Investing is very much like buying groceries. In order to get the best deal on the items that you and your family want, you learn to “play the game.”

When it comes to groceries, here is one version of the game as it is played currently:

Watch the ads in the Thursday newspaper. This will tell you what’s on sale this week at the different stores.

Get the coupons from the Sunday paper. This time of year (the fall) the coupons are the best. The rest of the year, the coupons contain savings for new, sometimes silly products. But in the fall until the week before Thanksgiving, and then for a couple weeks until Christmas, the coupons are for real food that every one buys. Stuff like flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, green beans, corn, stuffing, rice, canola oil, pie crusts and fillings, cheese, crackers, and so forth.

The coupons used to be good for a longer period of time. Now the expiration date is usually within three months or so.

If you buy a certain amount of groceries around Thanksgiving you can get a free turkey - off brand if the economy is good; Butterball sometimes if times are tough, and only on frozen turkeys, never on fresh ones.

If you shop at Target and get a Target branded credit card, after every thousand dollars you spend, the send you a coupon good for 10% off of everything you buy for a day.

So here’s how we play the game at our house. Meat and produce at Central Market. Buy ground round when it’s on sale. Choose whatever expensive meat is on sale. Bought a whole rib eye this summer for half off - so we bought two. New York strips on sale last week for half price - we bought nine (there are three of us).

Buy staples, house items, and personal items at Target. Took Deb last Thursday night. Tab started at $289 dollars. She had 10% coupon - give that first! Then she had other coupons. Total out the door $229. She saved $60 by playing the game. What does $60 buy? Two meals out for the family at Chelsea’s favorite restaurant, or… In other words we make money go further by playing the game.

In groceries, what do you do if the price goes down? Buy, and then celebrate.

These are the exact same principles used in successful investing. When the price of a quality investment goes down, you buy! YOU don’t sell when the price goes down - Every smart grocery shopper knows THAT!

The only difference in investing and grocery shopping is that, in investing, there are no ads or coupons. You need someone, a smart investment advisor (like me), to tell you when things are on sale.

Could you benefit from our competence and trustworthiness? What about someone who would appreciate the information provided in these articles? E-mail me at dana@thebarfieldgroup.com.

Dana Barfield invites you to visit his retirement home page http://www.retirementwhys.com and blog blog.retirementwhys.com. Be sure to ask for the report Selecting Retirement Investments when you visit either of these resources.