Huffers may mutter things under their breath like, “Come on, you’re not saving anything,” or, “This is just ridiculous.” If you’re like me and you have a lot of coupons, it only makes things worse.

I used to get intensely uncomfortable when a huffer got behind me. I’d think that maybe I was somehow really inconveniencing them. I’d get nervous and flustered and think that maybe I should stop using coupons to be more fair to those in line. Many years later and I realize that was a stupid way to feel. Coupons are put out there for us to use. Stores accept coupons. Therefore, I’m within my rights to use them. Other people have the same opportunity. That they choose to huff instead of clip isn’t something I can do anything about. However, if huffers bother you, I’ve got a few strategies for dealing with them, politely.

Offer them a coupon

Sometimes I’ll glance into a huffers’ basket and see that they have an item for which I have a coupon that I’m not going to use. I’ll say something like, “I see you’re buying General Mills cereal. I have a coupon for $1.00 off if you’d like to have it.” Most of the time they’re so flabbergasted by the gesture that they forget to huff. Most people are actually grateful and take the offering. Some decline, but almost always with a smile that says, “Gee, I was being ridiculous, wasn’t I?” It’s a way of diffusing their frustration with kindness.

Let them go ahead

If the cashier hasn’t started ringing me up yet and a potential huffer with just a few things gets in line behind me, I’ll ask if they want to go ahead. I’ll wave my stack of coupons to show them that if they decline, they’d better be prepared to wait. Most accept and say thank you. If they decline, well, I warned them.

Direct them to a self check or open lane

Sometimes when a huffer is showing signs of being really impatient or rude, I’ll casually mention that there is a self-checkout stand open, if they’d like to use it, instead. Sometimes people get so wrapped up in huffing, they honestly don’t realize that other lanes are open. If I point out an open lane and they continue to huff, they’re got no one to blame for the wait but themselves.

Mention your savings

If I have a huffer behind me, particularly one muttering about how ridiculous this is or how little I’m saving, I’ll make sure to turn and smile sweetly and say, “Wow, I just saved $93 on that order. That’s great.” At some stores, the cashier will announce this for you. I enjoy watching the huffers’ jaws drop. Most huffers truly do not understand the savings to be had; they think they’re being held up for twenty-five cents. I’ve had more than one huffer reform after learning my savings. Some even apologize and congratulate me.

Apologize

You are certainly within your rights to use coupons, so no apology is ever necessary. However, sometimes a huffer can be diffused with a quick, “I’m sorry this is taking so long. The computer must be slow today,” or some other bit of polite nonsense. The huffer may still be mad but at least they may quiet down, or they may smile and say, “It’s okay.”

Thank the huffer

If I’ve got someone behind me who is huffing a little bit but clearly building to a full on huff, I’ll turn and say something like, “Thank you for your patience. It shouldn’t be much longer.” It usually gets them to calm down a bit and prevents an all out huffing fit.

Don’t get confrontational

I once saw a woman actually turn on a huffer and cuss him out. Granted he was being ruder than most and making obnoxious comments at full volume, but it’s not worth starting a war over. In this day and age, you never know when someone will snap and shoot you. No coupon savings are worth that. Just ignore it, let it roll off, and move on.

Ask for a manager

If someone is getting really confrontational with you, wave over a manager or store security. Let them handle the huffer.

I don’t think that most coupon huffers are bad people. Maybe they’re in a hurry or having a bad day. Maybe they just don’t understand how much money can be saved and why it’s worth it to us to use coupons. Whatever the reason, most huffers can be discouraged with a bit of kindness or a polite acknowledgement of their situation. Those that can’t are best left alone or turned over to management. You aren’t obligated to placate a huffer, but it can make the checkout experience a lot less stressful for you if you can get them to calm down.

Saving Money on Groceries with the Coupon Mom Method

May 7, 2009 By Amy L. Fontinelle 8 Comments

The only thing I used to do to save money on groceries was to make a list before each shopping trip and stick to a monthly grocery budget. I didn’t use coupons because I figured I saved more money by purchasing store brands (preferably store brands on sale) and shopping at discount stores and farmers markets. I wouldn’t buy everything on my list sometimes — if something was too expensive that week, I would either do without or substitute for something cheaper. I didn’t clip coupons and I didn’t even get the weekly grocery ads in the mail because I had unsubscribed from them and every other conceivable form of junk mail.

