What would the grocery game challenge be without discussing discount days and rewards program perks to save money in the grocery budget? Essentially a discount day is a day or many days where a grocery store offers discounts to its customers and in some cases like Juanita’s, a further discount for holding a loyalty rewards card.
I was intrigued by the deep discounts some of the fans, especially Juanita who scored some great deals on groceries at Sobeys during a discount day that offered a %10 discount to all customers and a further %5 if you were a Club Sobeys member.
She may not have gotten everything free or a 98% savings but she saved a significant amount of money by planning this shop and the savings that came with it. I’m not too familiar with discount days at Sobeys as I don’t frequent that grocery store as it’s too far of a drive for us to the nearest shop.
I find it interesting to read all about the different discounts and savings programs all around the world, not just in Canada because pricing isn’t always the same. In many cases staple foods are not the same either so our diets differ and so does the grocery budget.
It was great when Pauline shared a bit about her life and grocery shopping in Guatemala which we all really enjoyed. I hope other fans will come forward to share a bit about their grocery costs and experiences where they live.
I think that’s another reason Coupon Christine created her Coupon All-stars team because she knew that fans from around Canada might only want specific deals to their province.
Although we don’t shop at Sobeys we do shop at one of the other stores under their empire of names which you might be familiar with. It’s common to see this as Loblaws does the same with their President’s Choice stores like No Frills, RCSS and Zehrs just to name a few.
The only difference to me is the set-up (marketing), the environment and pricing of products. You may get more at one store than the other but you will pay a premium to shop in the luxury of fresh fruit bars, sushi bars, fresh hot foods, floral shops, In-Store Bakery and deli etc.
Grocery Store Empire
- Sobey’s
- Price Chopper
- Food Land
- Fresh Co
- IGA
- Thrifty Foods
- Lawtons Drugs
Sobeys is one of the higher priced grocery shops but like any other has great flyer deals which can be further discounted with matching coupons and discount days like Juanita has taken advantage of.
I was more impressed with the fact that she was able to save so much money in one shop while utilizing all the ways to save money in her grocery budget. To top it off she received $20 in Sobeys points which makes the shop even more lucrative even for the frugal wagon-wheel shopper like me.
Grocery Store Rewards Programs
We don’t normally shop at the higher end grocery stores but if we can score some great discounts and match them up with Air Miles Rewards like at Metro you can count us in. At Sobeys you can sign-up for their Club Sobeys rewards points program which you can then transfer points to Esso Extra Points as well or simply apply for a BMO Club Sobeys MasterCard for even more rewards.
In Juanita’s case it was smart for her to have her Club Sobeys card so she could obtain the further %5 discount for discount days which she might have missed out on if she didn’t apply for it.
There is also the new smart rewards program at President’s choice with their new PC Plus program which I will be reviewing shortly as I personally signed up for this program. I would rather experience the program to give you the full effect rather than just telling you what it’s about since you can read all about it on their website. I do my best to review programs that I have participated in or if I know someone who has that can share their personal experience so we can all learn from each other.
In the end yes discount days and rewards savings all add up. It’s no different from those who enjoy getting Shoppers Optimum Points which is just another lucrative way to shop smart if you can cash in on the savings and points using coupons that are readily available otherwise it’s a pricier place to shop.
Like any other programs that are available whether it be through your credit card rewards programs or through a grocery store program it’s important to do your homework. Get the best rewards by spending a few minutes of your day reading the different deals available to consumers.
Price matching may very well put a bit of a dent in these programs since the shopper has the option to choose where they can price match and the rewards cards they want to use for the transaction. Many grocery stores have price matching such as Wal-mart, No Frills that I am aware of but not enough of them do. I think the stores that are smart enough to offer price matching are scooping up customers that would potentially go to shops that don’t price match.
Alternatively customers may be store loyal and use their rewards cards at the shop just to get the points. I know with our PC MasterCard we get points no matter where we shop and with the new program we can load offers on to our new PC Plus Program Card. If a shopper went to many grocery shops they could easily use a credit card with rewards to pick up extra reward points like I do with my Canadian Tire MasterCard or the wife with her President’s Choice MasterCard.
The above is far from an extensive lists of the grocery stores with rewards programs, discount days and price matching but I hope to put something together for all the fans. If you are interested in sharing your rewards program story and why you love it email and lets spread the word together! If you have a shop you want to brag about send me the photo and the shop breakdown and tell me why it was so awesome!
Grocery Game Challenge Discount Days Shop
Below Juanita shares her discount days shop with all of us and how it saved her $23.61 and she used $52.74 in coupons many of which were high value coupons or Free Product coupons to use them up and save the tax if any is applicable. I would imagine it’s a great time to pull out your free product coupons. If you have an amazing shop with photo you want to brag about email me today otherwise, post your shops each week and join us, it’s FREE to Join!
Juanita- This is my Discount Days Tuesday shop. This month was 15% off for Club Sobeys members when you spend $35 or more because Target down the street was opening the same day. There was also a wrap around flyer for my store only for spend $75 and receive 10x your base points, so I took advantage of that as well!
