Grocery Deals Website Serves Up Big Savings

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Sandy Harper handles the grocery budget for her of eight in Tucson, Arizona.  “Our youngest is one and our oldest is ten,” says Sandy.  “Saving on groceries is very important at our house.”  But with six children, Sandy doesn’t have time to hunt through stacks of supermarket flyers looking for bargains.  Instead, Sandy is a member of a web site called mygrocerydeals.com.  She found mygrocerydeals.com early in 2008 when she was searching for ‘grocery deals’ and that was the last time she needed to run that search.  “I use mygrocerydeals.com every week to quickly scan for the best prices on the items on my list and to watch for especially good deals.”

In Oak Lawn, Illinois, Ann Hayes has four boys in private school.  “I never miss a chance to save on groceries,” says Ann.  She uses and will look at the flyers that land on her doorstep but she prefers the time-saving convenience of mygrocerydeals.com.  “It’s no different than somebody taking the inserts and circulars and flipping through the ads and kind of making a list,” says Ann. “[I've] never been real good with lists and doing things that way. This way, it’s just the technology does it all for me.”

That technology is mygrocerydeals.com, launched in 2004 by co-founders Paul Davis and John Scott. The two had been building and operating internet and technology companies for several years.  Along the way they developed a strong sense of how to deliver value through the web.  With mygrocerydeals.com, they set their sights on delivering some of that value to the largest group of consumers in the world: grocery buyers.

Both Scott and Davis have backgrounds in research and several years of experience with online survey systems. With many consumer product companies as their customers they gained valuable insight into the grocery business where the coupon is a standard promotional tool.  The two watched closely as coupon sites started to spring up on the web but they weren’t convinced.  They believed that the coupon clipping sub-culture was much smaller than the market they wanted to help.  “Coupon clipping, the filing and organizing and scheduling; all of that takes time and dedication,” says Scott.  “Many families have trouble finding that time.”  Scott and Davis felt that there was a need for a web-based grocery savings comparison service that was fast and easy to use; one that could every grocery shopper could use to save money.

They began the research, starting with a review of their own families’ grocery methods.  They realized that it was all about the deals in the flyers, the supermarket circulars in the weekend papers, the weekly specials.  They were all using the flyers to tweak their weekly grocery trips according to the stores offering the best prices.  More formal research revealed that nearly eighty percent of American households do the same thing.  Their vision for mygrocerydeals.com became clear.

Davis and Scott envisioned a service that would capture the grocery savings flyers–all of them, from coast to coast–and make them available online for quick comparison.  With that key information in place, they knew from their own grocery behavior that users of their service would want a way to create a grocery list and a way to match the items on the list to the best prices in the weekly flyers.  Most important, the founders knew that their customers would want to use these services every week, fifty two weeks of the year.  With the experience, the expertise, and a compelling vision, they went to work with a team of technology and business professionals to build mygrocerydeals.com.

Mygrocerydeals.com is a free grocery savings search engine web site that has become a weekly destination for 250,000 members.  Every week, mygrocerydeals.com captures and organizes the specials, sales, and deals in the flyers published by more than 25,000 stores across the country including Alaska and Hawaii.  Visitors to mygrocerydeals.com use their email address and Zip Code to create a unique, password-protected membership account.  Members can see every flyer deal at every store in their region or they can narrow their search to find only the deals at their favorite supermarkets and stores.  “Mygrocerydeals.com has been called the Google of grocery savings,” says Davis. “And that is a great way to understand its power, but it is much more than that.”  Davis calls mygrocerydeals.com a complete grocery savings system where members create and save their grocery lists and use the powerful search functions to match the items on their list to the best prices in the flyers.  “They print the grocery list right from the member account and they’re off to the stores to stock up and save.”

In addition to the grocery list and grocery savings search engine capability, mygrocerydeals.com serves up a full complement of grocery .  “Our coupon clipping members love the chance to save twice,” says Scott.  “The first savings come from the flyer deals and a second helping comes from .”  Scott points out that stockpiling of freezer and non-perishable grocery items is an increasingly important budgeting technique and the combining of flyer pricing and is an increasingly popular way to stretch the household dollars.

