Switched from big chain coupons to local store apps, my grocery bill dropped $80 a month

I used to clip paper coupons from the Sunday paper and drive all over Manchester to hit three different stores. Then last fall I noticed the Market Basket app had digital-only deals that beat anything I was finding in the flyers. Now I just check the app on Thursday nights and plan my one trip around whatever's on flash sale, like the 99 cent chicken breasts last week. The tradeoff is I have to give up my phone number at checkout, which kinda bugs me, but the savings add up way faster than my old system. Anyone else ditch paper coupons for the store apps, or do you still think the old way gets better deals in Nashua or Concord?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_drew22d ago

Funny thing about giving up your phone number, my wife started getting texts from the local grocery chain about "personalized offers" and now she thinks the algorithm knows we're out of milk before we do. Last week it sent her a coupon for diapers and we don't even have a kid, so either the data's off or the store's trying to tell us something. The apps are definitely cheaper though, I've been using the Shaws one and it got me a free turkey last November that I still haven't finished carving. Paper coupons always felt like a treasure hunt, but now it's more like the app just dumps the treasure in my lap while I'm sitting on the couch in my socks.

sanchez.mary21d ago

Damn, that turkey thing got me thinking though. What happens to all those people who don't have smartphones or can't get the app? Like my mom, she still clips coupons with scissors and she's not about to hand over her email to some robot. The freebies are nice for us, but it feels like the stores are quietly building this two tier system where the people who need the savings most get left out because they can't or won't play the data game. And the diaper thing, yeah, that's just creepy. Maybe they're testing how much weird stuff you'll ignore before you stop opening the app.