Monday, October 3, 2011
Granola Bars at Walgreens!
Walgreens is having a great sale on Nature Valley granola bars. With the coupon in the monthly booklet (get one at the front of the store if you don't have one) for 1 dollar off, they are 2 for 3, or 1.50 each. These same granola bars are 3 dollars for one at Walmart, so this is a great deal. Plus, if you are a couponer, you may have a .75 cents or 1.00 off two coupon, which would make them either $1 each or...about $1.12? each, depending on the coupon you use.
Why Shop Where
So, I've been doing this for about a month, along with my dear friend from work, Courtney. We don't have as many stores as some of the people on the show, Extreme Couponing, but here is a little breakdown of the positives (and negatives) of our stores in the area.
Farmer's Foods
Locations: South Boston (Hupps Mill Plaza) None in Danville
They will accept manufacturer coupons and they will double up to a dollar. So, a fifty cents coupon will become a dollar, and a seventy five cent coupon also becomes a dollar. I don't believe they have any limit on the number of coupons you can use.
Many of their prices are higher than Walmart, but they do have sales every week, and their sale prices are pretty close to Walmart's regular price. Depending on the coupon, it would be worth going to Farmer's even if their price is a little more than Walmart, because the coupon will double.
In addition, I have been there twice when they were running special promotions where you spend 25 dollars in certain products, and get ten dollars off coupon for next time.
They are very nice and friendly, and there is a Redbox in the store if you need to pick up or drop off a movie.
Walmart
Location: Danville and South Boston
Walmart's prices on "coupon items:" medicine, toilettries, food, are pretty steady. Sometimes there are rollbacks, or you can catch something on clearance. And they don't double coupons. However, you can count on Walmart to be a good place to use your coupons, since you know their prices are close to anyone's sale. In addition, Walmart is one of the few places that will give you cash back for coupon overage. For example, if a coupon is for three dollars off, and the item is only two dollars (becase it is on clearance, or just really cheap), Walmart will either you give the difference of the dollar, or allow you to use the dollar towards other purchases. This works, because I have done it several times.
Both the Danville and the South Boston Walmart have Redboxes, as well.
Food Lion
Does not double coupons, but they are a bigger grocery store and may have more flavors or types of food availabe, as opposed to Farmer's. They do have decent sales sometimes.
Target
Location: Danville
Target does not double coupons, but you can stack coupons. Target puts out its own coupons on its website http://www.target.com/. You can use one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon on an item, which can really save you money. Target has decent sales, some of which rival Walmart's regular prices. Plus, Target has great clearance if you walk around the store and check out each department.
Kmart
Location: Danville
Doesn't have the greatest sales, and usually isn't my favorite store. However, they are doubling coupons this month if you are a Shop Your Rewards member (if you aren't, just fill out a form). They double a coupon up to the face value of .99. So if you have a coupon for .99 off, it will double to 1.98. Funny thing, I don't have any .99 coupons. They are all 1.00. But, this does mean that a .75 cent coupon will double to 1.50. Combine this with a sale, and that would be a good deal.
CVS
Locations: Two in South Boston, several in Danville.
CVS has great deals with the ECBs (Extra Care Bucks). Certain items will often be on sale, and then when you purchase them, you get ECBs, which are like gift cards to use on your next purchase. You can also split transactions to get your ECBs immediately and apply them to the rest of your purchase, making your out of pocket expense (OOP) much lower. You do have to have a CVS card to get these deals, but again, it's a form. The ECB deals are tied to your CVS card, so you cannot repeat the deals to get more and more money back, which you can (sort of) do at Walgreens. The good news is that because of this, CVS doesn't seem to run out of stock as quickly as Walgreens.
CVS also has the Magic Coupon Machine, where you scan your CVS card as soon as you come in, and get bonus coupons. Quarterly, you get ECBs back based on how much money you spent. That's free money!
For my SoBoVa people, the CVS over near Italian Delight has very nice employees.
