Mom Of Two Says The First Page Of Your Grocery App Is Full Of Overpriced Deals Companies Paid To Promote, And Her Trick Got Her Eggs For 60¢

Jane Clark

33 minutes ago

You open your grocery store’s app, and the very first coupons on the screen look tempting. According to one frugal mom, that is exactly where you should not stop.

Victoria Jones, a mom of two who goes by “Victoria’s Meal Prep” on social media, shared her best money-saving moves with TODAY. Her biggest result so far: a carton of eggs for 60 cents.

“I Think The Stores Make It Really Hard On Purpose”

Jones is not a fan of waste. She often shows viewers how to save money by using fruit cores, peels and other kitchen scraps, and she wants to make sure they do not waste in-app deals at the store either.

She says she started the account because friends and family kept asking her where she buys things and how she does it. “I really feel like there’s a need to know how it is that I go grocery shopping and use the coupons in the apps that I can share with other people so that they can also save money,” she says.

“I think the stores make it really hard on purpose,” she adds.

Know What You Need Before You Walk In, Because Not Having A Plan Is A “Trap”

Her first tip sounds simple, but Jones calls walking into a store without a dinner plan a “trap.” She starts by asking what she needs to cook.

“My staples are the same staples everybody else has,” she says. “I need cheap proteins; I need eggs, milk and yogurt; I need fruits and vegetables, and then maybe bread or pasta.”

Simply knowing what you need keeps you from tossing another taco seasoning into your cart when you already have three at home, according to Jones.

She also looks ahead. At the beginning of each month, she already knows what she will need to feed her family, so she can wait for a sale rather than buying at full price when she is running low.

Check The Markdown Corner First, Where Eggs And Dairy Go On Sale

Take eggs as an example. For her last video, Jones needed eggs, so she asked herself whether any store had a sale or marked-down eggs.

She went to Kroger, which usually has a special area for markdown dairy and eggs. She checked there for cheap eggs and then combined them with the discounts the store offers.

She says not to discount the clearance area of your local supermarket. At any Kroger brand store, she says, there are clearance items with stickers and areas stocked with items at about 65% off.

It is not just strange soda flavors, either. “They have meat on clearance; they have fruits and veggies on clearance,” she says.

Her advice for finding the spot is easy to follow. Take one trip around the edge of the store, go slowly, and see where the clearance items are kept.

“The First Page Is Always Going To Be” The Items Companies Paid To Promote

The little grocery inserts in your local paper are not where the best deals are anymore, Jones says. But you have to look to find them.

“If you go in the app and see the coupons right on the first page, it’s going to be the things that companies pay them to promote,” she says. Her instruction is to scroll right past all that.

According to Jones, the first page tends to feature overpriced items that you would not want anyway, and even with the coupon they are expensive.

The real deals come after that, she says, so give yourself time to scroll through all the sales. Your favorite item might be on the last page.

How She Turned A $2 Credit Into Eggs For 60 Cents

Jones’ preferred store, Kroger, has a points system for savings on groceries. Most other popular supermarket apps and loyalty programs use points, cash back or digital rewards, but you have to be vigilant.

“Because my budget is low, I only had like $2 off,” she says, “but I was like, ‘OK, cool, I could buy eggs and apply the $2 off,’ and my eggs cost 60 cents.”

That is the whole trick in one purchase. A marked-down carton, a coupon found past the promoted page and a small credit stacked together took the price down to 60 cents.

Put Her Playbook To Work On Your Next Trip

You do not need to shop at Kroger to borrow her approach. These steps, built from Jones’ advice and some general common sense, work at most stores.

Plan dinners first. Write down the cheap proteins, dairy, produce and bread or pasta your household actually uses.
Check your pantry before you shop so you do not buy a fourth taco seasoning.
Walk the edge of the store slowly and find the clearance areas for meat, produce and dairy.
Scroll past the first page of coupons in your store’s app, and look through all the deals, including the last page.
Stack savings. Combine a marked-down item with an app coupon or loyalty credit.
Learn your store’s markdown schedule by asking an employee when new clearance items go out.

Saving money at the checkout does not take a magic trick. It takes a plan, a little patience and a willingness to scroll past the ads, and Jones has shown it can get a carton of eggs down to 60 cents.