The Grocery Game Challenge #3 Nov 18-24, 2013: Back to basics with more for less
IN-STOCK AND PRICES LOCKED DOWN
Food Basics wants to make sure they are taking good care of their customers and that’s a smart move on their part with new lowered and locked down prices and a new in-stock policy.
Always fresh is the new motto at Food Basics and if you aren’t satisfied they want you to let them know and you will get your money back.
Grocery is a big business so if they want the customers they have to make them happy.
While shopping last night at Food Basics I also noticed that they have new lowered prices and highlight “more for less” all around the store. What I found interesting was the color choice that they used to show us how they have lowered the prices on the products in-store.
If you look carefully you will see that the new locked down tags are a red tag. If you are a coupon fanatic or a deals guru like we have been and still are (although not so much couponing these days) your brain will immediately think “sale” or “reduced product” because those are the colors used by many other stores. In this case it is.
If you head to a PC store such as RCSS or Zehrs you will notice they have the pink stickers and everyone knows that they mean 50% off and in some cases less but for the most part it’s a super deal.
If they turned around and did the same thing as Food Basics and used pink to highlight “more for less” or “locked down” prices your brain would automatically think, “amazing deal” and potentially you might spend more.
That’s they way I felt when I started to see all these red tags with lowered prices all around Food Basics. To be honest they were a bit distracting to me because it kept me thinking there were rock bottom deals all over the store and my eyes just kept staring at them.
I guess it’s a win-win for the store because they had my attention and focus that’s for sure. The price is essentially locked down meaning it’s the new regular price and not on sale. Is that how you would look at it?
If you are scouring the stores for deals and reduced or blow out products you know the types of mark down stickers and over time they catch your eye. You take note of the colors, the big giant X across a price or the rack with reduced products and make sure you check them out.
Don’t forget that in many shops you can ask for a rain check which we have also discussed here at The Grocery Game yet many people tend to forget about that perk which many stores offer.
Amazing weekly flyer deals at your local grocery store might mean that the shelves are empty if you don’t get to the sale on time. Not all grocery stores get enough stock in for a super sale and run out which means you are out of luck.
Food Basics also has another new policy and for many this is very important including us.
We all hate when a store runs out of product when a huge flyer sale happens and Food Basics is going to make sure that we are kept happy customers.
They have set out an in-stock policy which I will quote below for us.
We will try our hardest to ensure the items advertised in our weekly flyer are always in stock. Bit if one of them isn’t’, we will give you a Raincheck + 10% off the advertised price for your next visit.
In most cases you might find the seasoned veterans who use coupons and source out deals and even newbies might end up price matching the sales at a store like No Frills, Freshco or even Wal-mart just to ensure they get the sale price, don’t have to go back for a second trip and so they don’t have to battle the masses of customers who want in on the grocery budget savings.
I’m a fairly frequent customer at Canadian Tire and we also love to go to Sears looking for deals. I know that if you find a lower price at each of these stores you can price match and they will beat it by 10% which is a great way to keep the customers happy.
I can honestly say that I think it’s great that Food Basics has promised us in-stock product, more great deals and locked down prices because in today’s economy not everyone can afford to shop at Sobey’s or Metro with the high prices that we all see.
The only reason they get me through the door is for the Air Miles program and the odd flyer specials that I know I can’t get cheaper anywhere else.
You’d be a fool to spend more money in your grocery budget than you had to IF you had the opportunity to shop at a store with the exact same product for less. I realize that not everyone has all the shops or might live in a small town with one grocery store but when options are available source out the best deals and save the cash if you can.
A bucket of feta at Metro is $17.99 and the exact same bucket at Food Basics is $13.99. I don’t know about you but I work hard for my money and that $4.00 could certainly be put to better use.
What do you think of the new Food Basics guarantee to the customers?
November Grocery Game Challenge Posts
If you missed any grocery game posts for the month I will post the line-up for the month each week here in this section for you.
- The grocery game challenge Nov 4-10, 2013 #1: Holiday Baking on a Budget
- The grocery game challenge Nov 11-17, 2013 #2: International grocery store shopping
Grocery saving tips
Click, Save and Print. It’s that easy!
Free Money Saving Downloads are awesome lists that were created to get us on track to work towards reaching our budgeting goals and now we are sharing them with you.
I hope you take the time to get back on track and start the saving process in your grocery budget today.
