Shop Smart, Save More: Learn the Grocery Game and Save Hundreds of Dollars a Month

by Teri Gault and Sheryl Berk

Book Overview

These days the cost of food and other basic necessities is going through the roof. Teri Gault's groundbreaking website, www.TheGroceryGame.com, has already helped millions save serious money. And now she shares the secrets to sensible shopping in one essential volume, so you can feed your family and take care of their needs for thousands of dollars a year less Shop Smart, Save More provides step-by-step instructions on how to:

find and shop...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061720992
• ISBN13: 9780061720994
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

very good help...

to get started to save money! Love it! Very good tips in the book, very understanding. I just love it!

The Tricks of The Trade

Teri Gault started using coupons when she was a child. Later she went from riches to rags and back again. Throughout her life she has had times when she literally could not put food on the table unless she used coupons. First Teri teaches you how to map out your favorite grocery store in your brain. She gives lists of questions to ask about any of the stores you are considering. I do this every time I go shopping at Fred Meyer and write out a list of items to buy on an envelope that now holds all my lovely coupons. I don't need to look at the coupons the whole time I'm shopping because I've written the exact item on the envelope according to where it is in the store. This saves me so much time and makes my life easier when my husband decides he is shopping with me and will be pushing the cart. This book talks a lot about stockpiling and I do that on a few items, mostly beauty products I know I'm going to use frequently. Teri also recommends stores like Costco and Sam's Club if you are cooking for a crowd. At the end of the book there is a small section listing websites where you can get free printable coupons. I printed off $4.65 in coupons to use during my next shopping trip. One of the things I loved about this book was the "Yearly Calendar of Seasonal Savings." That you can refer to throughout the year so you buy everything on sale and with coupons. The lists tell you what time of year to stock up on necessities. Teri Gault's book has a very cozy style. She also shares her own recipes and gives tips on how to give great parties. Since you will be saving so much money clipping coupons you will have extra cash to do whatever your heart desires. Maybe you are wishing for an exotic vacation. It is now possible if you follow the advice in this book. Reading this book convinced me that I need to get into the game so I plan to sign up for Teri's four week trial. The stories in this book are amazing and really motivate you into action. Recently I saved $35 at the grocery store and it was all products and food we really use all the time. I'll put the URL to my page in the comments section so you can see where to go to start clipping online coupons. What is really needed is an entire book of websites that have printable coupons. That would be ideal. If you know of one, please contact me from my website or leave a comment here. If you love this book, don't miss out on more excellent tips in: How to Receive Free Groceries 20 Grocery Store Savings Ideas: Grocery Coupon Savings Tips For Those Grocery Shopping On A Budget Also see my "coupon shopping" tag list for more books I'll be reading soon. ~The Rebecca Review

Great book!

This is a great book for someone looking to save money. It takes a little practice to get it all down, but I have saved alot on my groceries already. I am learning how to be organized and how to find the right bargains.

Lots of good ideas

Shopping smart is one thing I aspire to do all of the time, at the grocery store and every where. Buying organic and healthy foods is also a top priority. I have seen other books and websites aimed at helping us save grocery dollars, but they fell short because they depend only on coupons and sales. Umm, hello? I already knew that. Teri Gault's book goes much further because although she recommends using coupons and finding stores that double or triple coupons she also gives simple straight forward advice as to how to find these stores and offers. Some of her tips include organizing your shopping cart by where you store the items in your home, which I have done my whole life and frankly always attributed to Obessive-Compulsive behavior. Nice to finally know I'm just setting myself up to be more organized and save $$. The book included a very detailed guide to choosing the best grocery store for you. In addition, she talks about the importance of organic foods and buying locally. Teri includes very useful lists of produce you should spend a bit more to get organic compared with a list of produce that is safe enough when grown conventionally, like Bananas. Of course, if you can afford it, buy all organic. Its better for the environment. But if you are trying to save money, why not spend your money where it is most important to your health and not waste money when the non organic alternative is cheaper and just as healthy? The biggest draw for me was her month by month of what to buy when according to months of the year these items are at their lowest prices. Ever since I got my copy I have been tracking the sale flyers with her list and she is right on. The last half of the book is about entertaining and recipes and household organization. The recipes were favorites of her family, and they sound fine but not as healthy as I like my staples to be. The Entertaining and orgainzational advice was great, but nothing you haven't seen anywhere else. The other detail that stands out is Teri's honest and personal style of writing. She is just flat out friendlier than the other books and websites I have seen offering money saving ideas. And she really did her research. I've been putting her tips to work for a few weeks and I have seen a marked difference in the way I organize to go shopping and the bottom line at the cash register

Worth 1,000 times it's weight in groceries!

When I saw Teri on the news for the first time in 2003, I started playing her "grocery game" that very afternoon, and it was the smartest thing I ever did. My family was in desperate financial straights at that time. Little did I realize that I had just given myself a raise which amounted to $300 to $400 a month. I was shocked and a little embarrassed to see just how much money I had been throwing away. The Grocery Game saved me a lot of time, too, and made it much less stressful to shop. Shop Smart, Save More is a quick and enjoyable introduction to the ideas Teri has collected and refined since she was a teenager. Teri spends a few pages sharing her personal experiences with saving, beginning when it became her responsibility to buy groceries for her family. Her mother was sick, her younger sisters were depending on her, and her father was up to his eye-balls in medical bills. She didn't have the heart to tell her father he wasn't giving her enough money to feed the family, so she *made* it enough money by studying her store carefully and recognizing trends that are invisible to most shoppers. Although it was a real risk to experiment with shopping strategies at such a desperate time, she followed her intuition and began to uncover a better, smarter way to grocery shop. She's been developing these ideas ever since. Teri has been through financial hardship, and her advice is the real deal, as my own experience illustrates. Teri's book also contains practical tips for making the most of your groceries and sharing the abundance with your family and friends. Teri reveals which products can be frozen, for how long, and how they should be defrosted for best results. She offers suggestions on which time of year is best for buying everything from cook ware, to children's bikes to a new home. She includes a sample plan and recipes for entertaining on a budget. I can't say it better than she did in the introduction: This book is about how to "savor," not just save. I continue to learn from Teri. Seasoned gamers will certainly learn something new. More than ever, I'm happy to know that Teri's in the world, changing lives during this bleak time in our economic history. Thanks Teri!