Ann Hayes of Oak Lawn, IL has been a member at mygrocerydeals.com since 2007.  She believes that using mygrocerydeals.com saves her at least fifty dollars each week.  “If I’m going to buy something, I can find which store has it on sale at the cheapest price,” says Anne.  “At least I know, at the very least, I’ve saved something.”

Sandy Harper pushes her savings to another level.  She combines and the best deals on mygrocerydeals.com and gets many items for free.  “I have more than twenty-four rolls of paper towel in my cupboard and I got them all for free,” she says. “Before, my weekly grocery bill was more than three hundred dollars but now it is less than one hundred and twenty dollars.”

Scott and Davis offer a rough calculation.  “If every member of mygrocerydeals.com is saving as much as one hundred dollars every week, we could be helping American householders get twenty five million dollars worth of free groceries every week,” says Scott.  “Not bad at all,” adds Davis.

The site was formally launched in 2004 and the company continues to add features to help members manage not only the budget but also the ’s well-being.  “Mygrocerydeals.com is the only grocery savings site that gives premium members integrated access to complete nutritional information and allergy alerts,” says Davis. Davis and Scott both believe that saving money should never mean compromising good eating habits.  “Mygrocerydeals.com brings all of the important decision-making information into one easy to use service,” says Scott.  “The items, the favorite stores, the best prices, the label data on nutritional content and ingredients, and the critically important allergen warnings are all here at mygrocerydeals.com.”

The founders and their team are proud of their creation but they attribute most of the success to the members of mygrocerydeals.com.  “Our members guide us,” says Davis. “Members choose the features they want us to build and tell us about the stores they want included.”  The site boasts more than a quarter of a million members and the number of new members registering every week is on the rise.  Television stations and newspapers as far apart as New York City and Southern California have also taken notice in recent months.  “Media coverage is just great exposure,” says Davis, “but again, it is the membership spreading the word to friends and that makes us feel most proud.  When people are eager to share the great grocery savings search engine they found on the web, we know we are getting it right.”

For mygrocerydeals.com, getting it right means more of the same.  The company’s goal is to attract one million members.  Scott and Davis think that goal may be reached sooner rather than later, in part because of current economic conditions.  “No one planned it this way but this is certainly a very, very good time to be saving all you can on your groceries,” says Davis.

“And we’re proud to be helping,” says Scott.

By: Brett McAteer

About the Author:

Brett McAteer writes for technology companies: from website copy to annual report content to press releases and beyond.

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November 1st, 2009 in food and drink |

Using a Free Grocery Coupon to Cut Down on Home Expenses

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for groceries can be an expensive task if you aren’t using any . There are however a number of different grocery that you can find and use. Some of these will entitle you to the use of a free grocery coupon. You should not expect to find a great many of these for every item that you want.

Using a free grocery coupon is good idea but as with all you will need to see if you have any need of the item that you are buying with the coupon. The expiry date of the coupon should also be noted as there may be times when you can’t buy your groceries during that time period.

Likewise even though using a free grocery coupon can cut down on the expenses that you have to think about, you will still need to decide if the discount that you are getting with this free grocery coupon is worth your using it.

Once you have looked at all of these aspects such as validity, expiry date and value for money you can still use the coupon if you feel that it will be of some help. These free grocery can be found in your local supermarket newsletter. This paper is the best way for you to stock up on a variety of grocery .

There are occasions where you will find that you can get a free grocery coupon in the supermarket at the time of buying your groceries. These free will give you a limited time in which you can redeem the value of the coupon but these types of are still worthwhile using.

Like the normal grocery there are a number of different free that you can find. These free will range from a variety of products like that of breads, meats, beverages – both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety – these can sometimes include milks and juices in this list.

You can also find a free grocery coupon for use with the other products that you generally find in supermarkets. These products that you might find of use buying from a free grocery coupon are wines, barbecues charcoal lighters and charcoal bags, feminine hygiene products, birthday supplies and cake making utensils, pets care products and even bathroom cleaning products.

The many products that can be bought from a free grocery coupon are endless. The only real limits that you have with this coupon is the amount of time that you are willing to devote to collecting the and the expiry dates that are given for each type of coupon. Barring these limitations you can shop to your hearts content with the different grocery and buy a special something with your free grocery coupon.



