Happy Tuesday! I am so excited to be here sharing some more awesome money saving tips with you today. Tuesday is a day that many grocery stores publish their ads for the week, and so I am inclined to detail a post on how to ad match.
Ad matching is defined as a practice in which a store promises to match another store's prices for certain products. It is honestly simple enough but can be time consuming if you don't know the shortcuts. Ad matching alone, even without coupons can save you 100's a month on your grocery bills. So here it goes, how to ad match on a weekly basis~
I should start by saying that ad matching is most commonly used at Wal-Marts throughout the country. This is mainly because their have put money into advertising their ad matching policy. Wal-Mart was able to see a need to simplify the general shoppers life by allowing them to get great deals on their groceries while still purchasing their other items there as well. They make their money back on the extra items you purchase WITHOUT using ad matching or coupons. I'm sure in balances out on their bottom line. I should also mention that Staples, Home Depot, and Target also ad match(but that is a post for an entirely different day, LOL) For today's purposes, we are going to assume that you shop at Wal-Mart and then, you can alter these techniques to suit your areas stores and policies.
The easiest way to find your ads is in your Sunday paper. Yet again, picking up a copy of that paper can help you save big time money. Most of your areas local ads are going to be included in the inserts with Sunday's paper...CVS, Walgreens, Staples, local groceries, and in larger cities..Target, Kroger, ect..the list goes on and on, both definitely depends on where you live. Your local Sunday paper will only have the store circulars from stores in your area.
Now here's what you do...make your normal grocery list..write down what you need...milk, bread, deodorant, ect and have that list next to you as you sit down on the floor, spread out the paper and take out the inserts. If you have personal care items on your list, that is a good place to start...whip out the CVS and Walgreen's ads and put them on the top of the pile. You can find good ad matches for deodorant, razors, lotions, and shampoos, and even soda, chips, candy--you just never know what your gonna find, :) You will then repeat this process for your other circulars until you have went through them all and have your ad matches together. Make sure to keep said circulars and take them with you when you go to the store...you never know when the cashier will want to see them!
Okey dokey, down to business... #1. Take a long hard look at the list you have written out, the brands, the sizes, the items, try to get a good mental pic of what your looking for in the circulars. This shouldn't be too hard, it is your list after all and you probably have been using or buying the same stuff for years, LOL...once you have your list in mind-move on to...#2 Open up your first circular and start scanning the pages from top to bottom, front to back looking for those items on your list. If you don't find any of them in the first circular, put it aside and move on to the second one, and so on. When you come across your first item in a circular that matches an item on your list...stop..and move on to #3 Look at the item and sale price, look at the quantity or weight listed, look at the picture--do all of these correspond to what you usually purchase, if not..would you be willing to purchase this product? After answered these questions, ask yourself, is this a better price that what I usually pay? Most of the time the answer is going to be yes, but there are exceptions to the rule. If it all lines up, the product, the price...take out a new sheet of paper and write it down. This is how I write my lists for the store for my reference at checkout...
Dairy
Cottage Cheese-16oz-store brand-$1.49 @ County Market
By writing this out manually, it will not only stick in your head and make checkout faster, it will also serve as a reference at the check. If the cashier says, "I need to see the ad for the cottage cheese", you can reference this piece of paper you wrote and say, "Sure, "Let me get out the County Market circular." It just makes things less stressful. And while some things are stressful, saving money shouldn't be one of them, :) Oh, and I also categorize my list by department so I save time when I'm shopping. While not necessary, it sure works for me! Now then, I am going to assume that you have went through all of your circulars and found all of the items you need that have corresponding ad matches, written them down, and have your list and circulars in hand(or a folder) heading to Wal-Mart. Take a deep breath, the hard part is over, you did the leg work and now it will come to fruition in your savings at the store. Lets move on to the to the next step in the ad matching process.
