Price Chopper Savings with I am THAT Lady!

Guest blog written by Lauren Greutman

Hello Chopper Shoppers! My name is Lauren Greutman, I am the wife of Mark and proud mommy of 3 adorable kids as well as the writer/editor behind the website www.iamthatlady.com.  I started my website after years of teaching couponing seminars as a way to help out a greater number of people. After moving back to Central New York from the South, Price Chopper has been the store that I shopped at the most.  It took me a few months to understand the ins and outs of how to save the most amount of money, and I have developed and learned many great couponing tips that I would love to share with you on how to get the most groceries for the least amount of money.

The first step is to know the Price Chopper Coupon policy.   Since it has recently changed, it has evened out the field, making it much easier for me as a blogger to report the good deals (however I do realize that many people have been upset by the change).  Price Chopper stores now double coupons up to 99¢ with your AdvantEdge card every day at EVERY Price Chopper Store.  This simply means that if you have a 75¢ off coupon, it will automatically scan and deduct $1.50 off that item.  There are 3 exclusions to this rule:

1. When the item is less than the amount deducted, it will only deduct the amount of that item. They will not give you the overage.
2. If the coupon says “Do Not Double” on the top of the coupon, the coupon will not be doubled.
3. If you have reached the 50% rule, the coupon will not double. The 50% rule is highlighted in the Price Chopper coupon policy.  Basically it states that you cannot save over 50% off your bill with doubled coupons.

The first thing that I do every week when I get my sales flyer in my newspaper is look at the sales.   In my head I am trying to think if those items on sale have coupons that match up with them.  I then take a look at the produce and meat sales, trying to pair those with items I already have in my pantry.   I also make sure that I print off the Sunday Price Chopper Store coupons that are on their Facebook Page as well as their Thursday Store Coupons that are available on pricechopper.com every Thursday – Saturday. On my website www.iamthatlady.com, I do the coupon matchups every week for you.  I go through the ad, match up the items on sale with corresponding coupons, and even allow you to print off a customized shopping list right from my site.

I tell you each week what items you can get for FREE or cheap and even highlight those items in my weekly ‘Cooking with the FREE & Cheap’ recipe series. I start off my shopping list for the week based on the items that are on my list of free or close to free items, I call it my “FREE or Cheap” list. This list starts off my shopping list and meal plan for the whole week; I then fill in the blanks with the meats and produce on sale and create a menu plan for the week based on those items.   I get many of my coupons from printable coupons sites like coupons.com, smartsource.com, and the new SavingStar Program.  I also have a subscription to my local newspaper and use the coupons inside that paper.   I tend to buy a few extra newspapers every Sunday, because if something goes on sale and I can get it for FREE with a coupon, I don’t want just one of them, I want 4-6 of them. Price Chopper has great meat and dairy discounts early in the mornings at my local store.  When walking around the meat aisle you will see large stickers on select meat packages for $Dollars$ off that package.  Those packages are close to their expiration dates but as long as you use that that day or throw them in the freezer they are totally safe to eat.  We stock up on a lot of our meat that way. I plan out my grocery trip before I even set foot in the store; I have all of my coupons set aside in an envelope along with my shopping list and my menu plan for the week.   I do have my coupon binder with me just in case I see an unadvertised sale that I know I have a coupon for.  My first stop is always the Isave Machine – when you scan your Price Chopper Card it dispenses store and manufacturer coupons.I then stop at the pharmacy counter for possible coupons, many times they have fresh fruit and vegetable Price Chopper Store coupons.

It is not a secret that the prices of groceries are rising, research shows that 20% of what people buy are on the outside aisles of the grocery store, where the healthier items tend to be, the other 80% of their money goes to the things that are in the inner grocery store aisles.  My goal is to save as much money as I can in those inner aisles of the grocery store, so that I have more money to to spend on the healthier options around the outside of the store.  Not as many coupons come out for meat and fresh produce, so by cutting back the money that I spend on the items that I do get coupons for, I free up more money to spend on the fresh items.

When I walk into Price Chopper to do my shopping, it is quick and easy.   I have my grocery list that I printed from my website and my coupons set aside, and as I am going through the store and putting the items into my cart, I check those items off the grocery list. I usually stop at the end of my shopping trip to re-organize my coupons and make sure that everything I needed is in my cart.   I want to make the checkout as easy as possible, so organizing myself before I even get into the line is a must.  I hand them my Price Chopper card first, if I don’t do that first my coupons will not double.  After my items scan I hand over my coupons and my reusable shopping bags. Did you know that Price Chopper will deduct 3¢ off your order per reusable shopping bag that you bring? I save around 40-60% off my grocery bill every month by shopping at Price Chopper using coupons and shopping the sales, and my goal with iamthatlady.com is to help others do the same.

Here are some final tips on saving money at Price Chopper:

1. Look for reduced produce stickers that can be found on packages of fresh fruits and vegetables – these are store coupons and can be used along with a manufacturer coupon.
2. Keep your eyes peeled for in-store coupons, you can find them all over the store.  Many times they are stuck to the product itself, or on the shelves.
3. Find out when your store has free sample carts out, not only do you get to try one of the great sample products in the store, but many times they have coupons for those products you can take along with your sample.
4. Sign up for FREE Price Chopper Magazines mailed to your home that are full of Price Chopper Store and Manufacturer coupons. Sign up is FREE and easy!