By: Muna wa Wanjiru

About the Author:

Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has been researching and reporting on internet marketing for years. For more information on free grocery coupon, visit his site at FREE GROCERY COUPON



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October 2nd, 2009 in food and drink |

You Will be Amazed at How Much Money you Will Save Using Grocery Coupons

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There are many different ways that you can save money when you are grocery and using grocery is one such way. These are usually found in your local supermarket or sometimes they are found with your weekly newspapers. There may be times when you will come across lots of from a variety of supermarkets.

You can use these different grocery but you should choose the items that you need to buy. When you are looking through the different you will also need to see what the expiry date is as some of these grocery have a limited sale time.

You will also need to see how much money you will be able to save by using different . There are also some grocery where you can buy a certain number of products and you can receive a further discount or you will be able to buy one more item for free.

These special deals can be of great help when you need to buy a few products in bulk amounts. You should however make sure that you are not cutting out any important information when you are collecting these grocery . You can sometimes use these with various in store discounts.

You will however need to inquire from store personnel about these discounts and promotions. Looking for promotion grocery is also another way to find many that will provide you with the opportunity of saving money.

There is one fact that you will need to keep in mind when you are buying stuff using promotional . Unlike the regular grocery the promotional are available for a small window of time. Therefore if you want to use a coupon like this you should make sure that you are well within that period of time usage.

Beyond using these types of there are other types of grocery that will allow you to purchase your groceries from wholesale stores. With these you will be able to further reduce your spending even further as the will reduce the price of these already low pieced goods.

Since grocery are used to help us reduce the amount of money that we have to spend on our weekly meals it helps if you can collect the that will bring you good bargains and place them in an organized manner.

The many different coupon organizers that are available will let you see at a glance the coupon that will let you buy the products that you want. So the next time that you are ready to go grocery you might want to have all of your grocery ready to be taken out for ready use.



By: Muna wa Wanjiru

About the Author:

Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has been researching and reporting on internet marketing for years. For more information on grocery , visit his site at GROCERY COUPONS



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August 12th, 2009 in food and drink |

Saving Money at the Grocery Store By Using a Budget

by Alex Pastlin

Savvy customers know that from a grocery list can save time and money. However, setting a budget at the store can often be confusing. How do you create a budget? How do you know how much you can spend?

To begin with, it’s a good idea to look at your grocery budget the same way that you look at your rent and car insurance-as a bill. This makes sense, since we need and it is an important expense. When doing your monthly budget, figure in your groceries the same way that you do your other bills. Don’t shop under the old “I’ll spend whatever I have left over on .” Sometimes, that leftover money gets eaten up in day-to-day expenses and you might not have enough left over to shop with.

How much should you budget? There are several variables in this, including size and income. According to the government, a of 3 with little to no income would receive $389 per month in Stamps. Of course, that’s not saying that every of 3 would spend that much, or that little, but it’s a good estimation.

A good way to look at your grocery list versus your grocery budget is to determine what staples you absolutely need. If you know that you go through 2 cartons of milk per week, and milk is $4.00 per gallon, then you know that your grocery budget is at least going to be $32 per month. Start making a list of those items that your eats every month and then estimate the cost of those items. This will give you an idea of how much you have been spending.

If you then look over that list and see that the amount is too much, then do a re-take and try to figure out how you can cut back. Is there a discount store in which you can buy some of the items, like the canned goods? Is there is meat market or farmer’s market nearby where you can get for less?

Once you have set your monthly budget, if you find that it is too high, try cutting it back $50. You might find that the quality of your pantry has not changed that much. If you think you can stand it, the next month, try cutting back another 5%.

Or maybe you decide that you don’t need to cut back on your grocery bill, that you actually need all of the items on your list. In that case, try cutting back in another area of your life. If you do your list and find that you actually will spend $400 per month on groceries and you absolutely cannot cut back, think about taking your lunch to work two days a week instead of eating out. Or one Friday night per month rent a movie and pop popcorn instead of going to the cinema.

In general, it is always cheaper to buy items that can be used more than once. Try buying for multiple meals instead of for one meal. A box of pasta can last through two or three meals, as can a bag of potatoes. Buying frozen dinners, while more convenient when it comes to time, is going to cost more money in the long run.