#4 Do your normal shopping making sure to pick up the right item off of your list. In the above example, if I was to pick up a 12oz container of cottage cheese instead of the 16oz one...that ad match would no longer be valid...as the premise behind ad matching is that you are matching specific products detail for detail...so double check your items as your put them in the cart and make sure you are grabbing the correct ones. Take care of all of your shopping that you need to, and proceed to the checkout and to #5. Now to make things easier, when I am emptying my cart onto the belt, I always put my regular items up front and save my ad matches till the end...that way if there is a line and the cashier just starts scanning before you get to the register, you don't have to stop her them for an ad match yet. Place all your items on the belt keeping in mind which ones are going to be ad matched. I always let my cashier know up front that I am ad matching. I say something like "Hi, just so you know, I am ad-matching(and using coupons in my case) so I appreciate your patience, I'll let you know when they reach you on the belt." Most of the time the cashiers are pleasant and more than willing to help you out. In the case of a surly cashier, just smile and be as polite as you can...some people just aren't happy!
#6, the final step in the ad matching process...the actual ad matching, LOL. When the first item you are ad matching reaches the cashier, stop them and say, "I am ad matching the blank for blank at blank." or "I am ad matching the cottage cheese for $1.49 at County Market." Most of the time, the cashier will do the price override and not ask to see the ad, however some cashiers will insist on seeing EVERY ad...that is why you brought them with you. Show them the ad and move on to the next product. At our local Wal-mart, the general rule is...if your ad matched price is more than 50% off of Wal-Marts price, they need to see the ad. Try to allow yourself time for all scenarios so you aren't frustrated when checkout takes longer than you want it to. The old saying, "Time is money," is no exception here. It does take time to both make and to save money!
Well, that about sums up ad matching. Looks like a ton of work when written out like this, but honestly is just requires an hour or so a week to be efficient with this tool. Ad-matching can save an average family of four $150+ dollars a month, easily. So you have to ask yourself is it worth your time or not. For me, ad matching helps us to stretch a tiny budget into everything we need and more. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thanks for stopping by and as always,
Take Care and Be Blessed~
WHAT STORES HAVE THE BEST ADS TO MATCH IN YOUR AREA?
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW~
Ad matching is defined as a practice in which a store promises to match another store's prices for certain products. It is honestly simple enough but can be time consuming if you don't know the shortcuts. Ad matching alone, even without coupons can save you 100's a month on your grocery bills. So here it goes, how to ad match on a weekly basis~
I should start by saying that ad matching is most commonly used at Wal-Marts throughout the country. This is mainly because their have put money into advertising their ad matching policy. Wal-Mart was able to see a need to simplify the general shoppers life by allowing them to get great deals on their groceries while still purchasing their other items there as well. They make their money back on the extra items you purchase WITHOUT using ad matching or coupons. I'm sure in balances out on their bottom line. I should also mention that Staples, Home Depot, and Target also ad match(but that is a post for an entirely different day, LOL) For today's purposes, we are going to assume that you shop at Wal-Mart and then, you can alter these techniques to suit your areas stores and policies.
The easiest way to find your ads is in your Sunday paper. Yet again, picking up a copy of that paper can help you save big time money. Most of your areas local ads are going to be included in the inserts with Sunday's paper...CVS, Walgreens, Staples, local groceries, and in larger cities..Target, Kroger, ect..the list goes on and on, both definitely depends on where you live. Your local Sunday paper will only have the store circulars from stores in your area.
Now here's what you do...make your normal grocery list..write down what you need...milk, bread, deodorant, ect and have that list next to you as you sit down on the floor, spread out the paper and take out the inserts. If you have personal care items on your list, that is a good place to start...whip out the CVS and Walgreen's ads and put them on the top of the pile. You can find good ad matches for deodorant, razors, lotions, and shampoos, and even soda, chips, candy--you just never know what your gonna find, :) You will then repeat this process for your other circulars until you have went through them all and have your ad matches together. Make sure to keep said circulars and take them with you when you go to the store...you never know when the cashier will want to see them!
