I saw a shopper post that they couldn't get anything useful at the grocery store for $9 because that meant they could only spend $3 on each item... I've never had an issue or complaint getting my items, and sometimes, I get plenty of stuff for that amount.

St. Cruz 32 ounce juice is on sale $1.25
Half gallons of milk and buttermilk $1
Eggs are often $1.25-$1.50 a carton
Bread is often $1-$2.50 depending on the type
Gum is usually $1 a pack for the big packs or $0.35 for the little packs
Apples $.33 each
Grapes $0.88-$1.49 a lb often times
Potatoes for $1.99 a 3lb pack
Flour and Meal $2-$4 each
Seasonings! Salt, Pepper, Paprika, garlic powder, onion powder
Veggies! Zucchini, asparagus, broccoli, eggplant, carrots, onions, garlic cloves, kale, spinach, mushrooms, etc are often $0.99 a lb or each.
Toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss all are usually on sale for $1-$2 an item.
Soap, conditioner, shampoo, loofahs...

And be sure to check their clearance areas!

There are many things you can get for under a buck for groceries in the produce section if you come out of the mindset of buying cheese, deli meats, meat, and gourmet items off your shoppers list. Go for produce, condiments, and even some canned goodies like some organic beans are on sale for $1 a can! Easy peasy.

PS YOU CAN USE COUPONS ON MOST OF THESE so check out the coupon sites and newspaper for easy to grab coupons to add to your shop. I bought covergirl eye shadow quads on sale for $4.19 with $3 off for $1.19 each the other day and they had $1 off any covergirl item... mascara was on sale for $1.50 in the clearance bin! Also $3 off a covergirl face item. Made for some nice makeup scores and stocking stuffer scores.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2016 06:59PM by clinen11.

Oh, I like this thread! Something I always suggest to our grocery shoppers is toilet paper. There's always a brand that's on sale, and it doesn't expire. You always need toilet paper! We also have a shopper who buys a lot of cat litter, which always cracks me up.

I always buy toilet paper and paper towels....they never go stale or expire and you need them every day!

On the BOGO's, I buy just one ....so I get the item half price. I ALWAYS look for BOGO's.

You have to be careful with that one, though. Some grocery stores actually don't split the cost on one item, you have to get two of them to get the deal.

are you not allowed to spend more than $9. I do a different grocery that reimburses $10.50....i typically spend about $20 on various things I need.

as far as toilet paper..it is cheaper to buy in bulk...i can get it about half the price when I buy in bulk v single rolls or small package...so it is not worth it to me to buy small.

grapes are a LOT more expensive in my area..i don't remember how much exactly, but even on sale more than 1.49

Oh I have never done a grocery store where there was a problem with the shopper going over the reimbursement. I usually spend $20 or more even if the reimbursement is $12 or less.

Where do you find grocery store shops?

Different MSCs offer different types of assignments in different parts of the country. Start signing up with companies on the list (link below) and you might find some in your area. Right now there aren't any where I live.

What about the grocery shops where you have to purchase a certain amount of items? ie, $5 reimbursement, and you have to buy 5 items; one being organic or deli items.

I totally am guilty of buying litter! I have bought litter and especially baking soda (the litter refresher is just sodium bicarbonate nine out of ten times anyway!)

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What about the grocery shops where you have to purchase a certain amount of items? ie, $5 reimbursement, and you have to buy 5 items; one being organic or deli items.

I haven't seen this particular requirement but I've seen reimbursements for $7.50, $9, and $12. If it's the same 1/4 lb order requirement and you only get paid back $5 here's some ideas
get 1/4 lb of cheese at $6.99 a lb for a total of $1.74
organic items like limes and lemons are often on sale for $0.99 or carrots can be snagged up for $0.50 a small bag or each carrot.
so you're either at $2.75 or $2.25 with 3 items left.
Toothpaste is often on sale 10 for $10 or travel tubes are $1 with a bogo option so grab 2 tubes of those at $0.50 each.
Dental floss is often $1 a roll.
Toothbrushes are often $1 each or 2 for $1.
Canned kitty food and canned dog food are $0.20-$0.50 a can for the cheaper varieties and make great ways to give pet medicine.
Apples, oranges, plumbs, peaches, kiwis, and nectarines are often $0.33 an item.
Bananas are great. Grab 1 or 2 and it's only about $0.25 for the item.
Grapes and cherries... those white bags for bagging produce can be used on grapes and cherries... they stuff those bags with 2-5 lbs each hoping folks will buy it that way but you can grab a bag and just stick one bunch in there. if they're on sale, you'll pay $0.50 to $1 for your one bunch of grapes or cherries this way and it's a great snack for a lunch bucket.
Yogurt cups are frequently only $0.20 to $0.50 each, even the organic ones can sometimes be snagged at $0.50-$1 a cup.
The organic aisle has some neat, cheap items to try out in sample sizes. Gummies and mini juices for $1 a pack.
Corn ears can be found for $0.33.
Single serve jugs of milk can be found for $0.75
There are tons and tons of items to be had.

