To understand this tip, consider this: Many grocery stores run two sales cycles each week. One flier comes out on Thursday and runs for seven days. This is the "long" cycle, which runs Thursday-to-Wednesday. But the same stores often have a second sales flier that comes out on Sundays and runs for four days. This is the "short" cycle, which runs Sunday-to-Wednesday.
Now, if you look at a calendar, pay attention to the days. (I have a graphic I use in class that we can show this too on-screen if you want) There are four days each week in which both cycles and sales fliers overlap - Sunday through Wednesday. If your store participates in two sales cycles, these are the days you want to shop to maximize your savings. You are gaining the advantage of two different sets of sales running instead of just one.
Another reason to shop earlier in the week is due to the price jumps many items take later in the week. My store recently had a sale on a name-brand cereal. At $1.25 a box, it was already a great price… with a $1 coupon, I took it home for a quarter. That sale ran Sunday through Wednesday. On Thursday, the same cereal was still on "sale," but the new sale price? $2.50 a box. The price doubled in one day! This is one of those hidden little games the stores play too - the same items may be on sale, but the sale price has changed to a lot less attractive one as the higher-traffic shopping days approach.
If you never clipped a single coupon, you would save a great deal of money just by shopping earlier in the week. If I had bought that cereal on Thursday instead of Wednesday, I would have paid twice the price!
* Name-brand or store brand? The name brand's often cheaper with coupons!
As prices rise in the grocery store, people assume they may be better off buying a less-expensive store brand... but the reality is that you can usually buy the name-brand products cheaper, with coupons, than the store brand.
For more information visit jillcataldo.com and www.supercouponing.com