Then I learned about the Coupon Mom, Stephanie Nelson. Through her website, www.couponmom.com, she teaches people how to save 50-75% on their grocery bills by using a combination of sales and coupons. I’ve had incredible success following her advice. Here are some items I’ve purchased recently and how much I saved:

Item	Regular Price	Sale Price	Coupon	Paid	Percent Off
Quaker Chewy Bars	$2.50	$0.99	$0.50	$0.49	80.40%
Starburst Jellybeans	$3.50	$0.99	$0.50	$0.49	86.00%
Herbal Essences Shampoo	$4.99	$2.99	$1.50	$1.49	70.14%
Crest Toothpaste	$2.50	$1.00	$1.00	$0.00	100.00%
5 oz. Mahatma Saffron Rice	$0.99	$0.99	$0.38	$0.62	37.88%
Prego Tomato Sauce	$3.59	$2.50	$0.40	$2.10	41.50%
Nestle Chocolate Chips	$4.19	$2.00	$0.75	$1.25	70.17%
French's Honey Mustard	$4.19	$0.00	$1.00	-$1.00	123.87%
French's Honey Dijon Mustard	$4.19	$2.00	$1.00	$1.00	76.13%
Barilla Pasta Sauce	$3.59	$2.50	$1.00	$1.50	58.22%
Butter 16 oz.	$3.99	$2.49	$1.50	$0.99	75.19%
Hand Soap 7.5 oz.	$2.39	$1.00	$0.70	$0.30	87.45%
Dole Superfruit	$2.50	$1.50	$1.00	$0.50	80.00%
Cap'n Crunch 16 oz.	$3.99	$2.29	$1.30	$0.99	75.19%
Bottled water 24×12 oz.	$5.49	$3.33	$0.56	$2.77	49.54%
Life Cereal 15 oz.	$3.99	$2.29	$1.30	$0.99	75.19%
TOTALS	$56.58			$14.48	74.42%

The percentage savings may seem a bit inflated to you. The reason the percentage savings are so high is because many chain grocery stores have high regular prices compared to what you might spend for the same item at a discount mass retailer like Target or Walmart. However, because many chain grocery stores double coupons (or partially “double” them-for example, giving you $1.00 off for a 55-cent coupon), you can still come out ahead at the grocery store if you use the sale/coupon method of shopping. Also, no matter where you shop, free is a good price for a full-sized tube of toothpaste.

You may have noticed that one of the items listed above, French’s honey mustard, was free, and I
had a coupon for it, so I actually made $1 on the transaction. This happened because I was overcharged for the item and brought it to a manager’s attention. He refunded the full price of the item and let me keep it, too. Paying attention during checkout and reviewing your receipt carefully before you leave the store are important components of getting the full savings you should on your groceries.

I almost never buy anything at the major chain grocery stores anymore unless the item is on sale and I have a coupon for it. I plan my shopping in advance by looking through the weekly ads and using the Coupon Mom website, which has a database of the unadvertised deals at grocery stores across the country (updated weekly) and even tells you which sale items have coupons and where you can find those coupons. I usually only buy about 10-20 items per week that represent the best deals on the types of products I would buy anyway. And if there’s an item that’s still not a good price even with a sale and a coupon, or if it’s something I don’t need no matter how good of a deal it is, I generally don’t buy it. However, I have bought a few things I’m not sure I’ll use because they were so cheap ($1 or less) and I can always donate them to charity if I end up not using them after a few months.

Finally, this shopping method has allowed me to start accumulating a stash of emergency food and water for both my home and my car. I’ve always put off doing this in the past because I couldn’t see spending $100 or so on food that was just going to sit around. Now that I am regularly getting grocery items for 50 cents or $1 each week, I am able to inexpensively accumulate emergency items.

It’s also important to note that some sale prices are better than others. One week pizzas may be on sale for $4.50, while another week the exact same pizzas may be on sale for $3.50. Once you start paying closer attention to sale prices (and perhaps even keeping a grocery price list), you’ll know then the best time to buy is. The best prices usually roll around every few weeks, and you should stock up and use your coupons then.

If you’ve been looking for a way to cut down on your grocery bill, I highly recommend trying the Coupon Mom’s method. Once you get the hang of the system, you won’t be spending much time clipping coupons or planning your shopping trips, and you’ll be amazed by how much money you’ll save.

The Joys of Stocking Up

January 8, 2009 By David G. Mitchell 25 Comments

My wife is a creature of habit – in a good way. She gets up at 5:30 am every day except Saturday so that she can enjoy a healthy breakfast of oatmeal (always from scratch — never instant!) and walnuts, along with a cup or two of her favorite coffee. For at least the past six or seven years, my wife has started each day with a pot of Seattle’s Best Hazelnut Cream Coffee. My elder son shares my wife’s coffee tastes, so we usually end up brewing at least two pots of it each day.

