I recently succumbed to two things: checking out the Grocery Game and visiting a Trader Joe's store. Both places had mass appeal online, so I took a dive.
Here's what I found:
1. Trader Joe's is all private-label, so you don't really know where your food is coming from, and have nobody to contact if a problem arises. Sure it's cheap, but it is ORGANIC? Other than meats and some produce, no, and it's all loaded with more sodium than salt itself. The produce is all pre-packaged stuff, so you really aren't saving much there. Trader Joe's is a FINANCIAL HEALTH store, and only for Trader Joe, whoever he is.
2. The Grocery Game (found here) is a pay-to-play version of what I already do on my own. My problem with it is they promote too much in the way of convenience foods and unnecessary items as savings areas. I save more just in per-unit prices, using basic items, and keeping the shopping list short than they tout in "savings deals." This game is obviously for working people who otherwise don't have the time to stay home, do the math, and cut the coupons.
3. The Drugstore Game (found here) is basically the same as the Grocery Game, only with rebates thrown in--again, I can do better on my own.
UPDATE: Just for fun, I visited the big-name drug stores near me and got those rebate books to look inside--as I suspected, they were filled with brand-name items I don't use, which tells me the rebate is how much they overcharge in the first place! Why buy a rebate item just to have to wait for your own money back?
Marketers are also playing into the grocery and drug store games to rack up sales for their products--the major pitfall of these games. All it takes is $1 for a 4-week trial membership, and that's plenty of time to see how it works and form a product marketing plan around it.
If you keep a price book, are diligent with your unit pricing, and willing to down-shift to basic materials (baking soda, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, large cuts of meat, uncut produce, etc.), you do better than these games will ever save you, and cut out a whole lot of administrative work to boot. I'm just appalled that someone actually had the gall to make one of them a business--most stores have online sales flyers, and you can do your own loss-leader, coupon, and rebate match-ups for free with less paperwork. I guess some people need spoon-feeding in these tough times.
If you want to play with coupons, here's a strategy that makes use of coupons by month and not just week. Add this to your Grocery Game (or personal strategy) and watch the savings compound even more!
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7 comments:
About 10 years ago I visited a Trader Joe's while on vacation - it was described to me as a health food store that sold their own brand and over runs, etc. of name brands. Even back then I didn't find it to be cost saving. As far as the other 2 great deal items you mentioned - I have the same opinion - I do much better on my own. Bellen
I tried the grocery game for about 6 months, a couple years ago. I stopped for many of the reasons you mention. Once I had an overstocked pantry of snacks, cereal, fruit rollups and such, I just didn't use anymore.
I make breakfast most days, bake most of the goodies to pack in lunches, and have never been a big consumer of canned vegetables & fruits. The few things I do regularly use on the Grocery Game's typical lists are things which I can track myself, without the membership fees.
I'm spending less with my little $125 grocery challenge than I did on shopping with the Grocery Game.
As for Trader Joe's, your assessment is pretty good. When they first opened, we tried a lot of their prepared foods. Now, I shop there for a few items we love - peanut butter pretzels, various nut combos, coffee, and the organic brown rice pastas. I'll buy other groceries there too, but that's largely because of the ease of the trip by bicycle.
Mmm...I am a regular Trader Joe's shopper, but mostly because they can't be beat in price for the following:
no-salt canned tomatoes
hormone free milk and eggs
organic yogurt
whole wheat pasta
brown rice
natural peanut butter
olives
feta
cheerios
sour cream
bananas
Mmm...except for the occasional veggie burger, that's about all that I buy there. Occasionally I get 3lb bags of apples. I don't really eat processed foods, theirs included. And my produce comes from a farm.
I have to agree with you - there are only 2 or 3 things I like to buy at Trader Joe's because they ARE cheaper or not available elsewhere. But everything else is expensive and processed.
As for the Grocery Game, I have looked at the site and thought about it, but then I found My Grocery Deals and they just list all the specials for each store and you can just browse, select the items you want to purchase, print your list and go shopping. And it's FREE. Much better, since I don't get the sales/coupon ads. Thanks for reconfirming my thoughts on the Grocery Game.
Seeing what Marcia finds in her store, my store must suck! I swear my husband and I went up and down every aisle, handled many products, read many labels, scrutinized many departments, and were wholly underwhelmed--maybe this one is a mini Trader Joe's or something, because it wasn't very big at all (I've been in bigger convenience stores).
As far as hormones and antibiotics in the food goes, it's now FEDERAL LAW that these things can't be used any more, so whatever package emblazoning companies use referring to this as somehow an improvement over other foods is moot (Tyson even has hormone- and antibiotic-free meats), as is the so-called "vegetarian diet" of poultry and eggs (birds don't eat vegetables). However, the one danger nobody's telling us about is soy in the diet--powdered soy is used to boost the protein content of animal diets, and undeclared allergens can cause real problems for lots of people, including diabetics, women trying to get pregnant, allergic people, and people with thyroid problems. That "vegetarian diet" monicker used for poultry and eggs is a clear warning to me that soy is being used--soy is considered a vegetarian food.
Back to Trader Joe's: a new one is supposed to be coming to Virginia Beach (rumored, although they DID buy a land parcel), so when this store materializes, I'll give them another try. Otherwise, it's too much bother to keep going to the Newport News store. The organic store I go to NOW gives me a 20% case quantity discount on whatever I buy, plus now accepts coupons. I recently used 12 coupons against a case of rice cakes, getting .75 off each package. Compared to the rest of the health food store offerings, I'm going to the cheapest one in town.
Ah, you are right. There are "super" TJ's and "mini" TJ's. I'd completely forgotten about that. They were so popular here in So. Cal that our small town has three of them, and they are all the bigger ones. But about 7-8 years ago, we only had one, and it didn't have half the stuff (it since expanded). I almost never shopped there until the grocery strike.
Trader Joes isn't cheaper than Costco, but it's got some of the same good stuff as Whole Foods for far less. I don't think I've ever heard of it as a real off-price place. I've been shopping at TJ's for over 20 years and it beats the chain groceries by a mile. The produce is okay, but is more of a convenience than anything else. They didn't always have any.
It's not a health store, except that all California stores are sort of health stores, meaning they have wheat grass.
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