- $22.99 3kg Frozen Chicken Breasts
- $4.55 Whole Chicken- clearance
- $6 Chicken Wings -clearance
- $6.15 Chicken wings -clearance
- $8.09-$5C&$2CO51 ML Prime Chicken Breasts -clearance
- $10.99-$5C Schneiders Naturals Burgers
- $8.99-FPC Schneiders Naturals Pepperettes
- $4.79×2-bogoC Grill’ems Smokies
- $3.99-FPC Naturals Turkey Deli Meat
- $1.49-FPC Dr. Oetker Pudding
- $4.99 Iced tea (with $10 in pizza coupons!)
- $2.99 Lea Perkins Sauce
- .50 Peach Crystals – clearance
- $6.99-FPC Jumbo Raisin Bran
- $6.99-FPC Jumbo Vector
- $1.95(5) Corn on the cob
- $6.99×2-.75C x2 Black Diamond Cheese
- $1.25×6-.75C x6 Barilla Pasta
- $3.99×2-.75C x2 International Coffee Creamer
- $4.99×2-$1C x2 Royale Toilet Paper
- $2.89×2 dozen Eggs
- $5.31 4L milk
$15.74 -10% Discount
$7.87 -5% Discount
$52.74 -Coupons used
$81.86 Total oop
Received $20 in club Sobeys points
Grocery Game Weeks for May
If you missed grocery game posts for this month just click on the links below and post your shops in the comment section.
Posts With Grocery Saving Tips
Free Money Saving Downloads just for YOU!!! Get organized with a freezer inventory, meal plan, shopping list, price comparison list and much more!!! Click, Save and Print.. It’s that easy~
- Let Your Coupons Expire And Save Money
- Knowing Your Prices Is The Key To Saving Money In The Grocery Budget
- Product Price Adjustments Don’t Miss The Savings
- Scanning Code of Practice In Canada (SCOP)
- How To Start Saving Money On Groceries In Canada?
- How Much Should My Grocery Budget Be?
- Top Ten Ways To Cut Your Grocery Budget
- Meal Planning For The Budget
- The Grocery Game Challenge and Our Grocery Budget
- Grocery Budget Saving Tips
- Food Shopping On A Budget
Our Grocery Game Challenge Results #2 May
We chose to have this week as a no-shop week so there’s nothing in Mr.CBB’s Shopping Cart this week!!
Yearly Grocery Budget For 2 : $2819.38
- Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $235.00 or $78.33 week with one no-shop week per month or $58.75 for 4 weeks per month. (During the months with 5 weeks we just make it work)
- Total Budget For May: $72.26
- Total Coupons Used this Week : $0
- Total Discounts this Week: $0
- Total Gift Cards Given Used this Week: $0
- Total Rewards Points Used: $0
- Stockpile Budget: $20.00 Used: $0
- Total Spent This Week:$0
- Total Spent So Far for (May): ($162.74)+($42.23)=$204.97
- Total Over/Under spend this shop: $ N/A
- Total Over/Under spend for the month of (May): $N/A
- Total Left to Spend for the Month: $30.03
- Total Coupons Used This Month :$6.00+$0+
- Total to Carry Over Next Month : ($ 162.74 has been carried over to May from April 2013)
- Total Spent To Date This Year: $206.95 (Jan)+ $160.77 (Feb) + (March)$169.62 + (April)$397.74=$935.08
- Rendezvous Account: $65.38 (this will be used for a date night or a summer holiday)
Weekly Overview: It’s been no secret that this month will be tough for us but if we want to stick to our yearly goal we have to make do with what we already have in our pantry. We are well stocked so fingers crossed that we make it until the end. The best we can do is try and if we go over than we work even harder the next month to make up for it.
How was your grocery shop this week?
Canadian Coupons Found This Week
Do you want to WIN these Canadian Coupons?
All you have to do is leave a comment here telling me how much your grocery budget is and how many it feeds and do you use rewards programs and which one is your favourite and why?
That’s it!! Good Luck and please share the post on Facebook! Must be a fan of the blog and Facebook to enter and win and you must be Canadian as the coupons are for Canadian shops unless you are American and shop in Canada then by all means you can enter! Good Luck! Closes Thursday May 16 at noon EST!
Grocery Game Frequently Asked Questions
Grocery Game Challenge RULES….. Read the rules first and if you have any questions email me or comment on this post with your question and someone will answer you as soon as possible.
- Do I have to be Canadian to post my Grocery Shop? No, you don’t have to be Canadian to post your shops only to win a monthly prize. We have a few players from around the world.
- When does the Grocery Game Close each month? The Grocery Game Challenge Closes at Midnight of the last Sunday of the last post for the month. You can post your shops all month-long.
- Does Your Grocery Budget Include Health and Beauty and Laundry? Yes our Grocery Budget includes such items as shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, fabric softener, dish soap etc. We don’t mind stockpiling items that won’t be effected by expiry dates or have long expiry dates but not so much food any more. It’s just one way to help cut your budget to save money.
- Where can I find Canadian Coupons? Here are your latest Coupon Match-ups of the week including Checkout 51 from 25 Newspaper Inserts around Canada compliments of Save Big Live Better that you can use to help you save money in the Grocery Game Challenge.
- How Do I Know what stores accept coupons? You can find all your store coupon policies here. If you are not sure it’s always best to call the store and ask.
- How Do I Grocery Shop?- I can tell you about grocery shopping and what we do in terms of shopping to save money and how it works for us. There are no wrong or right answers, just smart choices. Over time you will gradually learn where you should and shouldn’t go in the grocery store or at least how to say no, I’m on a budget I don’t need to buy this or that. You may also substitute items in order to stick to your budget to make it work.
