The Good Ole Days

Grocery shopping sure has changed over the years.  I have been grocery shopping for over 50 years and one thing has stayed the same - the need to save money on what I am buying.  There may be people in this world that have an unlimited budget when it comes to buying food.  I have never been part of that group!  But we always had enough food to eat with the help of coupons.  My mother used coupons and she taught me how to save at the store.

Back in the "ole days", coupons and refunds were a big part of grocery shopping.  Stores would compete with each other and give out coupons for free items.  

Manufacturers were also in competition and would offer refunds on their products.  You would save the label from a certain item and then mail it with the form and in about 6-8 weeks you would receive a refund of some sort.  Could be a $1.00 or even the full price of the item you bought.  Many times, it would be a gift or a toy.

There were coupon clubs where people would meet and exchange coupons that they didn’t want for those that they could use.  In the 70’s and 80’s newspapers were full of coupons.  Stores would offer to double the face value of a coupon in order to get your business.  Then other stores would offer to triple the value of coupons.  Coupon wars! Sometimes there were limits and sometimes there weren’t.  But usually, any amount less than a dollar was either doubled or tripled.  Many times, it made the item free.

In September of 1979, one of the local newspapers (The Star Ledger) was running stories on how people were fighting inflation.  I contacted them and described how I save money with coupons and refunds.  They did a story on me!  The reporter followed me around the store which created a lot of curiosity among the other shoppers.  When I was done shopping, my grocery bill was over $60.00.  After deducting my coupons, I only paid $8.29.

Then in July of 1980, I was featured in another newspaper (the West Essex Tribune) and a reporter went with me on another shopping trip.  This time the total was $77.89 before coupons.  After the coupons were deducted, I only paid $3.89.  

It did take time to cut out coupons and save labels, etc. I usually spent about 2 hours a week organizing, cutting coupons and saving labels. I considered it my part-time job.  All in all, it was time well spent when you saw how much you saved on the food bill.

Coupons Clubs weren’t the only way to get extra coupons.  There were also conventions!  Some were just one day long and others may last the whole weekend.  Attendees would bring boxes of labels and box tops to trade for items they needed for a particular refund.  Example:  If you have a refund form that states you can get $1.00 back from buying dog food but you don’t have a dog, you would trade for the labels you needed.  

There were also magazines that were dedicated to letting you know what refunds, coupons and conventions were available.  They had a pen pal section so that you could find like-minded people and possibly trade coupons, etc.  One magazine (The National Supermarket Shopper) attended a refund convention that I was at and I even got my photo on the cover of the magazine!  (The little arrow under the sign is pointing to me - in the middle.)

Those were the days.  Things are different now.  The newspapers don’t carry a lot of coupons.  But you can find some online.  Some stores have coupons on their website.  You log in at the register and the coupons come off your bill – no need to cut them out.  Refunds are almost non-existent.  I can’t even remember the last time that I was able to send in a refund form.  And it seems like stores are no longer in competition with each other.

But, we can still save money.  It may take a little more work initially but it could end up saving you some cash.  One Saturday, I look the time to travel around to several different stores and check the prices on things that I buy.  I wrote it all down (no way I would be able to remember it all!).  I created a “price book” and listed 3 stores with the prices of each item.  It helped me to see which store had the best price on various products.  But, not all the items were cheaper at the same store.  For me, all 3 of those stores are located on the same street so I was not wasting gas running around town.  I was able to shop at each store and get the best price for the items I needed to buy.  Each person would need to calculate the cost of gas to see if it is worth it to travel to different stores to get the cheapest price.

Fast forward to 2021 when we were all dealing with covid.  Store shelves were empty, and prices were rising almost every week.  Here’s an example of the price of a 4 lb. package of bacon at Costco:

2/4/21 – 12.99

4/1/21 – 14.99

4/22/21 – 16.99

8/19/21 – 18.99

9/9/21 – 19.99

10/14/21 – 21.99

4/1/22 – 14.99

Thankfully, the price has come down.  The bacon is just one example as all the stores were raising prices, not just Costco.  I think the most frustrating thing was finding empty shelves.  It certainly changed the way that I did the grocery shopping.  Now, if I need an item, I will typically buy 2 so that I also have one in reserve. I try to make sure that the pantry and freezer are well-stocked, just in case we go thru another pandemic or a hurricane or some other event that would prevent me from going to the store.

So, coupons are few and far between and refunds are pretty much non-existent, but we still have opportunities to save.  Some stores do the BOGO (buy one, get one free) sales and many stores will allow you to use coupons on those items.  Also, look out for clearance sales.  Every little bit helps!

For many years I have been using a “shopping notebook” – it helps me to stay on track.  Details about that are part of another blog that I wrote June 7th – November 6th, 2020 (6 part series).

Times may/will change but don’t give up!  You can still save money on groceries!