A friend of mine put together a mini-series of tips she learned while working in the grocery store industry. She wants to remain anonymous but I want to pass on her valuable information.

First Installment: Sales Cycles

One week you see your favorite spaghetti sauce for $2.99 and the next week it's $2.49.

Jeez, it's on sale, I better buy it. Hold on there! That's the phantom sales price. (Years ago, most sales prices always ended in 5's and 9's, but in the '90s, most store buyers went to another price structure--multiples--which I'll explain later).

When you see the price drop that 50 cents, that is the phantom sales price. But the store knows that a certain # of people will fall for that ploy and buy it because they think they are saving money. Patience is the name of the grocery game and you can save big bucks IF you get to know the ebb and flow of sales cycles. Sales usually run on a 12 - 13 week cycle.

Come in another time, (a few weeks later) and that $2.99 jar of spaghetti sauce is no longer $2.49, but is now at $1.99. That is the new lower sales price but it's not time to buy yet.
Wait longer (usually in the 10th-12th week) and it will probably hit the rock-bottom price of 2/$3 or even 10/$10. That rock-bottom price is the one you want to wait for.

When it hits that rock-bottom price, IF you have a mfr. coupon, that is the time to play that coupon. Manufacturer coupons are the best thing going. It's free money! Usually the expiration dates have a window of 8-12 weeks and that gives you plenty of time to wait out the sales cycle.

When the price hits rock-bottom, add the coupons (if possible) and stock up. If your store doubles or triples coupons (mine don't), so much the better. But you will understand by using the sales cycle, adding coupons when rock-bottoms hit, you can slash your grocery budget. You can start slow (I did), but every time, you reach for an item you have stockpiled at home you save money by not hopping in your car (less gas) and buying that item at the regular price the store is hoping you will buy it at.

Since most people generally buy the same items week after week, what you are trying to do with a price book is to watch the sales cycle as it evolves. (click here for another price book example)

Most supermarkets have sales from Wednesday-Tuesday. I don't know how many stores are in your area, but you can always call each one and ask when their new ads break. One natural food store I shop at only has ads every 2 weeks, but it's a lot of stuff. I pop in at the beginning of the ad, and then the day before that sale stops, I stock up on favorite groceries from that ad if they're especially good.

Which stores are in your area? I use to just shop 1 store, but have learned to look at ALL ads and have really saved money, because I bundle all my errands (much less gas). Some people think it takes more time, but I actually have saved a lot of time, by knowing exactly what I walked into the store to get.

I threw out store allegiance in April, 2006 and have never looked back. Get In! Get Out! That's my motto. But of course, here's my disclaimer: Results may vary. What works for me might not work for you if you don't have a lot of stores to choose from. I go to 4 stores... 1 supermarket, 1 drug store, 1 independent grocery store, and a natural food store. It sounds like a lot but the furthest away is only 6 miles away. But don't fall into the trap of driving to a store that's far away to try to save money on groceries if you lose overall with the price of gas.

Get your price book together so you can track the sales cycles. Using this information to know when to buy items at their rock bottom prices can really help slash your grocery budget.