DEAR JILL: I have become so frustrated with supermarket ads. Before the pandemic, my local stores used to have multiple-page fliers with many sales items lists. Now, of the three stores in my area, one has eliminated paper ads completely, one has gone to a single-sheet ad and one has a four-page ad with extra pages only available online.
I know things are moving more in the direction of being digital only, but I wonder if stores realize this makes it so difficult to plan shopping trips. I still like to circle and make notes on my ads, and I also like to see what is on sale before I go to the store.
How do we better plan shopping trips when more than half the sale items are not even in the ad anymore? — Patty C.
I feel your pain. I was one of the most devoted ad-readers around, devouring my local supermarkets’ fliers page by page. I’d plan detailed shopping trips around everything that was cycling low in price in the ad, and I, too, liked being able to physically mark up my ads.
I realize the ads are available online, but there’s an enormous difference in the amount of visual real estate that a paper ad utilizes compared to a 4- or 5-inch phone screen. When I’m planning a shopping trip to a store that only offers online ads, I prefer to browse the ads on my computer screen instead of my phone. It’s a lot larger and easier to view more of the ad on screen at once.
I am still a pen-and-paper person who largely makes grocery lists by writing things down, but many stores have apps with list-making abilities built in. Either way, I’ll prepare that portion of my shopping list based around the sales that are advertised in the weekly circular.
However, once we get to the store, who among us hasn’t spotted more items on sale than we anticipated? Of course, when you spot a great deal, it’s time to stock up, regardless of whether that item was on your shopping list. However, it’s also worth reviewing how to know when a deal really is a must-buy.
My rule of thumb is this: If you are close to cutting the shelf price in half, or greater than half, it’s a buy. This is true when you’re shopping with coupons too! When you go to the store, look at the regular, non-sale prices of the items tagged on the shelf. This is the “shelf price.†Then, look at the sales tags for any items that are on sale, and note the difference between the shelf price and the sale price.
For example, because inflation is out of control at the moment, the shelf prices of things may look higher than one ever might want to pay. I was at my local supermarket the other day and saw a 14-ounce box of a popular cereal priced at $8.99! This was the non-sale shelf price – but even so, nine dollars for a box of cereal is far more than anyone should pay. However, my store had the same cereal on sale for $2.50 a box this week. With the $1-off-2 e-coupon in their app, I dropped it to $2 per box, which is not only pretty reasonable considering the current state of shopping, but is 78% off the regular shelf price.
While the low prices in the cycle are not as low as most of us became accustomed to paying during the glory days of couponing, we do have to be in the mindset of jumping on deals when we see them – even if they are unadvertised. When items are nonperishable or have longer shelf lives, buy enough to tide you over until the next time you might anticipate a deal. Your ability to stock up is really only limited by what you wish to spend and how much space you have to store your stockpiled items. If a fantastic deal comes along, and you have the means and space to buy in larger quantities, it’s something to consider.
Jill Cataldo, a coupon workshop instructor, writer and mother of three, never passes up a good deal. Learn more about Super-Couponing at her website, . Email your own couponing victories and questions to jill@ctwfeatures.com.
