Abe's Grocery Tips
Proven secrets to save you 30% to 50% on your weekly groceries

How to Get Some Free Groceries....

I have found four ways to get some free groceries:

• overpriced items
• online sources
• coupons
• checkout coupons

Overpriced Items

Many of the large chain grocery stores have a price policy that states if an item rings up higher than the price marked on the shelf, you get the item free. You can, on occassion, intentionally find items on the shelf that will ring in incorrectly.

Each week, when the store circular comes out, a "special" or "sale" tag is placed on the shelf under the item. These tags usually have a date in the bottom corner showing when the special price expires. A grocery store worker is supposed to go through the store at the end of each week and remove the expired tags, however, they often miss some. While I shop, I keep an eye on these tags and check the dates. I know that any item that has an old date is no longer on sale and will ring up at the non-sale price at the register. However, since there is a different price on the shelf than the price that rings up, I will get the item for free.

Make a mental note, or jot them down on your scrap paper. You will have to bring your receipt to the cusomer service desk. They will check the price marked on the shelf as well what you paid for the item. Make sure you have some time, especially if you have alot of these items. You will typically get cash back for the items. Check with your local store to see if they have this policy.

I know all of the local grocery stores that have this policy and when I have the time, make a special trip to them just to look for the incorrectly marked items to get free.

NOTE: Some stores may only give you the item at the special price and not for free. Also, you are usually only aloud to get one free item.

Once again, you can compound savings. If you have a coupon for an item that is overpriced, use it. You may actually get the full price of the item back. Hence, actually getting paid to purchase an item. (e.g., The item is mismarked and you have a 75 cent coupon. You get cash back for the mismarked item but still got the 75 cents off your bill)

Example: We were in need of a turkey for a family get together we were having. There were no turkeys on display so we asked the buther if they had any. He brought one up from the back that was marked down, on sale. At checkout, it rang up the normal price. We ended up getting the turkey for free!!! They were going on sale the next week and were not supposed to go out on display for another day. We were observant and saved $28 on a turkey!

Online Sources

The online sources that I have found are mostly for samples and not the full size product, however, on occassion, a site will offer a coupon for a free item just for filling out a form (which then gets you on their list to receive additional coupons). I recommend signing up for these free items. Here is a sample of a site with free grocery items:

• Memolink.com - Fill out surveys and play trivia games to receive points towards free items.
• CoolSavings - Besides free coupons, this site also has some free grocery give aways.
• QualityHealth.com - free samples - You will have to fill out a somewhat long survey but will receive plenty of coupons and free items.

Go to Google and seach for free grocery items. Just don't pay for any of them. There are enough free items.

Coupons

Coupon compounding may enable you to get a free item. There are times where tripling a coupon for an item that is on sale will actually give you the item for free. At times, you may even get 'paid' to buy the item when the value of the triple coupon is more than the price of the sale item.

Check Out Coupons

If you have a store card, the grocery store may print out a coupon for a certain amount to use on your next grocery shopping trip. These coupons are not for any specific item and can be used off of your entire grocery purchase. I will often use these type of coupons for items that rarely go on sale.

(Read More: Misc & Check out)