Product Description

THIS DEFINITIVE GUIDE to saving money on groceries is a godsend to families who struggle to make ends meet. Inside the pages of Better Groceries for Less Cash you will quickly learn and master the simple techniques of value buying. You will learn the inside secrets that the food industry doesn t want you to know and how you can harness that knowledge to beat them at their own game. You will learn how to completely re-shape your approach to food, and develop lifelong money-saving habits such as: MAKING BETTER CHOICES. Buying the best for less than the off brands SMARTER COOKING. Selecting core ingredients rather than paying for high-priced pre-mixed items THINKING LIKE A MARKETER. Understanding how to leverage the grocery manufacturer s promotional cycles AISLE MASTERY. You can shop smarter even if you re always in a hurry LEVERAGE. How to use coupon doubling and store promotions to maximize savings STAYING IN SEASON. How to think like a chef to get the best shopping values on any given day SYSTEMATIC SAVINGS. Discover the system that can save you 30% - 40% - even 50% or more on groceries TAKING SIMPLE STEPS. 101 simple action steps that you can learn in minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75804 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 155 pages

About the Author
RANDALL PUTALA is a career advertising executive that has worked for some of America s largest agencies including BBDO, FKB Group PLC, and Allied Graphic Arts. His clients have included many of the nation s largest manufacturers, retailers and financial institutions. Putala is also the founding director of World Hunger Team, a non-profit foundation dedicated to solving the world hunger crisis.

Customer Reviews

Not What I Expected
I expected a book with new ways for me to save money on groceries but I found it filled with info I already knew and used. The only part I found helpful was how manufactures sale price their products as coupons are getting ready to expire. Maybe it would be a good book for someone who has never tried using coupons or has little experience with them but for someone like myself who is an avid user of coupons it provided me with little new info.

Terrific book that paid for itself
Rarely have I purchased a book that paid for itself within the first week of owning it. I read this book cover-to-cover by the 2nd day after it arrived. I like the idea of making cheaper groceries into something of a game, plus saving money. Usually I look for sales, or clip maybe 8-10 coupons a year, and then redeem 1-2 and lose the rest. This book has really helped me to organize. I've made out the envelopes and labeled them, as the author suggests. And now I've made it a particular challenge to look for items that I need (but not necessarily name-brand or loyal-brand items) that are both on sale, plus I have coupons for. In all of my shopping this weekend of combining sales with coupons, I saved an average of 50% or more, for over $100 in savings. There are a few simple concepts: stockpile cheaper items, look for sales plus use coupons.

The book starts with the example of a man who walks into a car dealership, and demands to pay full price for the car, with the sworn assurance that no one -- no one -- is paying more for their car than he is. Of course this is in comparison with food shopping which can be up to 20% of people's yearly pay -- why not try to find ways to reduce those costs? The author makes the interesting analogy of taking a $1 coupon and a $1 bill, and how would you feel about shredding both of them in the shredder? He says not to do this because it is illegal to destroy US money -- but the point is that they both can count as money. I loved this little book and I highly recommend it for anyone who eats and would like to save money eating.

Here's a quick rundown of the chapters:
1. What Color is Your Shopping Cart? (which of 5 types of grocery shoppers is most like you?)
2. The "7 Deadly Sins" (signs that you may be losing the "grocery game" -- such as your family is unhappy with the food you serve, you throw out food that you don't eat, people are hungry, binge snacking, etc)
3. Here's Your Sign (pitfalls for each of the grocery shopper types)
4. The "12 Steps to Recovery"
5. The Myths & Misconceptions of Store Coupons
6. Startegy & Tactics: How to Win the War for Your Wallet
7. Couponing Tactics: The Simplest Way to Organize Coupons (8 envelope categories and how to be organized)
8. The Currency vs. Coupon Litmus Test (what coupons are really worth)
9. Clubs, Cards & Counterintelligence (explains how frequent shopper cards really work)
10. The Power of Rebate Clubs, aka "Your Check's in the Mail"
11. A Rebate Returned is Money Earned
12. The Economics of Food
13. Smart Grocery Choices & Core Ingredients
14. Real Food, Real Cooking
15. A System for Cooking = A System for Savings
16. Quick-Cooking: The Secret to Happier, Healthier Meals
17. Planning Your Menus
18. Miscellaneous Cost Cutters
19. Online Coupon Hunting
20. Grocery Store Etiquette
21. Miscellaneous Time-Saving / Money-Saving Tips

smart ideas, "insider" insight
WOW. The author uses his experience in advertising to give a unique and valuable perspective on how to save money at the grocery. I'm a pretty smart shopper, but this book has definitely opened my eyes to a myriad of ways to save $$ that I had no clue of. Wish I'd read it sooner, I've been throwing money away and didn't even know. I can't imagine going back to my old grocery-store habits. Excellent text, funny as well! I want to re-read it but my coworkers keep lending it to one another. GRR, guess I'll have to buy another copy so I have one to read, one to lend.. haha.