If you have a morning routine, you know how important it can be. You also will understand why I am so concerned that by the end of this week we may be out of Seattle’s Best Hazelnut Cream Coffee!

About six months ago, my wife’s coffee was on sale at our local Publix. I believe the sale price was buy one, get one free, so the savings on an approximately $8 package of coffee was substantial. I purchased about sixty packages of coffee that week. My wife was appalled at first, because I only started exploring the value of bulk purchasing at the beginning of 2008. My wife saw 60 packages of coffee (about 45 pounds!) and thought I was spending $240 more than I needed to spend.

I had a different view. I knew that after watching my wife and son drink the same coffee for more than half a decade, they were not likely to change brands or flavors any time soon. Given the savings, I knew that the sixty packages would eventually be used and that I would be saving $240 by the time the coffee was all gone.

I also knew that by stocking up on coffee at the best rate that I was likely to find for that particular brand, I was saving myself the effort of having to purchase a package or two every week for about half a year. Thus, by stocking up, I was saving more than money. I was also saving time.

My wife now shares my views on the benefits of stocking up. We are down to our last twelve ounces of SBC in the hazelnut cream flavor. That is enough to last us another five or six days. Of course, I could purchase another package of it – if I could find it. We have looked in several stores in our area and all of them have been sold out of my wife’s flavor for the past several weeks. I can only assume that it was a popular holiday flavor. I am sure that we will find a way to buy more of it before we run out but now I know that when I am stocking up on any item, I am going to make sure I buy enough to see me through the holidays.

I have been stocking up on every item that our house uses regularly. So far, I have only made one major mistake when I stocked up on an item that we later discovered to include trans-fats, which we exclude from our pantry. Other than that, our pantry and cupboards are beginning to look like a warehouse store, as we stock up on every item that we know we will use. Because we have so many of the items that we buy in bulk (especially “BOGO” deals), we naturally try to use those items even more regularly and thus we are more likely to build meals based on the items that offer us the best deals. We also spend less time shopping because we always have a ready supply of our non-perishable staples and, when local stores run out of our staples, we do not need to worry about not having them nearly as much as would be the case if we bought them from week to week regardless of price.

What is your philosophy on stocking up? Are you willing to lay in a six or twelve month supply of a product just because it is on sale? How do you manage to store products that you purchase in bulk? Are there any times when you think it is a bad idea to stock up?

I Love My Wife but I Won’t Sort Grapes for Her

November 27, 2008 By David G. Mitchell 8 Comments

Yesterday, I noted that although my wife and I will do just about anything for each other, my wife is not willing to buy my lottery tickets for me. I also have an errand that I cannot bring myself to perform for my wife. When I am in the grocery store, I won’t buy grapes.

Perhaps, I should say that I won’t buy grapes the way that my wife wants me to buy grapes. My wife is a big fan of the grape and rarely a day goes by when grapes are in season that my wife does not enjoy grapes with her lunch. When my wife buys grapes, however, she insists on sorting through the package of grapes and removing the grapes that she determines to be over-ripe or rotten.

My wife started being a grape sorter about a year ago, after purchasing a bag of grapes that looked fresh and firm but which turned out to be largely past their prime. She had to throw away about 70% of the bag. That bothered her, because it meant she was throwing away 70% of a $1.99 per pound purchase.

My wife vowed that that would never happen again so now, when she is in the grocery store, she will spend a few minutes picking and sorting her grapes – sometimes going so far as to throw away the grapes from her bag which she feels are too ripe for anyone to eat. Sometimes she eliminates just a few grapes. Sometimes she eliminates many.

I just can’t do it. Although the grapes come in a plastic bag, the bag is still sealed in a “Liploc” type seal. I feel that I cannot violate that seal. The grapes come in a sealed bag and the bag must remain sealed until the grapes have been purchased. To do otherwise would be a shopping violation in my book.

I realize that my unwillingness to sort grapes for my wife probably does not make any sense. Our grocery store happily notes in signs throughout the produce section that if a shopper cannot find certain produce in the quantity that the shopper needs, the store will “break” packages for us so that we can buy what we need and only what we need.

Also, there are other products in the store where I am more than willing to examine products to ensure that I am buying only fresh, undamaged goods. For example, I have no problem picking up a bunch of bananas and removing two or three from the bunch so that I can buy a lesser quantity. In addition, I always open a carton of eggs before I purchase it so that I can ensure that none of the eggs are cracked or broken. If I find a cracked egg, I am more than willing to remove it from the package and to replace it with a perfect egg from a different carton of the same brand.

