The Grocery Game and Warehouse Clubs: A Frugal Debate

I used to subscribe to The Grocery Game, and while I loved the ease of the click-to-add shopping list, nearly every time I went to the store to purchase my goods, they were completely blown off the store shelves. I would be left to hang on to the coupons, finding similar deals on my own later. Eventually, I cancelled my subscription.

Now that we live in a slightly more rural area, I've thought about joining again, but I'm not sure if I want the nearly $200/year investment (6 local stores, including CVS and Walgreens). I don't know that being in a rural area makes that big of a difference, but I've been able to find abundant Grocery Game-type deals on my own in my local stores, and that makes me wonder what more I would have access to if I subscribed again. I'm just concerned to shell out the dough to subscribe again and end up in fierce competition, ultimately doing without the good deals.

I guess I'll never know for sure without just trying again, but I'm wondering if I can get the same kind of benefit just from taking advantage of the free message boards at The Grocery Game website, from a similar (but free) click-to-add shopping list from Coupon Mom, and from deals mentioned by all the generous bloggers at Frugal Hacks.

Thoughts? What have your experiences been with this stuff?

On another note, I've been giving some thought to Discount Clubs, like Sam's or Costco. Years back when James and I were self-employed, we became Sam's Club members and found many of our office and shipping supplies at a discount rate. Two years ago, our Sam's Club membership gave us access to an extraordinary travel discount to Disney World in Orlando. Since then, we primarily use our membership for photo developing and the occasional pantry stock-up, and we use our Sam's Club membership more than our membership to Costco.

As we approach renewal time, I've been wondering if maintaining a membership at these clubs was truly worthwhile. I think sticking with Costco probably is not, because though I prefer the photo printing there, every other bulk thing I prefer is found at a better price at Sam's Club. I do like some of the occasional specialty options at Costco, but I think I could find similar products at BulkHome, a bulk shopping website. I think that rules out Costco for 2008. As for my Sam's Club membership, it has proven to be valuable time and again. I mentioned previously that we booked a trip to Disney World in 2006, and as a result, we saved an amazing amount of money, even when compared to travel deals we could find online.

In addition to the savings I acquire on those day-to-day pantry items all year long, along with the occasional travel deals, a few days back I saved money on tires for my car. I had to replace three tires at once, and went to Discount Tire where the fourth one had been replaced about five months back. Since my tire replacement, the price of the tire I needed went up nearly $20 each, so a $60 increase in total based on my current need. When I called James, he suggested trying Sam's Club or Costco, and though I know both places sell tires, I never before considered them to be an option for me.

I came home and visited the tire section of each store's website. Costco only offered one style of tire in the size I needed, and it cost $18 more than the tire option at Discount Tire. The Sam's Club website, however, offered many options in my required tire size, so I picked the price range I wanted to remain in and dropped by the store to talk to the clerk. The tire I wanted cost $24 less than the tire at Discount Tire (so $4 less than the Discount Tire price I paid five months ago.) The clerk assured me that the tire was very good, and as a well-known name brand tire, I'm sure he wasn't pulling my chain.

I had to special order the tires online, but the site was easy to navigate and payment wasn't required until the installation was complete. Additionally, I was told there could be a 3-5 day wait, the three tires were in the store about 48 hours later. I went in for installation at lunchtime on a weekend day and the three tires were all installed in under a half-hour. (At Discount Tire during off-peak hours in the middle of a workday I was quoted an hour or more wait.) Bub and I barely had time to finish our $2.48 pizza and drink combos before it was time to go. I saved $72 on tires and had the fastest service I've ever experienced, and that in addition to any day-to-day savings makes me feel it's worthwhile to maintain a membership for a long time to come.