New Grocery Smarts App for Android Phones

NEW! Love your ANDROID phone? Love our grocery lists?

BETA test our App for ANDRIOD phones.

 

Did you see this notice at the very bottom of your Grocery Smarts store lists?  Maybe I'm slow.  I don't know how long this app has been available, but I downloaded it to my smart phone this afternoon.  I think I'm going to love it!

 

Features of the Grocery Smarts Android App:

• Allows you to save any list you want (WITH your adjustments) for use at a later time.
• Shrinks and unshrinks just like our regular lists. The app eliminates lines you dont want, based on your input in the "QUANTITY" column.
• Keeps a running total on screen based on "Bottom line price", and the quantity you plan to purchase.
• Once you have "Shrunk" to the list you want, You can email yourself (or anyone else) a list of the coupons you need to clip or print (Remember, a PC and printer is still the ONLY way to get any printable coupon. Android devices can't print coupons.)
• When using while at the store, there is a "Checkmark" next to each item, so you can "check it off" your list while shopping.
• Retains our CLASSIC PROMO HEADERS and SPREADSHEET FORMAT so critical to INSTANTLY understand ALL MIX or MATCH items and all the rules for every promo.

What the app will NOT do:

• You need a PC and printer to print printable coupons.
• The ALL-IN-ONE feature will be added with the official launch in the ANDROID MARKET (After the BETA test has concluded)

IMPORTANT: FOR THIS BETA TEST, Please send ALL TECHNICAL feedback to the developer at: bbhadlock@msn.com

Thanks for helping test the app, and look for the official release soon in the Android Market! (Grocery Smarts is also looking to develop and iPhone App.  I'll keep you posted!  

If you're new to the Grocery Smarts lists, ive in the Las Vegas area and would like to learn how to use the lists, get multiple coupons and save an average of 50% or more on your groceries, household products, and health and beauty items - please give me a call (702-303-0171).  I promise you'll have an enjoyable experience while learning how to maximize your savings by using coupons.

Stock Up, Save, Simplify.

Thinking before acting is good advice.  What does that have to do with couponing?  First let me say I wasn't impressed with this week's Albertson's and Smiths ads.  So this week I'm holding on to my grocery money and coupons and waiting for a better bargain.

Be a smart consumer while you stock-up, save and simplify:

• Stock-up.  Know the stock-up prices on the items you buy regularly.  For instance, I try to never pay more than $1 for a box of cereal and I haven't paid one cent for toothpaste or deodorant in a very long time!  Stores will do everything they can to make their products and prices look appealing to you.  That's what advertising is about.  Work to become knowledgeable about the lowest price you should pay for your regular purchases.
• Save.  Have patience!  Wait for the price you want!  Once you've accumulated your stockpile this becomes so much easier.  Until then, don't give in to the urge to buy when the prices aren't where you want them to be.  Remember you're the one to decide when you spend your money. 
• Simplify.  Use Grocery Smarts lists to save both time and money.  The convenience of having a free website that matches your coupons with weekly sales is a huge time and money-saver.  We all want to save money.  That's why we coupon.  Grocery Smarts helps you save time as well (which is just as valuable)!

It's really okay to skip a week in your couponing adventures when the sales don't meet with expectations.  Waiting can be a good thing.  Patience, after all, is a virtue.  

September is National Coupon Month

97% of consumers want to know the cost of an item before buying.

91% of consumers would walk away from the 'perfect sweater' if it wasn't on sale.

92% of shoppers have changed their grocery shopping  behavior in the last two years.

Here are a few more interesting facts from the Promotion Managing Association (PMA):

• 65% of shoppers use cents-off coupons received in the mail or from newspapers/magazines.
• 73% (3 out of 4) of shoppers stock up on an item when they find a bargain.
• 77% of consumers use CPG coupons (manufacturer coupons printed and distributed by consumer packaged goods companies) on a regular basis.
• Consumers redeemed nearly 3.2 billion coupons — a 23% increase (second largest increase in coupon redemption ever recorded) in 2009.
• Consumers saved nearly $3.5 billion with coupons in 2009, an increase of $800 million or nearly 30% more than the prior year.

These statistics are all about me, me, me!  And hopefully you, you, you!  Couponing is NOT out-of-the-norm!  According to these stats, a larger percentage ARE using coupons as opposed to those who ARE NOT using them.  If you aren't using coupons -- what do you have against saving money?

If you are nervous about using coupons,

If you can't figure out where everyone else gets their coupons,

If you think couponing is too time consuming,

If you think you can't save enough money to justify the time spent couponing . . .

PLEASE, PLEASE call me!  It is easier than you may think to SAVE MONEY REGULARLY on food, cleaning products, health and beauty products and more!  Celebrate National Coupon Month by beginning or improving your couponing experience.  Give me one hour and I'll show you how Grocery Smarts can help.

Couponing - Yes Or No?

