Daily Herald Aritcle

The following was an article written for the Daily Herald. However, it could not be run. The Savvy Shopper is a sponsor of the paper and I do not support the Savvy Shopper so the Herald would not run an article that was against one of their sponsors.

Local Grocery Gurus – Karissa Neely

Even if the economy wasn’t bad right now, Jen Fugal would still shop the same way.
The Pleasant Grove stay-at-home mother of two feels that getting the best deal for her household expenses is her job. And she approaches it with organization, planning and skills, just as she would any other occupation.

Why does she do it? “Food prices have been going up quicker than our income,” she said. With a three year old and an 18 month old still in diapers, she has to find ways to conserve the family’s money.

Fugal said anyone who wants to save money at the grocery store has to find their own workable system. She went through a few different ways before settling on the version she uses now.
Fugal is a strict price matcher. First, on Sunday and Wednesday, she collects the ads for all grocery stores, including Smith’s, Albertson’s, Reams, Sunflower Market and Buy Low. Then she makes up her menu for the next week and writes up a grocery list to match.

But this isn’t just an “eggs, milk, and a stick of butter” list. She lists everything, which store has it at the lowest price, and circles it on the ad. On her list she also writes down the exact brand and size and price.

Then Friday, she goes to Walmart and shops. When she gets to the checkout, she separates regularly priced things from the items she’ll be price matching, and warns the cashier. As the cashier rings up the price matched items, she has each ad for reference. Then at the very end, she pulls out her coupon binder---each coupon is grouped and filed in those clear baseball card holders---and hands those over.

“Yeah, even I wouldn’t want to be behind me (in line),” Fugal said with a chuckle.
But the extra effort pays off. Last week she bought over $80 worth of groceries for a little less than $60.

“This is how I make money. It does take a little more time, but it’s worth it,” Fugal said.
Her husband Scott said he won’t go shopping with her because it’s a bit embarrassing, but readily admits, with a hint of pride, that she does get some great deals.

And she does not stop there. Fugal started her own blog, TheFrugalFugal.blogspot.com, to share her tips and deals with others, and it’s starting to gain a steady readership. Each week she lists the bargains from each ad, and good coupons or sales she sees.

The “making money” theme is what binds true bargain shoppers together.
Carisa Hoopes, another Pleasant Grove mother of three, is also a deal chaser. And she does it because it is a way to “make” money for her family.

“I’ve always been the type of person, when I saw something at a really good price, I’d stock up on it, but I always had the attitude that rebates and coupons weren’t worth my time,” Hoopes said.

But then she’d see people get boxes of cereal for a quarter and she’d wonder how they did it. And she would look at stores like Walgreens, and wonder how they stayed in business, because they never seemed to have good prices.

She started her trail to deals by starting with the Web site PinchingYourPennies.com. And it changed her mind about a lot of things.

“Pinching Your Pennies shows you how to get good prices, which coupon or rebate to use, how much your register reward will be, and even which in store coupon to use,” Hoopes said.
Now, with the Web site’s help, she shops the deals at Smiths, Albertsons, Walgreens and Rite Aid. She gets two sets of Sunday ads each week, clips the coupons, and files them according to date. She then hops online to find the deals, and plans her Monday shopping around them. She and her friend, Charon Mouritsen, go shopping together Mondays.

Mouritsen got into it through Hoopes, and is now a devoted coupon deal shopper. She has an emailing group that she alerts to the deals each week.

Both Hoopes and Mouritsen said it is fun doing this type of shopping with a friend because they can help each other keep organized and get the best deal.

“It’s also nice to have a buffer when you’re standing in line, someone to buffer you from the people who are grumpy you’re using so many coupons,” said Mourtisen.

“People say it’s not worth it, and you’re running around, but you’re not,” Hoopes said. “If you chose just one thing…. If you decided you weren’t going to pay for toothpaste or shampoo anymore, you’d see the difference.”

In the past, for example, she has bought 10 boxes of cereal for a quarter by combining store sales, store coupons, and manufacturer coupons. (You can’t combine two manufacturer coupons, but you can combine them with store coupons.)

“I’m goofy, I know. Last week we had no cheese in the house, now we have five blocks in our fridge,” said Hoopes.

Hoopes says that she doesn’t need to purchase the family’s needs this way, but she does it anyway because it helps their family.

“I believe people can learn to live within their means. You really can feed your family on just a couple of dollars a day,” she said.


SideBar:

Web sites to help you save:

TheFrugalFugal.blogspot.com

PinchingYourPennies.com