Walgreens
Walgreens also has money back deals, called Register Rewards (RR). Anyone can use RR, as there is no card for Walgreens. However, if you use a RR to purchase the same deal, a new RR won't print.
So, if I buy Colgate toothpaste, and pay five dollars out of pocket and get five dollars in RR, I essentially got the toothpaste for free. I can use the RR to buy two more tubes of toothpaste, and not pay anything of out pocket for that toothpaste, but I won't get another RR.
If I used the RR to buy candy, and got a RR for the candy, I could then use the candy RR to buy more toothpaste, and get more RR.
A bit confusing, I know.
Also nice about Walgreens is that they have a coupon book in the store for each month, and you can use a Walgreens coupon with a manufacturer coupon to save even more money.
There is no Walgreens in Danville, but the nice people in SoBo tell me they are going to build one there soon.
Downside of Walgreens is that because you can replicate RR, and there isn't really a limit, they sell out FAST. We went on Monday afternoon, and the sale started Sunday, and they were out of pretty much all of the items that gave out RR.
Family Dollar and Dollar General will take manufacturer coupons, and there may be a sale there that is a good deal, so you can check those coupons.
Piggly Wiggly in Danville does not double coupons, but they do accept coupons. They also have good deals on meat.
Petsmart and Petco in Danville sometimes have really good deals. They also have savings booklets of coupons in the front of the store, loyalty cards, and tearpad coupons throughout the store. I will have to get back to you on whether either of them will let you stack a PetSmart coupon with a manufacturer coupon.
Farmer's Foods
Locations: South Boston (Hupps Mill Plaza) None in Danville
They will accept manufacturer coupons and they will double up to a dollar. So, a fifty cents coupon will become a dollar, and a seventy five cent coupon also becomes a dollar. I don't believe they have any limit on the number of coupons you can use.
Many of their prices are higher than Walmart, but they do have sales every week, and their sale prices are pretty close to Walmart's regular price. Depending on the coupon, it would be worth going to Farmer's even if their price is a little more than Walmart, because the coupon will double.
In addition, I have been there twice when they were running special promotions where you spend 25 dollars in certain products, and get ten dollars off coupon for next time.
They are very nice and friendly, and there is a Redbox in the store if you need to pick up or drop off a movie.
Walmart
Location: Danville and South Boston
Walmart's prices on "coupon items:" medicine, toilettries, food, are pretty steady. Sometimes there are rollbacks, or you can catch something on clearance. And they don't double coupons. However, you can count on Walmart to be a good place to use your coupons, since you know their prices are close to anyone's sale. In addition, Walmart is one of the few places that will give you cash back for coupon overage. For example, if a coupon is for three dollars off, and the item is only two dollars (becase it is on clearance, or just really cheap), Walmart will either you give the difference of the dollar, or allow you to use the dollar towards other purchases. This works, because I have done it several times.
Both the Danville and the South Boston Walmart have Redboxes, as well.
Food Lion
Does not double coupons, but they are a bigger grocery store and may have more flavors or types of food availabe, as opposed to Farmer's. They do have decent sales sometimes.
Target
Location: Danville
Target does not double coupons, but you can stack coupons. Target puts out its own coupons on its website http://www.target.com/. You can use one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon on an item, which can really save you money. Target has decent sales, some of which rival Walmart's regular prices. Plus, Target has great clearance if you walk around the store and check out each department.
Kmart
Location: Danville
Doesn't have the greatest sales, and usually isn't my favorite store. However, they are doubling coupons this month if you are a Shop Your Rewards member (if you aren't, just fill out a form). They double a coupon up to the face value of .99. So if you have a coupon for .99 off, it will double to 1.98. Funny thing, I don't have any .99 coupons. They are all 1.00. But, this does mean that a .75 cent coupon will double to 1.50. Combine this with a sale, and that would be a good deal.
CVS
Locations: Two in South Boston, several in Danville.