Holidays are coming up. Nuts are sold by the lb. BUUUUUUUT there is no rule that says you must buy an entire lbs. Get to picking and pluck out a dozen english walnuts and bag those suckers up for a cheap item. Closeout items are bountiful in every aisle if you look for tags.

Salt is often only $0.33 to $0.75 a jug if you get morton basic iodized salt. Believe me, tons of options here for you, even under those requirements. Go in and browse around a bit. Sometimes I'll go a few hours ahead of time on a route and stop on the way to browse what they have. It gives me ideas for later when I come back so I can have items that are in budget ready to rock! and check those clearance buggies they like to stick by the restroom entrance areas!

@jmitw wrote:

are you not allowed to spend more than $9. I do a different grocery that reimburses $10.50....i typically spend about $20 on various things I need.

as far as toilet paper..it is cheaper to buy in bulk...i can get it about half the price when I buy in bulk v single rolls or small package...so it is not worth it to me to buy small.

grapes are a LOT more expensive in my area..i don't remember how much exactly, but even on sale more than 1.49

Absolutely! you can go over. I was just reading two shoppers going back and forth in another thread about maximizing profits and how they couldn't possibly just spend $7.50 or $9 in the grocery store and come out with 3 items they needed... Baffled me because I can rock that! If I do a route and pick up say 4 of these shops or even 5 on a weekend day, I can get tons of goodies for the house.

@jmitw wrote:

are you not allowed to spend more than $9. I do a different grocery that reimburses $10.50....i typically spend about $20 on various things I need.

as far as toilet paper..it is cheaper to buy in bulk...i can get it about half the price when I buy in bulk v single rolls or small package...so it is not worth it to me to buy small.

grapes are a LOT more expensive in my area..i don't remember how much exactly, but even on sale more than 1.49

TP idea for ya! Charmin coupons are out for $2 off a pack of the basic tp. The 4 pack rolls were on sale at my grocery for $2.50 each so $0.50 for 4 rolls of Charmin basic and you can use up to 4 coupons... PS I also follow the coupon ladies blogs to get ideas.

Honny--I think I'm doing the same store with that requirement. For the deli, they always have at least two types of store meat at $5.99/lb (sometimes even at $4.99). For the organic items, organic limes are $0.69/item and organic kiwis are 2/$1. There is a brand of paper towels (Spa) they sale for $0.47/each. Then you can buy either another single produce item or a bottled drink and come in close to the reimbursement amount.

Edited to add: These are the prices in my area, your prices may vary but I would look at these types of items.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2016 10:58PM by bdaves.

bdaves, that's not a shop that I do because I don't go to that market. If I did, there's no way I could stay under the reimbursed amount!

@bdaves wrote:

Honny--I think I'm doing the same store with that requirement. For the deli, they always have at least two types of store meat at $5.99/lb (sometimes even at $4.99). For the organic items, organic limes are $0.69/item and organic kiwis are 2/$1. There is a brand of paper towels (Spa) they sale for $0.47/each. Then you can buy either another single produce item or a bottled drink and come in close to the reimbursement amount.

Edited to add: These are the prices in my area, your prices may vary but I would look at these types of items.

Right? I can often snag some single produce items in organic for $0.50-$0.99 an item

I always make notes of what costs what. I do my regular shopping on different days with my husband so we can get items we need together and plan things out. Plus I coupon and use reimbursement apps and such along the way. On mystery shops, I pick a few items off our list on our kitchen board IT HELPS!!! We have a dry erase board that says stuff. Right now it says

Onion Powder
Paprika
Cling Wrap
Mouth Wash
Eggs
Shampoo

If I do it right, I could potentially get all of these for the $9 reimbursement
Example: Saw onion powder on sale for $1 and so was off brand paprika. Cling wrap I believe was about $2.50 a roll, Mouth wash off brand was $1.59, eggs were $0.99 a dozen for sale brand and pantene had shampoo on sale for $1.99 in the clearance buggy.

clinen--the one I'm talking about which requires organic requires you to spend at least a $1 on organic.

To clarify, when I'm talking about buying the deli items, I only buy a 1/4 of a lb so spend anywhere from $1.25-2.25 depending on what I select.

I get the buy 5 items with a $5 reimbursement and it includes either an organic vegetable purchase of at least $1 or a deli item and there are times i'm below the $5.

The one I find challenging (and I use that term in a positive way) is buying at least 15 items which weigh around 10 lbs in order to trigger the offer for carryout service. Reimbursement is only $10.

You all are organized! AND disciplined!

I did a shop on a Saturday (my regular shopping day) and had a $5 reimbursement with no restrictions,with a $4 fee. In my mind, I knew what I was going to by. I bought that item, and $70 worth of other items.

