Stretching the Dollar

The news has been grim lately.  Like rising gas prices weren't enough, now we're being warned about higher grocery costs.  It seems that the rest of the world has been suffering under rising food prices but it hasn't been as noticeable in Canada because at the same time our dollar was increasing in value.  This has meant Canadians were finding themselves with more buying power and we didn't even realize that the cost of so many foods we import had gone up.  However our dollar has now leveled off and the cost of food is still going up.  The reasons for the rising food prices are myriad.  Droughts in a number of places in the world, large populations like China and India developing a much larger middle class which is eating more and the high price of grains and other agricultural products.  Add to that the high price of gas to get the goods to market and prices are rising faster than the dandelions in my pesticide free front yard.  However there are some things we can do to help stem the tide of the grocery store dipping deeper into our pockets.  One of those things is called "price matching".  I'd heard the term but really hadn't thought much of it.  I know Wal-Mart and Zellers do it and other stores may soon have to start taking part.  The idea is simple enough, show them that another store has a product cheaper and they'll match that price.  Now when I've heard that line in the past I just sort of took it to mean, they were charging the lowest price and they knew it so they were kind of proving the point by putting the ball in your court to prove them wrong.  However the other day I experienced price matching in it's most glorious form.  I was in line at the checkout and the fella in front of me had a grocery cart filled to the brim and in his hand were at least 10 different flyers.  I stood there in amazement as he put products on the conveyor belt and as the cashier went to ring each item in he'd tell her the price she should be charging.  When the milk hit the scanner he pointed out to her that another store had milk on sale for a cheaper price.  So she rang in the cheaper price.  The yogurt was up next and he'd found it on sale in a different flyer for a different store and he got that sale price.  On and on it went.  This guy was good, a real price matching pro.  He was smooth and well organized as he matched various flyers with various products and got everything in his cart for some kind of discounted price. Immediately the thought crosses your mind, just how much trouble would that be.  However, I don't think we're talking that much time.  You gather the flyers together when they come in and go through them circling the items you need that week.  Then the beauty of price matching kicks in.  You go to one store that offers it and you get all the sales.  With just a rough calculation in my head and looking back at the flyers after the fact and I think that fella cut his grocery bill for that week by close to $15 or $20 dollars.  Even more if he takes advantage of deals to stock up on items that he knows he'll be needing anyway.  The other thing I liked was that this guy was being proactive in dealing with higher prices.  Instead of just moaning and bitching about it, this guy was fighting back.  Sure it took a bit of time but in the end, his grocery bill hasn't gone up.  Coupons and sale items at grocery stores have been around since the grocery store was invented.  The difference here is getting all the sale items without driving around to a half dozen different stores.  One stop shopping is a huge benefit with the cost of gas the way it is.  I think I'm converted.  It's not that I can't even afford to pay more, it's just that it's being offered so why not take advantage of that.  When I got up to the cashier I asked about price matching and she said lots of people are doing it.  Then I paid full price for the milk I was getting. I should have stopped that guy ahead of me and asked to borrow his flyer and while I was at it I could have thanked him for teaching me a thing or two about stretching my dollar.  Now I've got to go home and fish through my blue box for all those flyers I threw out. I didn't realize it was like throwing out money, which none of us can afford to do these days.  There's no chance any of those flyers feature some place with gasoline on sale is there??? Until We Type Again, Take It Ease !