Get organized with a freezer inventory, meal plan, shopping list, price comparison list and much more all for FREE.
NEW!! You can now download the Canadian Budget Binder Budget Spreadsheet in Excel…… Grab it while you can… It’s FREE! We use it to budget.. check it out!
Missed past Grocery Game posts? Catch up on all the latest grocery saving posts below!
- Let Your Coupons Expire And Save Money
- Welfare Food Challenge $26 Per Week In The Grocery Budget
- What A No-Shop Week Really Means
- Should You Buy It Now Or Buy It Later?
- Stock Up On Items When You Can
- The Cost Of Organic Food
- What Foods You Should Not Eat and Organic Gardening
- 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
- How To Grocery Shop
- Grocery Store Self-Scanners
- Food and Vegetable Preparation
- Best Time To Grocery Shop
- Organic Food Costs
- Why Shopping Hungry Is Not A Smart Idea
- Are We Eating Too Much Food?
- Discount Days and Rewards Programs
- Getting Back On Track With Food Budgeting
- Why You Should Ignore Your Grocery Flyers
- The Low-GI Diet and Your Budget
- How To Track Grocery Expenses
- Comparing Prices With a Price Comparison List
- Why Too Much Salt Is Not Good For Us
- Shopping More Than Once Per Week
- Food Samples When Shopping
- Food Waste In Canada
- Go on vacation and save on groceries
- Grocery Store Activities For Kids
- Buying When There Is A Limit
Food food and more food
Food Basics
- Chipits $6.88
- Produce $1/49
- Selection Tea $2.49
- Havarti- $10.00
- 2x Cantaloupe Sale $0.99 each
- Premium Bananas $1.69
- Sweet Potatoes $3.03
- Bread Crumbs $1.49
- Avocado $2.97
- 2 x lean ground beef sale $3.76
- Oranges $1.97
- Apple Red Delicious $1.97
- Bok Choy $3.10
Total out of pocket $46.58
Metro
- Selection Tea Bags Sale $2.49
- 2x Pineapples Sale $2.50
- Clementines case $3.44
Total out of pocket $15.22
Yearly grocery budget for two: $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 November $235.00
- 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: $0 Used $0
- Total Spent This Week: $61.80
- Total Spent So Far for November $142.85
- Total Over/Under spend this shop: $0
- Total Over/Under spend for the month of (November): $0
- Total Left to Spend for the Month: $92.15
- Total Coupons Used This Month: $2.00
- Total to Carry Over Next Month: $0
- Total Spent To Date This Year: $206.95 (Jan)+ $160.77 (Feb) + (March)$169.62 + (April) $397.74+(May) $155.68 + (June) $216.01+ (July) $235.83 + (August) $182.35 + (September) $255.69 + (October) $196.64= $2177.28 (does not include stockpile budget)
- Rendezvous Account: $65.38+$17.24 =$82.62<> This is money saved if there is any leftover at the end of a month of grocery shopping for a date night for the wife and I.
- Weekly Overview: We didn’t need much in the way of meat this week so we loaded up on fruits at Metro for a great price and some other odds and sods at Food Basics that was needed in the pantry. We went with some lean ground beef this time so we can mix it up and make some meatballs, lasagna or even a pot of taco soup. We normally use turkey mince but since this was a great deal we opted for beef since it’s been a long while. We are not opposed to certain proteins we just moderate how much we eat and try to get leaner cuts when possible.
Canadian Coupons Found
Frequently Asked Questions
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 fans who post their grocery shop who live all over 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 products?
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 affected 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.
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.
- What is an FPC?
An FPC is a free product coupon which means you can get a free product as described on the coupon.
You can find all your store coupon policies here. If you are not sure it’s always best to call the store and ask.
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 need to buy this or that.
You may also substitute items in order to stick to your budget to make it work. Nobody is perfect, heck we struggle with this t of our budget like many people do and this is why the grocery game challenge was created.
If you have just joined The Grocery Game Challenge get ready to dive deep into your grocery budget and learn just where you are spending, how much you are spending and what you are saving.
You’ve made a wise decision.
Welcome to The Grocery Game Challenge Canada!
Are You New To Canadian Budget Binder?
- Follow Me on Social Media: Twitter, Facebook , Pinterest , Stumble Upon, Reddit and Google+
- Check out my new Free Recipe Index
- If you like FREE then click this link for my FREE Excel Budget Spreadsheet and all my Free Money Saving Lists!