Kitty food and litter are great on those ones with the weight. Litter is often on sale for a 10 lb bag for $3.49. And if ya don't use litter, drop it off at a shelter and get a tax credit <3

@bdaves wrote:

clinen--the one I'm talking about which requires organic requires you to spend at least a $1 on organic.

To clarify, when I'm talking about buying the deli items, I only buy a 1/4 of a lb so spend anywhere from $1.25-2.25 depending on what I select.

I get the buy 5 items with a $5 reimbursement and it includes either an organic vegetable purchase of at least $1 or a deli item and there are times i'm below the $5.

Nectarines and oranges are usually just over a buck in organic. So are peppers in my area. And the bags of bundled carrots too. I'd just make a list and get the minimums and then try to buy things off my shop list I try to penny pinch. I have two jobs and am in school right now. Every dollar I can save to pay on the car, the loans, the medical bills etc. is great for me so I'm a scrounger for sure!

Toothpaste, mouthwash, body wash, and razors are always free with your coupons and rebate apps! Shop the drugstores for those. I never pay more than $0.50 for Pantene, and sometimes it's free too. As you say, every dollar you save on that stuff is a dollar you can use for something else!

@clinen11 wrote:

Every dollar I can save to pay on the car, the loans, the medical bills etc. is great for me so I'm a scrounger for sure!

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What about the grocery shops where you have to purchase a certain amount of items? ie, $5 reimbursement, and you have to buy 5 items; one being organic or deli items.

You can certainly go over the $5 for the required 5 items on this particular shop. Since I have to grocery shop anyways, I view both the $5 reimbursement and $9 fee to be my budget of $14. I buy the loss leaders on sale plus the staples that we need and anything special for an upcoming meal. I routinely go over the $5 reimbursement. Today, I did one of these shops and spent $9.34 on eight items. Here was my list:

(2) six pack of .5l pepsi products $.97 each (loss leader)
(2) dozen large eggs $.67 each (loss leader)
(1) can of comet $.99 (needed)
(1) package of split chicken breasts $2.92 (on sale plus will be a meal this week)
(1) bunch of bananas (my organic item) $1.20 (required purchase plus we eat a lot of these)
(1) package of hotdog buns $.77 (loss leader -- for today's cookout)

I've done many of these shops and they are one of my favs!

bdaves, the bakery or deli scenario, requires a minimum purchase of $5, right? Less than that, can result in rejection. The carryout scenario pays $10, reimburses $10, and requires 15 items. Takes some doing! I might buy three 2L soda pops, store brand, for .70-.90 each, to meet the heavy items requirement. These, I donate. I buy a can of cat food (.50) banana (.20), five or six bags of bulk produce items ~ a jalapeno or a habanero (.8) , a carrot (.10), bean sprouts (.10), onion (.30), yukon gold potato (.50) all totaling less $1.50. That leaves me $6 or so to spend on items more attractive to me. The carryout scenario is almost always bonused here.

Primarily, I do two different grocery shops. One pays $9 and reimburses $5. Five items are required to be purchased, and $5 must be spent. Depending on the two predominant scenarios, either a deli or organic produce item must be purchased. I can spend as much as I want. I buy the required item, then inexpensive items to meet the 5 item requirement with minimal expense, with some money left to buy what I want. I like this shop because it gives me the freedom to play with fee/reimbursement to my advantage.

The other grocery shop I do pays $6 and reimburses $10. There is no requirement for number of items to be purchased. Depending on the assignment, there may be a purchase requirement from the bakery, deli, meat, seafood, or sandwich department. And, there may be no purchase requirement. The sandwich requirement is the only one that is a deal breaker for me. It eats up half of the reimbursement. I do not like it - not one little bit, and only take it when bonused. For the other scenarios with a specified purchase requirement, I can generally spend less than $1.50 on the requirement, and have $8.50 left to spend as I want.

Some of these may be regional requirements. One of my grocery assignments reimburses $9 at one location, $12 at another and always pays $5. One of them requires a certain meat or cheese item, the other does not. One of the stores has all the departments, the other has a produce department and a grocery department.

Mert--that's great that the carryouts get bonused for you. None of them ever get bonused here and every scenario is usually gone within 24-48 hours of posting (and we have a ton of those stores here). I'm with you on finding the donate items. I usually scourge the related coupon blogs before those shops so that I can maximize the what I'm getting.

Each client grocery has their own quirks and needs. The one I shop most will match competitor coupons. They will allow 1 store coupon and 1 mfg coupon per item (and the store coupon can be from a competitor). On BOGO items in my market you must buy two to get the second one free, but you can use 1 store coupon and 1 mfg coupon on each item of the BOGO so in essence you are taking up to 4 coupons for the single item price you are paying (talk about a money maker!). When the larder is full, a couple of money makers can help subsidize a book of Forever stamps ($9.40) at checkout to use for postage that will be again reimbursed if you are doing the Daily Mail or Political Mail shops.

i have never seen a store that will give you half price for a BOGO when you only buy 1...