The other day, H and I had just had a ‘financial summit’ and afterword we did our grocery shopping trip. Due to our CSA and the grocery challenge, this has become basically a trip for milk, crackers, and lunch meat for my lunches. It’s been nice having a lighter grocery bill, but I’m still looking for ways to save more money on our food bill.
I heard about savings angel from a friend, and was very skeptical (It’s my nature, I have a tough time paying money for someone telling me how to save money). I got a free trial from a friend though, so I figured that I may as well give it a shot.
According to the website, you can cut your grocery bill in half with savings angel. I got my account, and was pretty overwhelmed at first – there’s so many different options on the site, from price alerts to meal plans, as well as traditional coupons. It’s honestly a lot to take in, but I feel like savings angel doesnt totally overwhelm you with options.
The first thing that I did was set up my price alerts. It asked for my zip code and my store preference, and I set the alerts to things that I normally buy from the store at this point (mostly milk and other dairy products). Once this was done, the team at savings angel started plowing through the store ads in my area, looking for sales of things that I buy. We dont get the local newspaper, so I typically dont bother with the local ads. I sometimes pick one up as I walk through the store, but by that point, my menu is set and my list is already out.
You can tell them when to alert you for the sales – I have them let me know if it’s 30% less than the regular price, which seems to be working out well – I dont get flooded with emails and deals, and feel like I’m saving quite a bit. In fact, just this week I got an alert that raspberries were only 1.50 a box at king soopers. H loves raspberries, so we went and picked some up. The savings on that purchase alone would have paid for the monthly membership to savings angel.
In addition to the price alerts, they have coupons on the website too. They gather them from multiple online sources, and say how much you’ll pay for the item in the end, after all of the coupons are printed off and brought to the store. On a recent check the day of writing, you could get a box of Honey Nut Cheerios for .67 cents, or 2.82 off of the original price of 3.49, for a savings of 81%. Though I typically dont have cereal for breakfast, this is a pretty good deal and I do like honey nut cheerios – perhaps H will eat them. Though a lot of the discounts are on foods that H and I traditionally don’t buy (such as sodas) there’s enough savings on stuff that we do buy to make it worthwhile to look through while menu planning.
There are tons of other features on the site too, like a pretty good community forum that has quite a few local deals in it – more than worth checking out. Theres some custom meal plans using what’s on sale that week as a base, and something that will personalize shopping list for each store in your area so you can get the best deals around. I have not had the time to check much of these features out though, as usually the menu we plan is dictated by our farm share, and the grocery shopping fills in the edges on that. This could change in December when our farm share ends for the summer season though.
It isnt just for grocery stores either, there are coupons for plenty of online sites, like amazon and other online retailers that there are coupons and coupon codes for. I havent really had a need to look at these either, but they area available for frequent amazon shoppers.
Since I live in a small(er) area, savings angel had all of the grocery stores in my town on their list, and from what I could tell, the list is pretty extensive nationally. I’m not familiar with stores in every region, but the list is pretty extensive and from my travels, I recognize a fair amount of the stores (though no piggly wiggly – WTF). If you’re looking to save some money on your grocery budget this winter, check out savings angel.
So if you’re interested, check them out and sign up if you think it’s a good fit for you. I’ve been doing pretty well with them, so I’d recommend a try. I’d give it about a month, and see if you’re saving any money – my guess is you will be.
Doesn’t Safeway do the same thing for free?
I know they have an app but since my phone is so old I’ve never been able to use it. I think the safeway app has some of the same features, but not nearly as many as savings angel.
Sounds like a great deal of work, no?
they do most of the work for you – the initial work is in the setting up. It’s not even that much either. Just pick your favorite store and some things you buy often.
I am glad you gave it a try and that you are seeing its value! Have a great weekend.
I always try to look for the best bargains in grocery and clothes. Though, I tend to do it the old-fashioned way of getting discount coupons online & on newspapers. This is the first time I heard about Savings Angel, and I think that it would make it easier for me to find great deals. I will definitely give it a try.