Shopping Savings: Where to Find Deals

This week I'd love to share with you some great sources for good deals at a variety of stores!

CouponMom - the biggest advantage of this site is that it is free. Stores covered are CVS, Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Target, and Rite-Aid. The site isn't as clear about the coupons you should use, and it doesn't indicate if something is a "best buy" or might be cheaper later. It does have a coupon databse which shows where the coupons are, and it does show the percent saved per item. I honestly don't remember what the referral program is - I think it's a drawing.

The Grocery Game - there are fees to subscribe to the lists, based on how many stores you use: $10 for the first store for 8 weeks, and then $5 for each additional store for 8 weeks. You choose how many stores you want, which vary by state. The list includes: CVS, Walgreens, Rainbow, Cub, Publix, Kroger, Ralph's, Safeway, Food Lion, Winn Dixie, Meijer, HyVee, Wegman's, Giant Eagle, and many more. The site is very specific about the sources of the coupons and includes non-coupon store deals as well. It also keeps track of which stores accept expired coupons, and indicates if items are "rock bottom" prices (cheapest available over a given period). For every three referrals, a 12-week membership is free.

Savings Angel - there are fees for this as well, but it's a flat $20/month for all stores. It is officially only available in a few cities, but many of the stores included are national chains, and so the savings would work for other local areas as well. It currently covers: Grand Rapids, MI - Walgreens, Meijer, Rite-Aid, Family Fare, Hardings, Plumbs, CVS; St. Louis - Walgreens, Schnucks, Dierbergs, Shop 'n' Save, Target; Minneapolis/St. Paul - Walgreens, Cub, Rainbow, CVS, Target, Snyder; Detroit - Walgreens, Meijer, Rite-Aid, Kroger, CVS, Target; Cincinnati/Dayton - Walgreens, Meijer, Rite-Aid, Kroger, CVS, Target (Orlando and DC coming soon). The referral program is generous: $5 per month for every referral for the length of that referral's subscription.

I strongly encourage you to check them out - not just because I would love the referrals, but because it saves a lot of legwork when looking for deals! If you sign up, please use cobberreb@yahoo.com for the top two, and code 19411 for SavingsAngel.

I also encourage you to check out Be Centsable's Grocery Gathering for user-created lists of grocery deals.