When Steve Huckaby first began grocery shopping, he hated it. But still there were worse jobs.
“Doing the shopping is a whole lot more fun than cleaning the house,” says Huckaby who lives in Orange Co., CA.
Now, three years later, he loves it—and actually looks forward to doing it. What changed? His outlook. Instead of thinking about grocery shopping as marketing, it’s become a game. The object: See how much money you can save each week—and if you save more than your friends you feel even better.
“He challenged me,” says Huckaby, remembering a conversation he had with a friend. “He showed me his receipts and how much he saved.”
That’s when the competition began. Huckaby believed he could save more. And he set out to prove it. For him, grocery shopping hasn’t been the same since.
Huckaby now wins the weekly competition—saving more than his friends.
HIS SECRET TO SUCCESS
At this stage of his life, even Huckaby, 46, who shops for his wife and two children, ages 10 and 3, has a hard time believing he could get this excited about grocery shopping.
Somewhere along the way, he discovered The Grocery Game, a website that helps shoppers save money and time.
He can even tell you how much he’s saved. He keeps track using a spreadsheet. In six months, he says he’s shaved $3,357.79 or 66-percent off his grocery bill.
He spends less at the grocery store, but actually buys more.
“It never occurred to me that I could save this much money,” says Huckaby.
HOW IT WORKS
Grocery stores want you to shop week to week. It forces you to buy items that can often be high priced.
The secret so saving money is stockpiling. Buying items when the timing is right. Or should we say, when the prices are low.
Saving the most money at the grocery stores means knowing the trends, knowing when products go on sale, and knowing when to buy items in bulk. The Grocery Game website does the research for you, and puts it into “Teri’s List.” It lets shoppers know which store to visit, and when to go, without wasting time or gas.
“We track the sales cycles… sales trends, advertised sales, unadvertised sales and all the coupons,” says Teri Gault, who founded The Grocery Game, based in Santa Clarita, CA. “Then we put the whole puzzle together each week.”
The service costs $1.25 a week.
Though statistically more women go grocery shopping then men, it’s the men who are better savers.
“(Men) seem to enjoy the ‘thrill of the hunt,’” says Gault. “That’s why it seems that the men are reporting the best savings, and they are more diligent about sticking to the game plan.”
Huckaby still challenges his buddies at work to be a part of The Grocery Game. He thinks often of the friend who started him down this road.
“He knows he created a monster!”