Okey dokey, down to business... #1. Take a long hard look at the list you have written out, the brands, the sizes, the items, try to get a good mental pic of what your looking for in the circulars. This shouldn't be too hard, it is your list after all and you probably have been using or buying the same stuff for years, LOL...once you have your list in mind-move on to...#2 Open up your first circular and start scanning the pages from top to bottom, front to back looking for those items on your list. If you don't find any of them in the first circular, put it aside and move on to the second one, and so on. When you come across your first item in a circular that matches an item on your list...stop..and move on to #3 Look at the item and sale price, look at the quantity or weight listed, look at the picture--do all of these correspond to what you usually purchase, if not..would you be willing to purchase this product? After answered these questions, ask yourself, is this a better price that what I usually pay? Most of the time the answer is going to be yes, but there are exceptions to the rule. If it all lines up, the product, the price...take out a new sheet of paper and write it down. This is how I write my lists for the store for my reference at checkout...
Dairy
Cottage Cheese-16oz-store brand-$1.49 @ County Market
By writing this out manually, it will not only stick in your head and make checkout faster, it will also serve as a reference at the check. If the cashier says, "I need to see the ad for the cottage cheese", you can reference this piece of paper you wrote and say, "Sure, "Let me get out the County Market circular." It just makes things less stressful. And while some things are stressful, saving money shouldn't be one of them, :) Oh, and I also categorize my list by department so I save time when I'm shopping. While not necessary, it sure works for me! Now then, I am going to assume that you have went through all of your circulars and found all of the items you need that have corresponding ad matches, written them down, and have your list and circulars in hand(or a folder) heading to Wal-Mart. Take a deep breath, the hard part is over, you did the leg work and now it will come to fruition in your savings at the store. Lets move on to the to the next step in the ad matching process.
#4 Do your normal shopping making sure to pick up the right item off of your list. In the above example, if I was to pick up a 12oz container of cottage cheese instead of the 16oz one...that ad match would no longer be valid...as the premise behind ad matching is that you are matching specific products detail for detail...so double check your items as your put them in the cart and make sure you are grabbing the correct ones. Take care of all of your shopping that you need to, and proceed to the checkout and to #5. Now to make things easier, when I am emptying my cart onto the belt, I always put my regular items up front and save my ad matches till the end...that way if there is a line and the cashier just starts scanning before you get to the register, you don't have to stop her them for an ad match yet. Place all your items on the belt keeping in mind which ones are going to be ad matched. I always let my cashier know up front that I am ad matching. I say something like "Hi, just so you know, I am ad-matching(and using coupons in my case) so I appreciate your patience, I'll let you know when they reach you on the belt." Most of the time the cashiers are pleasant and more than willing to help you out. In the case of a surly cashier, just smile and be as polite as you can...some people just aren't happy!
#6, the final step in the ad matching process...the actual ad matching, LOL. When the first item you are ad matching reaches the cashier, stop them and say, "I am ad matching the blank for blank at blank." or "I am ad matching the cottage cheese for $1.49 at County Market." Most of the time, the cashier will do the price override and not ask to see the ad, however some cashiers will insist on seeing EVERY ad...that is why you brought them with you. Show them the ad and move on to the next product. At our local Wal-mart, the general rule is...if your ad matched price is more than 50% off of Wal-Marts price, they need to see the ad. Try to allow yourself time for all scenarios so you aren't frustrated when checkout takes longer than you want it to. The old saying, "Time is money," is no exception here. It does take time to both make and to save money!
Well, that about sums up ad matching. Looks like a ton of work when written out like this, but honestly is just requires an hour or so a week to be efficient with this tool. Ad-matching can save an average family of four $150+ dollars a month, easily. So you have to ask yourself is it worth your time or not. For me, ad matching helps us to stretch a tiny budget into everything we need and more. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thanks for stopping by and as always,
Take Care and Be Blessed~
WHAT STORES HAVE THE BEST ADS TO MATCH IN YOUR AREA?
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW~
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