I will break fresh ginger into smaller pieces. I will eliminate tomatoes from a vine of tomatoes if they are damaged or if the vine holds too many. I’ll even open a bag of 5 pound bag of potatoes so that I can purchase only two pounds (because I have already gotten permission from the store to do that).

But I can’t bring myself to pick and choose the grapes I buy. I think my problem with picking and choosing my grapes is that (i) I see a bunch of grapes as a single unit, even though I pay for them by the pound, and (ii) it takes too long to sort the grapes and (iii) I always hate to see people handling produce and then putting it back on the shelf. Moreover, I know that I would happily remove a branch of over-ripe grapes from a bunch that was not already sealed in a plastic bag, but I cannot do the same with a bunch of grapes that is in a sealed package – there just isn’t any place for me to put the grapes that I do not want because all of the other grapes are packaged.

What do you think? Should I feel uncomfortable sorting through grapes in order to eliminate the inedible grapes? What products do you check in the store before you buy them? When is it OK to “break” packaged produce on your own? What products do you think should always be checked to ensure quality and freshness and what do you do when you find that a portion of package, bundle or bunch might be past its prime?

The One-Month Spending Crash-Diet: Weeks 2-3

November 24, 2008 By Denise Trowbridge 6 Comments

I can see it. The end. It’s almost here. We only have one week left of no-spend month, where we vowed to only spend $400 for all of November on everything we need, including groceries, entertainment, and gas.

But it’s a big week, with Thanksgiving and all of the usually-oh-so-tempting Black Friday deals that I have to ignore because they aren’t in the budget for me this year, no matter how cheap.

The silver lining is that the hubby has stopped pouting and has embraced our new super-frugal lifestyle, especially the cooking at home part. He now says “that the best thing about this challenge is that there is always something yummy in the fridge.”

Now that we are deeper into the experiment, we have seen the benefits and started to experience the drawbacks as well.

Let’s start with the positive.

1. The house is cleaner. If you can’t go out, you may as well vacuum. I also lost two pounds, which means for the first time ever our bank account is getting fat and I’m not.

2. Before the challenge, we saved about 10 percent of our take-home pay every two weeks. But we managed to put 50 percent of our pay into savings this week. That was thrilling.

3. The hubby and I also had the first real talk about budgeting — ever — in our 7-year marriage. He said, “You know, we should try to live on $600 a month, including bills, every month.”

I almost had a heart attack. First, because I don’t want to live on $600 a month, and second because we finally talked about money. We did work it out, we have decided to try to live on less all the time. Not quite as little as $600 a month, but still substantially less than before and a number we both agree on.

Now for the bad

1. I had a dream last night that I got to eat out. I’ve tried my best to replicate meals from our favorite restaurants, but it’s not always possible. I miss good ethnic food. And for the first time, we had to turn down a dinner and drinks invitation to our favorite restaurant. It just wasn’t in the budget. It made our library DVDs and popcorn date seem less thrilling that night.

2. I made a little headway on part two of the challenge as well, which was to try to lower our monthly bills. I only managed to shave $14 off of what we pay every month, by getting both my home phone and Internet with the same company. It isn’t as much as I had hoped, but at least it’s something.

Here is what we’ve spent:

During week two, we spent $118. About $90 of that went to groceries, which included most of the Thanksgiving dinner we are cooking for the family. Thank god for 29 cents a pound turkey sales. $19 went to gas, and $10 to odds and ends like a new inner tube for our jogging stroller.

During week three, we spent $86. Most of it, $55, went to groceries. We also spent another $18 on gas to fill up our other car.

How have we managed for this long on so little? If you’d told me two months ago we’d be able to live on $400, I would have thought you were crazy. But by breaking our bad habits — like eating out, all the time — and being a little more conscientious, we’ve been able to reduce our expenses significantly.

So, if you are sitting at home wondering how we’ve done it, or planning your own low-spend month, here are a few tips:

1. Meat is a luxury when you are living on a shoestring. Most of our meals have been vegetarian, more out of necessity than desire. If we do eat meat, it’s only what is on sale.

2. We’ve been borrowing DVDs from friends and from the library. And, we’ve been lighting a lot of fires and putting our feet up on the coffee table while drinking some of those bottles of wine we’ve had in the cupboard. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

3. So far, we’ve filled up the gas tank of each of our two cars once. To save fuel, we use the small, compact car for any trip longer than 5 miles, and we run multiple errands on one trip — no more running out just to get one thing at the grocery store.