CVS has great deals with the ECBs (Extra Care Bucks). Certain items will often be on sale, and then when you purchase them, you get ECBs, which are like gift cards to use on your next purchase. You can also split transactions to get your ECBs immediately and apply them to the rest of your purchase, making your out of pocket expense (OOP) much lower. You do have to have a CVS card to get these deals, but again, it's a form. The ECB deals are tied to your CVS card, so you cannot repeat the deals to get more and more money back, which you can (sort of) do at Walgreens. The good news is that because of this, CVS doesn't seem to run out of stock as quickly as Walgreens.
CVS also has the Magic Coupon Machine, where you scan your CVS card as soon as you come in, and get bonus coupons. Quarterly, you get ECBs back based on how much money you spent. That's free money!
For my SoBoVa people, the CVS over near Italian Delight has very nice employees.
Walgreens
Walgreens also has money back deals, called Register Rewards (RR). Anyone can use RR, as there is no card for Walgreens. However, if you use a RR to purchase the same deal, a new RR won't print.
So, if I buy Colgate toothpaste, and pay five dollars out of pocket and get five dollars in RR, I essentially got the toothpaste for free. I can use the RR to buy two more tubes of toothpaste, and not pay anything of out pocket for that toothpaste, but I won't get another RR.
If I used the RR to buy candy, and got a RR for the candy, I could then use the candy RR to buy more toothpaste, and get more RR.
A bit confusing, I know.
Also nice about Walgreens is that they have a coupon book in the store for each month, and you can use a Walgreens coupon with a manufacturer coupon to save even more money.
There is no Walgreens in Danville, but the nice people in SoBo tell me they are going to build one there soon.
Downside of Walgreens is that because you can replicate RR, and there isn't really a limit, they sell out FAST. We went on Monday afternoon, and the sale started Sunday, and they were out of pretty much all of the items that gave out RR.
Family Dollar and Dollar General will take manufacturer coupons, and there may be a sale there that is a good deal, so you can check those coupons.
Piggly Wiggly in Danville does not double coupons, but they do accept coupons. They also have good deals on meat.
Petsmart and Petco in Danville sometimes have really good deals. They also have savings booklets of coupons in the front of the store, loyalty cards, and tearpad coupons throughout the store. I will have to get back to you on whether either of them will let you stack a PetSmart coupon with a manufacturer coupon.
I LOVE Farmers!
When I lived in Halifax, there was a Farmer's up the street, and we used to walk up there as kids with Mom to get a few things. But other than that, I have never really shopped at Farmer's. And now it's my favorite store because they double coupons.
We went there today because they had the Toaster Strudel and Toaster Scramblers on sale for 2/4. Now, they are always that price at Walmart. They may even be 1.97. However, I had 50 cents off coupons, which double to dollar at Farmers, making them 2 for 3, or 1.50 each. Taking that same coupon to Walmart, they would have been 2/4, with the coupon 2 for 3.50, or 1.75 each. I bought eight boxes because you can freeze them, and Fiance really likes them. Plus, there are six of them in a box, so if we both eat two, we've eaten most of the box.
Sometimes, Farmer's has really good deals. They had Frosted MiniWheats in Blueberry for 1! Sadly I had no coupons for them, but a dollar for a box of cereal is a really good deal. They also have Apple Jacks for 1.99, and I had a fifty cents coupon, which doubled, making Apple Jacks 1.00.
We got a few more things, including free Birds Eye brand steamable broccoli (10 for 10, use a fifty cents off coupon that doubles to 1). They rang up my purchase, which was 56 dollars, then scanned my Farmer's card, which brought it down to 36. After running all my coupons, the total was 29, and after THAT, the register printed a Catalina coupon for 10 dollars off my next purchase. So, 29 out of pocket, and with the gift card for next time, that's 19!
I believe I received the Catalina because I bought 25 dollars in General Mills products, which I did a few weeks ago. I didn't realize the promotion was still going on, so if you live in South Boston, take your coupons for General Mills products (Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, etc) and go to Farmer's!