A really good tip is to try to work with the cash system. When you get paid, whether it’s monthly or bi-weekly, take your grocery money out of your bank and put it in an envelope and shop from that. It’s an excellent way to keep you from overspending.

All in all, remember that is just as important of an expense as your rent, your utilities, and your childcare (if you have children). Treat it importantly and be wise in your budgeting so that you don’t short yourself on having a healthy lifestyle. With a little forethought, grocery on a budget does not have to be too hard.

About the Author:
For more tips on how to properly set your grocery budget, go to 4GrocerySavings.com and find out all the ways to make grocery shopping on a budget work for you.

May 9th, 2009 in food and drink |

Healthy Choices While Grocery Shopping

by Alex Pastlin

Although various brands of spend millions of dollars a year advertising foods that aren’t necessarily healthy choices, there are healthy foods out there in your local , waiting to be found. With a few tips, a smart shopper should be able to find good buys that are good for the wallet, as well as the heart.

With so many choices when it comes to , shoppers can sometimes feel discouraged when it comes to making healthy choices. Customers shouldn’t feel daunted when trying to find healthy , however.

First, create a list before you leave for the store. Cooking in a healthy way requires you to have all the necessary ingredients so you don’t want to forget anything.

When you’re making out your list and menu, be sure to keep the pyramid in mind. In order to stay healthy, it’s best to have the right amounts of vegetables, whole grains, dairy, fruits, lean meat, poultry, fish, nuts, and beans.

You don’t have to eat organic to be healthy. As long as you eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, you’re doing well. Try adding these to your list instead of the canned variety. To get a good deal, and help out your local economy, consider visiting your local farmer’s market.

Although the taste might take some time to get used to, try using whole grained rice and pasta when cooking. These foods contain a lot of fiber, which is good for you.

As you’re buying meats, do your best to purchase lean cuts. With poultry, it’s good to use skinless pieces. Salmon is a good choice for fish since it is fairly inexpensive and doesn’t always taste “fishy.”

You don’t have to fill your entire plate with protein, either, which is good for your budget. The USDA only recommends that of your plate be protein, with the rest being fruits and vegetables and whole grains. That doesn’t even have to be meat-it can also be beans, tofu, eggs, or nuts.

The healthiest options are usually located around the edges of the store. This is where you will find your breads, produce, and meats. The junk aisles tend to be in the center of the store.

If buying canned , try to look for that has minimum salt. Fruits stored in fruit juice are a good option as well. If worried about salt, you can always rinse off the items before you use them.

Seasonality plays a part in produce. Fruits and vegetables tend to cost less, and are tastier, when they are in season. Some fruits, such as strawberries, can be frozen, too, and used in the off-season instead of purchasing them later when they are more expensive.

Snacking might have a bad reputation, but it can actually be good for you, as long as you don’t overdo it. When you pick out your snack foods, make sure you that you include both healthy and unhealthy snacks. Along with your ice cream and cookies, be sure to include nuts, apples, and bananas as well.

Last, but not least, although pre-packaged looks more convenient, it is usually filled with sodium and saturated fat. When for healthy choices, it’s always better to purchase the ingredients and prepare your yourself. In the long run, you’ll end up paying about the same amount of money, but your menu will be much healthier.

About the Author:
For even more advice on how to make up an effective healthy grocery list, go to 4GrocerySavings.com to discover how to successfully shop for healthy groceries.

May 4th, 2009 in food and drink |

Saving Time and Money at the Grocery Store

by Alex Pastlin

In order to ensure that you save as much money and time as possible at the there are certain rules shoppers should follow. While they might not seem important, small changes in your routine could add up to big savings in the long run.

To begin with, never go grocery on an empty stomach. You’ll be inclined to purchase whatever is handy and looks good. You might even be tempted to buy things that you don’t normally eat. It’s also easier to impulse-buy when you’re hungry and that carefully planned budget might just go out the window.

Oddly enough, on a full stomach isn’t that great of an idea either. You will still be biased, but this time in a different way. You might find that if you’re full, nothing looks good. If you feel really full, the sight of so much might even make you sick. It’s best to go in between mealtimes, or to have a quick snack before entering the store.