4. I also recommend spending as little as possible early in the month, so that you don’t run out of money at the end of the month. Our first week was our lowest-spend, at $46. We haven’t been able to go that low since, because the pantry runs dry and the cars eventually run out of gas.

Beyond that, it’s been just a matter of staying out of spending’s way. No window shopping, no mouse finger dangerously close to clicking on the Amazon.com deal of the day.

Four Reasons to Shop the Perimeter of the Grocery Store Last

September 11, 2008 By David G. Mitchell 8 Comments

I went grocery shopping today. I went to Publix, where I do all of my shopping. The store was well stocked. The produce was fresh. The employees were helpful and friendly. As I walked the aisles, I thought to myself, “this is fun.” Upon checking out, I was pleased with my savings (about 20%, despite close to half of my purchase being fresh meats and produce) and preparing to walk to my car, when the bagger stopped me and said, “Thank you for always arranging your food so nicely when you put it on the conveyor belt. It makes bagging your food so much easier.” I smiled in response and replied that it was my pleasure to help.

As I walked to my car, I started to think about the thanks that the bagger had offered. She thought I had been helping her, but I really had been helping myself. There are countless articles that have been published in the past few years on saving money at the grocery store. Indeed, if you are reading this article, you probably take pride in your coupon clipping, menu planning and knowledge of the best bargains available. Despite that, have you ever considered whether you are approaching food shopping efficiently and pragmatically when you are actually in the grocery store?

Most grocery stores are arranged with produce on the left or right side of the store, with frozen foods on the other side. Chilled products are at the back of the store and meats are usually near the produce. Everything is designed to force you to walk around the store to buy most of your staples because that forces you to look at more displays and to impulse shop more. Store managers know that the more time you spend in the store, the more money you usually will spend in the store.

I have no problem with stores trying to get me to spend and I do not mind walking around the store. That said, a few years ago, I realized that if I start shopping at the right side of my store, in the produce section, all of my produce was bruised and damaged by the groceries that I put on top of them later. If I started in the frozen food section, at the left side of the store, my frozen products were thawed by the time I got out of the store.

To remedy this, I began starting my route in the center grocery aisles, purchasing all of the non-perishable items first. I know the store well enough that I can skip the aisles that offer nothing that I need to buy. I then move on to my frozen foods and chilled foods so that they stay together in one part of my shopping cart, and I finish with my produce on top. As simple as my logistical approach to shopping is, I find that I can enjoy a host of benefits by employing it, including:

No Need to Rush

I realize that a lot of savings columns suggest that shoppers should minimize their time in the grocery store. I do not subscribe to that philosophy. I like to read ingredients and nutritional information and I definitely like to explore the unit costs of the items that I buy. I also want to ensure that I do not miss any sales or special pricing on items that I like. By shopping for non-perishable items first, I have no built in pressure to rush through the store to get my produce and refrigerated items home before they spoil or wilt. As a secondary bonus, I also ensure that all of my heavy items are placed at the bottom of my shopping cart, where they cannot bruise produce or crush eggs.

Cold Items Stay Together

By shopping for all of my frozen and chilled items in sequence (frozen, then dairy, then seafood, then meats), I ensure that all of my cold products insulate each other. Living in Florida, a package of frozen fish, for example, will quickly melt if I do not get it to a freezer quickly. If I keep all of my frozen and chilled products together in the cart, they last much longer in the cart and that allows me the time I need to drive home and get them to my freezer before they thaw or spoil.

Produce Does Not Wilt or Bruise

In days of old, half of my produce was damaged by the time I got home because I was putting my produce at the bottom of the shopping cart. By shopping for my produce last, I was able to ensure that I did not damage my produce before it even got to the checkout counter.

Organized Checkout

With my model for shopping, I am able to organize my purchase before I put it on the conveyor belt at the checkout line. Because the baggers usually bag items in the order that they are placed on the belt, I can ensure that my produce gets bagged together, my frozen and chilled products get bagged together and my non-perishables get bagged together. It makes it much easier for the bagger (hence the gratitude expressed this afternoon after I shopped) and it helps me to get all of my frozen and chilled products into the house fast when I get home. It also ensures (most of the time) that bananas and tomatoes do not end up packed underneath a bunch of cans.

I realize that avoiding the perimeter of the store until the very end of my shopping routine is a very simple thing but it really has helped me to avoid wasting a lot of food. I always used to have to throw something away when I got home from the grocery store because it had melted or been crushed. Now, I find that all of my grocery purchases make it home in one piece in the form that nature – or their producer – had intended.