Grocery Gamers

[Christine]

I just heard of this thing in another thread. (I don't feel too terribly bad about not hearing about it before as we've been overseas for a number of years.)

 

I know they have a trial period ($1 for 4 weeks) which seems like a bargain. . .but at this point $1 is worth more to me than the "chance" it may work.

 

So, for those of you who have / do use it, can you tell me if it's worth it?

 

STOP! Don't answer yet, as there are some conditions you need to know first.

 

We are military and have the commissary as an option. It's a 40 min drive one way (2 gallons of gas round trip). Yet, we generally go through 5 gallons of milk a week, and the cost of milk at the commissary compared to that "on the economy" more than covers the gas expense. (Did that make sense?)

 

Our weekly groceries cost ~ $175 (family of 6, 3 indoor cats, and a dog), BUT that is EVERYTHING for the week, no extra runs, ALL food, paper products, cleaning supplies, pet products, etc. EVERYTHING except the 2 OTC meds which the commissary doesn't carry but I can get at Walmart.

 

My husband has some "dietary" issues. We are on a low fat / low sodium diet (have been since he turned 21). We eat very little prepared food as a result (excepting the cream of soups that I use in some of my cooking). Hmmm, well, we do eat a lot of cereal. (What hamburger we eat is 97% lean, and I can't find that in other grocery stores -- but I haven't looked terribly hard either.)

 

Some items, (particularly paper products) are non-negotiable. (Puffs and Bounty come to mind, as my family pitches fits if it's anything "less".)

 

Now, I have fits about the time involved in this trip (generally 2.5 hours -- and at least 2/3 of it is travel.), especially as I have Giant 7 minutes up the street, but I go into severe sticker shock the couple of times I've been in there.

 

So, I'm wondering if you think it'd be worth it to us to even bother giving it a try?

[TN Mama]

There are many military families who also gg. I believe I've read some shop at the commissary for some things and go to the grocery stores for others. Wish I had more info for you, but since I don't shop a commissary...

 

However, the message boards on the GG site are free to non-members. The website is www.thegrocerygame.com or a direct link to the message boards: http://www.terismessageboard.com/

 

You can probably do a search to compare commissary shopping to gging. I love the GG and am probably talk too often about my .19 cent pasta or free chex mix or the peanut butter the grocery store payed me .12 per jar to take out of the store... or my .35 viva paper towels, free toothpaste, toothbrushes and degree/dove/secret deo... I could go on and on.

 

Best of luck!

[Twinmom]

I second the message board comments! Cut and paste your post here right on over there and see what the other military members have to say. There are lots of them, and I'm willing to bet there are some in your area. I remember military families doing well with the GG, but who knows? It's great for me, but it is kind of like a home school curriculum. One size doesn't fit all...

[riada]

We used to be military but have since left active duty and I didn't GG when we were so I am not of much help there.

 

I do know that we only buy 97% lean ground beef and we find it at our local grocery stores and the GG tells you when it is at it's absolute lowest price and you should stock up (buy a lot and freeze it). So that would work for you if you could shop other stores as I don't know they do the commissary, but like mentioned above you could check on the boards at GG and someone would tell you.

 

As for particular brands on things, everything goes on sale at some point and they will let you know when your fav. brands are on sale and you should stock up. Most all major name brands have coupons so you could use those with the best sale (GG tells you when that is) and you could save a ton.

 

For me personally, I have been doing it for three months and it has more than paid for an entire year of membership to the GG. Just Monday my bill was $95, I used coupons and paid $42 cash, plus I walked away with the following free: 3 lg. things of Mayo, 2- 12pks of soda, some bbq sauce and some french bread.

 

It has done wonders for our family's budget. I would say to read the message boards, post questions if needed, and then if the commissary is an optioin or another store close by then do the trial month. It will vary per person on how "good" it is for them. If you are consistent then it works well, but if you don't buy weekly or intend to stock up then it might not be worth the money. That's my 2 cents worth. :)