Navigating Your Grocery Ads

I did a post last year about the two things that have kept me to my grocery budget for quite some time now.  You can click here to see the post.  One of the things I talk about in there is using grocery store ads when you grocery shop.  So, today I'd like to show you how I navigate my ads.  It's really quick, easy, and you can save a lot of money! 

I know everyone shops for different items, and what I like in a grocery ad, you may not.  Today, I just want to point out how quickly you can navigate your ads.  It honestly takes me 2-3 minutes to look through one ad and know what I want or don't want.  Don't get me wrong, there are GREAT deals in your grocer's ads, but there's a lot you don't even need to look at.

I've tried to show how I navigate my ads here with black Xs (don't want or need) and gold stars (good deal, want to probably buy).  You'll quickly see there's a lot I don't even consider buying (look at all my Xs).  

I really have two criteria for not buying items:

1.  We don't eat it

2.  The price isn't that great

So let's get started.  Here we are on the front of one of my local ads for this week. The front page is always where you'll see the best deals, so pay attention to this page.

My Star Items

*Asparagus.  Always shop seasonal produce.  What a deal!

*Pork Chops & Ground Beef.  I always look for meat deals.  These aren't the best prices, but I'll check it out in the store.

*Cereal.  They're part of the buy 5, save $5.  This really is a great deal, but be careful about the size of cereal you buy.  Often times it's the tiny boxes that are a part of the deal, so find the largest sizes you can.

And once again, if I have an X over an item it just means we don't use that item very often, or I know the price isn't as good as I can get.

On to the middle pages.  You won't find the deals you'll find on the front page, but don't overlook something.  Often times there can be great deals hiding here.

My Star Items

*Apples and pears.  We eat a lot of fresh fruit, and it's hard to beat 99 cents a pound!  I didn't star the strawberries because 2 for $5 isn't that great this time of year.  I've gotten them under $2 twice this year already.

*Crackers and chips.  We don't eat a ton of these, but they are on good sales, and so I stock up sometimes for when we have parties with dips, and my boys like cheese, crackers, and lunch meat better than sandwiches most days.

*Salsa.  We're addicted to the green salsa verde at our house, so I always watch for it to go on sale.

Look at all the black Xs!  I really don't want to show there's nothing good here, because for you there maybe.  I just want you to see how the ads are really quick to navigate, because a lot of what's in them you probably don't use.

Next middle pages.  Once again, not too many screamin' deals, but worth taking the time to look over.

My Star Items

*Cheese.  We do use cheese quite often at our house, so it's another item I keep an eye on.  I can often find 3/$5 sales on cheese, so $1.99 isn't the best, but close.

*Granola.  I usually make my own granola, but for $1.99 my boys do love the Cascadian Farm granola on their yogurt.

*Spaghettie Sauce.  Once again, I like to make my own spaghetti sauce (click here for the recipe we love), but that doesn't always happen, and $1.49 for Calssico is great!

*Chicken Breast.  We eat a lot of chicken at our house, and $1.99 is a really good deal!  We do have a local grocery store that has 5/$20 meat sales, and I try to stock up then.

*Salmon Portions.  My boys LOVE salmon, but I don't buy it very often because it's pricey.  I'm not sure how the portions compare to the fillets, so I'll check them out in the store.

*Candy.  Who doesn't love a box of Junior Mints or Milk Duds?  I know these can be found pretty easily for $1, but often times the good ones are over $1.

Now for the last page.  Not a lot here, but I did star a few items to check out.  And keep in mind I don't always buy my starred items, but they're the ones I want to check out, or do end up buying.

My Starred Items

*Hot Dog & Hamburger Buns.  It's that time of year when my boys love to start their hot dog roasts, so I starred them.  I know they go under $1 often once summer gets closer, however.

*Sun Chips.  We do like Sun Chips, but once again we don't eat them very often.  I'll see once I get to the store how I'm feeling about them.

*Apple Juice.  We don't buy bottled juice very often, and I know I can get these 2/$3 at times, but I'll check it out.

So, there you have it.  That's how I navigate my grocery store ads.  Once you've done it a few times, it really will only take a matter of minutes to glance through and know what the great deals are, what you use, and what you want to buy.  I totally LOVE my grocery ads!  Wednesdays have become one of my favorite days at the post office because I get my ads.

If you've never shopped your ads before, I hope you'll give it a try.  You really can save a TON of money by using them, and it doesn't take much time at all.  They've become a life saver for me when I'm trying to stick to a grocery budget.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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