Don’t shop when you’re in a hurry. Unless you have made a short list, know exactly where the items are located and how much they are going to cost when you get them and you already have this planned out ahead of time, when you’re pressed for time can sometimes cause you to throw things in the cart without thinking about price.

Check your cabinets and refrigerator before you go grocery and plan your meals around what you already have stocked. This seems simple, right? But if you check your pantry and see that you have potatoes, beans, and carrots, add tomato juice to your list and you’ve got homemade vegetable soup! When in doubt, try an online recipe site to get some ideas for easy meals.

The day before you go , pick up a sales paper and see what the current specials are. This can also help you in preparing your list. You might gets ideas for meals that you hadn’t previously thought of.

Buy that can be spread out over several meals. A package of pasta can be used in several different ways: baked pasta, goulash, or a pasta salad. Likewise, a package of chicken breasts can be frozen and used for many different meals as well: served with rice and cream of mushroom soup, tossed with pineapple for a tropical meal, or even cooked in salsa for a spicy Mexican flavor.

Try to keep a budget when you shop, but leave a plus and minus number for something special. We are all trying to budget as best we can, but there’s no point in having extra money if you never enjoy yourself. So leave some room in the budget for a little something ‘fun.’ As long as you don’t go too far with this philosophy it can work out for the best. After all, if you are constantly telling yourself you can’t having anything then you are more likely to give up on the budget altogether, or at least more often. As a rule try and have your ‘treat’ cost less than the most expensive item on your list.

It might sound simple, but watch the register as your items are being scanned. The people who work the cash registers are humans, too, and they might not know about all of the sales that are going on. It’s wise to watch what is being rung up and to point out any discrepancies. But please, be respectful, too.

About the Author:
For more money-saving tips on how to save on groceries, go to 4GrocerySavings.com and disover tons of secrets to increase your grocery savings on every trip to the supermarket.

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    May 2nd, 2009 in food and drink |

    The Art of Organizing Your Coupons

    by Alex Pastlin

    It can be difficult to keep your organized, but if you can’t actually find your when it’s time to use them, then the time you have spent clipping them has been wasted. Organizing your first is a good way to be prepared and ready to save money at the checkout counter.

    The first thing you need to do is to make a list. If you make a list, then you’ll be able to match the with the items that you need. After that, search through your coupon organizer and take out the that match your list. Now, you’re ready to shop.

    And how do you organize your ? Well, there are several different ways.

    Keeping two separate organizers is a good idea. One organizer is to stay at . This organizer contains those that you know you’re eventually going to need and use. The other organizer is portable and ideally fits into your purse or pocket. It contains those that you need on that specific trip.

    Using an old shoebox or a recipe box is an inexpensive way of crating an organizer that stays at . You can also use index cards to separate the in to the categories that work for you. You want to make it easy to find the as you need them.

    To make your coupon search user-friendly for you, create a categorizing system that makes sense to you. Arrange them alphabetically, by group, or even by brand but make sure that it is a system that you, yourself, understand. You want to be able to find the quickly.

    Remember to go through your on a weekly basis to weed out the ones that have expired. Check the expiration date again before you go just in case you missed something.

    Upon making out your list, pull the out of your large organizer that you will need for your grocery trip. Then, place those in a portable organizer so that they can be transported to the store with you.

    You can purchase small coupon organizers that even hold calculators and pens or you can simply use a folded up envelope. It’s a good idea to have something small, however that can easily fit into your purse or pocket.

    If you don’t want to spend the money on a special coupon organizer, you can also use an envelope, which works just as well. If you put a rubber band around the envelope, it will keep the from falling out without having to seal the envelope itself.

    When you get to the store, you might also want to check the aisles for “pull out ” near the items that you are buying, just in case the store is offering a better deal that day than the one that your coupon is good for.

    If you managed to stay organized when it comes to your , not only will your trip go easier, but you’ll also save money. And that’s the reason we use in the first place.

    About the Author:
    For suggestions on ways to use a grocery coupon organizer, go to 4GrocerySavings.com. Also find out how to get free coupons for groceries and save big bucks on your next visit to your local .

    April 25th, 2009 in food and drink |