Grocery Store Money Savers

[remington]

I work at a major graocry store in the Midwest and have learned a few things that can save you money.

Bags: Each plastic bag you use costs the store about 7 cents. To save money some stores offer a few cents off for each bag you don't use or for bringing in bags.

Coupons: Use em. They really do add up. Thirty cents here, fifty-five cents here. I have one lady come in that every time leaves with more money than she came in with because she uses the coupons.

Bottles: Our store sells a brand of milk in glass bottles. To get the bottle you pay a $2.75 deposit. When you bring the bottle back you get the money back. Some people don't want to go through the trouble of bringing the bottle back so they throw or give them away. These people can be goldmines.

Shop shipments: Right after the weekly shipment of groceries gets in (usually Thrusday night) there is always a batch of mislabled food. Usually the expiration date is wrong but the food is fine. They can't sell it at full price. Get there Friday morning. We have currently a batch of mislabled milk selling for 1.00 a gallon.

Out of season: As items go out of season managers get desperate for the floor space. We have currently top-soil selling for 1.25 per 20 lbs. Get plants and seeds for next year late this year.

Just a few I thought of. Any others you guys know of?

[rockymtngirl]

With the price of meat going up so high - we have started exclusively buying mark down meat - this is usually meat that is within 1-2 days of the sell by date. Then we either can or freeze for future use.

I've also noticed at my store that if they have products that are discontinued - or the store perhaps will just not be carrying that particular item anymore, they mark down these items to 50% or less of the original price - mostly dry goods like barley, etc.

RMG

[Buck]

Best site on the web for all things family money.......

http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm

[leera]

Also make notes of the days they mark things down.......instead of $2.79 for bread,you can get it for as low as $0.50........although making your own would be better.

Shop loss leaders........peanut butter for $0.99.......TP for dirt cheap.....

Also shop the higher and lower shelves,not just eye level........most items placed eye level are big seller,name brand items......shop generic.

Bringing your own bags is good,both for your bottom line and for the environment.

I tend to shop late at night,just before closing,and have often gotten some of the best deals.

I buy a lot of chicken,and sometimes can get coupons for it,my store doubles most coupons(including $1.00 coupons).......so when I have those I stock up.

Another good money saver is to shop local produce stands in season......I did that yesterday and got a good deal on green beans,it was near the end of the sale day,so he added some extra to what I was buying.

As the sale day winds down,the venders don't want to have to haul the picked produce back home again to go to waste,so they often mark it down down or give special deals.

[MYellowRose]

Mislabeled items are fine if it's just a bad date however the last mislabeling I ran across was sweet potatoes in a can labeled refried beans! Since it was a store brand I took the can with the potatoes back in it and the chili can along with the receipt for the chili back to the store and asked for replacements. The office clerk looked at me like I was crazy when I told her why I was there and I don't think she believed me until I raised the lid on the refried beans can and she saw the pieces of sweet potato! I got to go get replacements for both. DD was trying to combine what we had in the pantry and a few things we got at the store to make a lunch for the 5 of us, hence the refried beans in the chili.