We went there today because they had the Toaster Strudel and Toaster Scramblers on sale for 2/4. Now, they are always that price at Walmart. They may even be 1.97. However, I had 50 cents off coupons, which double to dollar at Farmers, making them 2 for 3, or 1.50 each. Taking that same coupon to Walmart, they would have been 2/4, with the coupon 2 for 3.50, or 1.75 each. I bought eight boxes because you can freeze them, and Fiance really likes them. Plus, there are six of them in a box, so if we both eat two, we've eaten most of the box.
Sometimes, Farmer's has really good deals. They had Frosted MiniWheats in Blueberry for 1! Sadly I had no coupons for them, but a dollar for a box of cereal is a really good deal. They also have Apple Jacks for 1.99, and I had a fifty cents coupon, which doubled, making Apple Jacks 1.00.
We got a few more things, including free Birds Eye brand steamable broccoli (10 for 10, use a fifty cents off coupon that doubles to 1). They rang up my purchase, which was 56 dollars, then scanned my Farmer's card, which brought it down to 36. After running all my coupons, the total was 29, and after THAT, the register printed a Catalina coupon for 10 dollars off my next purchase. So, 29 out of pocket, and with the gift card for next time, that's 19!
I believe I received the Catalina because I bought 25 dollars in General Mills products, which I did a few weeks ago. I didn't realize the promotion was still going on, so if you live in South Boston, take your coupons for General Mills products (Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, etc) and go to Farmer's!
These is the haul for the day. We hit CVS and Walgreens as well. There were coupons for BOGO on Dove and Tresemme. CVS has a promotion right now where if you spend 15 (before coupons) on Dove products, you get 5 ECBs back, so I paid for two, got two free, and got a Dove deodorant with a 1.00 off coupon. Plus, the deodorant was a twin pack, so four shampoos and two deodorants for 9, plus five dollars in ECBs, made this deal 4 dollars. :)
I am done couponing for the week. And I am done buying shampoo! Now I am off to find a place to put it!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Shopping Trip and Updates
This is mostly a breakdown of today's shopping trip. If you are not interested in the breakdown, I put the lessons learned and information gathered in bold for easy skimming. :)
So, I found out that Piggly Wiggly in Danville does not double coupons, more's the pity.
However, if you have a Kmart loyalty card, you can get double coupons on weekends this month up to .99. So, a .75 cent coupon will double to 1.50.
We took advantage of that today! They don't have a ton of groceries, and some of them are a little high, making it not the most exciting place to coupon. BUT, they had a sale on Edge and Skintimate shaving gel, BOGO, reg. price 2.79. And we had a coupon for .75 cents off of one, which doubled to 1.50. So, for two shaving gels, I only had to pay 1.40.
COUPON LESSON: Combine BOGO sales with coupons for even better savings!
Grand total: 57.89. Plus, what's exciting is that black and white bag thing is a twin comforter set with the comforter, fitted sheet, flat sheet, dust ruffle, and pillow case :)
Walk around the store to look for clearance items. It's good exercise, and sometimes there are clearance items in little corners of the store!
I got several things at Target today on clearance. The twin bed in a bag was only 15, the large organge piggy bank was only 2.50, and a pink ombre curtain was only 3.74. The curtain and the piggy are for my classroom at school! :)
Nothing super exciting to report on the rest of it. I used lots of coupons and got good deals (the little first aid kits, and the travel size Aquafresh were free).
Looking at the sale papers for Walgreens and CVS, there isn't anything super exciting for me this week. However, I would definitely get a Sunday paper this week, because it looks as if there will be some really good coupons!
So, I found out that Piggly Wiggly in Danville does not double coupons, more's the pity.
However, if you have a Kmart loyalty card, you can get double coupons on weekends this month up to .99. So, a .75 cent coupon will double to 1.50.
We took advantage of that today! They don't have a ton of groceries, and some of them are a little high, making it not the most exciting place to coupon. BUT, they had a sale on Edge and Skintimate shaving gel, BOGO, reg. price 2.79. And we had a coupon for .75 cents off of one, which doubled to 1.50. So, for two shaving gels, I only had to pay 1.40.