My husband swears we would be millionaires if we only had Grocery Smarts and the internet when our children were younger!  It still amazes me that so many shoppers think couponing is not worth the time and effort.  Are you kidding me???  I can prove the savings in both time and money:

The reasons some give for NOT couponing:

1. Couponing takes too much time
2. You only save a few cents - it's not worth the effort
3. I can't find coupons for the products I use
4. You have to buy a newspaper
5. Shopping takes longer
6. It's embarrassing to use coupons

Let's take my shopping trip yesterday.  I spent $45.18.  I saved $109.04 (that works out to 59%).  But forget the percentage -- that's $109 in real money!  It took less than an hour to go over the Grocery Smarts list and clip the coupons I needed.  I only spent an hour shopping because I had list in hand and only purchased items on the list.  I earned over $50/hour by saving over $100 in 2 hours time.  That shoots down the first two points!

Can you find coupons for items you need and use?  Most definitely YES!  There are coupons for just about everything.  The trick is to find the coupons you need WHEN you need them.  I never take the time to clip and file my coupons individually.  I save and file my newspaper inserts (the Smart Source, Red Plum and P&G) and clip coupons only when I take them to be redeemed at the store.  (BIG savings in time!)  So I have a collection of coupons.   You want to use your coupon when you can get the greatest value -- when that item is on SALE!  So check your Grocery Smarts list, clip the coupons you need (when you need them) and head to the store.  EASY!

Do you have to buy a newspaper?  Well, it sure makes things easier.  Yes, you could print many of your coupons but it seems that's a more expensive option considering ink and paper (not to mention TIME)!  My five Sunday newspapers cost me $4.75 each week with the Grocery Smarts low subscription prices.  If I bought them on the newsstand they would cost $17.50!  (I love to save money on EVERYTHING!)  When shopping yesterday, I used $67.50 in coupons.  In one shopping trip.  The savings in that one trip paid for my five newspaper subscriptions for 3 months!  And I save an average of 55% every week!  The newspaper pays for itself in savings.  So I'm happy to buy the newspaper - it's a tool in my savings arsenal!

Shopping takes longer, and it's embarrassing to use coupons.  The time in the store is actually minimized because you'll be shopping with your plan in hand!  You know exactly what you're buying - you're in and out.  And really, it's not embarrassing to use coupons!  I don't think other shoppers really notice until they hear the cashier tell you how much you saved.  Then they want to know how you did it and where you get your coupons so they can do it, too!  The cashiers in the stores I shop have come to know I'm a couponer and are just as excited to see my savings as I am.

Our family believes in saving our hard-earned money whenever possible.  Couponing when shopping for groceries, household items and personal care products is a good fit for us.  The extras come when we can also save with coupons for clothing, toys, office supplies and electronics.  Why pay full price for items when a coupon is available?  It's like walking right by a $10 bill lying on the the sidewalk.  Just my opinion.

How Much Are You Saving With Coupons?

It's common for people to wonder how much can actually be saved using coupons.  Is the savings worth what some consider to be a 'great effort'?  I'll let you decide.

In today's Review Journal, I found these coupons for products that my family will use:

$0.55/1 Hormel Deli Meat

$1/1 Nexcare Bandages

$0.75/2 Scotch-Brite Scrub Sponges

$2/1 Kerasal (Can I just tell you this stuff is fantastic!  Our family is famous for those dry, cracked, sandpaper heels!  Maybe that's TMI.  Anyway, I'm always giving this to my daughters and telling they to TAKE THE TIME TO USE IT!  It works like magic.  Really.)

$2/1 Biz

$1/1 Biz

$0.50/1 French's Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

$1/1 Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste

$0.75/1 Ban Solid Deodorant

$0.40/1 Ban Product

$1/1 Sea Breeze

$1/1 Nabisco Crackerfuls

$0.50/2 Jello gelatin or pudding

$2/1 Bic Shavers, assorted

$3/1 John Frieda Root Awakenings Product

$2/1 John Frieda Hair Care Product

$3/1 Olay Pro-X Facial Moisturizer of Facial Cleanser (Parade Magazine)

These coupons total $22.45 - which I think is a pretty healthy savings.

BUT WAIT!  I get 5 newspapers - which makes the total savings $112.25!

The total for my 5 newspaper subscriptions (6 month -Sunday only delivery) is $123.50'
The savings in today's paper alone nearly paid for all my subscriptions and I'll still be receiving similar savings in the remaining 25 weeks.

So the answer to the question "Is couponing worth it?"  The answer for me is a resounding YES!  I am saving money on my subscriptions because I get a ridiculous rate (the same rate you can get from me through Grocery Smarts), and I'm also saving money at the store by saving an average of 60% off the full price on EVERYTHING - personal toiletries, packaged lunchmeat, cheese, eggs, laundry supplies, paper products, canned and packaged groceries, deli counter meats, allergy medications, EVERYTHING!

When you're ready to realize the same savings at your house, call me:  303-0171.  I can help you learn how to coupon effectively (without any 'great effort') and get you the best subscription rate available for the Las Vegas Review Journal.