Frugal Living Tip #24 - Shopping the Kroger Mega Sale

Shopping the Kroger Mega Sale

My Shopping List

I mentioned in my last post that I subscribe to The Grocery Game and get a weekly list for Kroger. The biggest reason why I do that is because of the Mega Sales that Kroger offers throughout the year. It is during the Mega Sales that I can stock-up on a lot of my kitchen staples at a fraction of the shelf price.

There are several factors that play in to being successful with saving money during the Kroger Mega Sales. My biggest tip is organization. If you go in there with just an ad and no game plan it is going to be a frustrating and expensive trip. (This can also be true for any grocery shopping trip!)

Here are some ways that I get organized and stay organized before and during my shopping trip:

1. I select and print my list of deals from the TGG website.
2. I also check out a great Kroger blog, Iheartkroger.com, she does a great job of filling you in on another deals like Catalina's that are also going on.
3. I pull out my coupon inserts, print any coupons necessary, and cut everything out.
4. I figure out how many items I can buy with the coupons I have available.
5. I make my list (see the picture) - it is usually hand written and broken down into groups of 10 (or however many items I need to buy to get the discount).
6. I paper clip my coupons to the list and put them all in an envelope, and hit the store.
7. When I get to the store I know how many groups of 10 I am planning to buy, so I bring in that many reusable shopping bags.
8. When I am in the store I fill each bag individually with 10 items. When that bag has 10, I start a new bag. This keeps me from having to constantly count the items in my cart and separates any deals that may not be part of the sale.
9. I always have a few low cost items that we use written on the list to serve as fillers to get me to 10 items in case something is out of stock or they don't have the full quantity that I want.
10. I double count each bag, my list, and my coupons before I head to the check-out.

I don't normally pull out my coupons while I am shopping. I normally only refer to my list, and then double check everything before I check-out. I do carry an ad with me so that I can verify items if they aren't clearly marked.

I honestly will spend about 2&1/2 hours between printing off the deals, gathering and clipping coupons, making my list, and shopping. If this is your first time trying this method it may take you longer.

How do you organize yourself for special sales like these? Please feel free to share any tips or tricks that you have when shopping.