COUPON LESSON: Combine BOGO sales with coupons for even better savings!
Here is the most "extreme" couponing of the day. I purchased this stuff for 3.43. I got the cat food from Petsmart; they have coupons for 5.00 off the cat food, which is on sale for 5.99, and you get two cans of cat food free when you buy it. There is also the Edge shaving gel, which is from KMart. If you live in Danville, it may be worth running into Kmart on these double coupon weekends to see what you can find, but I'm not sure it would be worth the trouble for my SoBoVA friends, unless you were already in Danville.
I needed some soda at Walmart, and the Dr. Pepper had peelie coupons on them for .35 now, so I saved .70 there, and then I got the razors, 1.97 reg price, used a 3 coupon off each, and got the whole thing for .06.
Today was the first day I ran into some opposition. The cashier at Walmart told me I couldn't use the razor coupon because it would make them free, and she would have to go ask. I offered to give her my copy of Walmart's coupon policy to save herself the steps, but she insisted on asking. Even after getting the verification that I was right, she wasn't too friendly. Alas.
Are you familiar with the Magic Coupon Machine? At every CVS, there is a tall red machine that you can use to price check items. However, if you scan your CVS card, you will get coupons! And apparently once a month or periodically, or something, you get 2% back of what you have spent. (*Maybe it's quarterly? I will check!*) Anyway, today I scanned my card, and I got $2.50 free Extra Care Bucks, which are like money at CVS. If you don't have a CVS card, please get one! You can scan your CVS card once a day for coupons.
At CVS, I got 2.50 free Extra Care Bucks! They had Always pads on sale for 3.99, and I got $2 off coupon, so I got those for freeee.
We also went to Target today, so here is everything I bought today.
Walk around the store to look for clearance items. It's good exercise, and sometimes there are clearance items in little corners of the store!
I got several things at Target today on clearance. The twin bed in a bag was only 15, the large organge piggy bank was only 2.50, and a pink ombre curtain was only 3.74. The curtain and the piggy are for my classroom at school! :)
Nothing super exciting to report on the rest of it. I used lots of coupons and got good deals (the little first aid kits, and the travel size Aquafresh were free).
Looking at the sale papers for Walgreens and CVS, there isn't anything super exciting for me this week. However, I would definitely get a Sunday paper this week, because it looks as if there will be some really good coupons!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Learning the Hard Way: Get there early, and split transactions!
Okay, so I spent a couple hours last night couponing (while watching Desperate Housewives: get more for your time AND your money). I organized my coupons into little baggies for each store, printed out the shopping lists and planned out my transactions. I was going to split transactions to minimize my out of pocket costs. This means, for example, you buy something at Walgreens that has money back in Register Rewards, pay, get the RR, and then use the RR to pay towards your next transaction. I had four transactions planned, and my total would have been six dollars out of pocket, with five RR left over, so I would have gotten a TON of stuff for $1.
After work, Courtney and I headed over there...only to find out a lot of the things I wanted (the Walgreens maxi pads, the Remington razor, the cough syrup)...were sold out. So I couldn't use their Register Rewards. Then, I was flustered because my beautiful plan was messed up...and I made a mistake. I split my transactions into only two instead of three, and while I do have 5 RR to use for next week, I could have split it and had five dollars less out of pocket.
This leads me to two couponing lessons:
GET THERE EARLY -- This is Monday. The sale started yesterday. They were out of a lot of the things I wanted. Actually, now that I think about it, they were out of the things that were free without coupons. For example, buy Walgreens maxipads for $2, get $2 back, so even people who don't coupon can do those deals without working too much. The ones that were free or a moneymaker WITH coupons (like my razor: 8.99-5 dollar coupon = 3.99-5 RR = 1 moneymaker) there still were some left. Though not many of those either. I am going to have to start going Sunday. Which is rather stinky.
In fact, since at the moment there is no Walgreens in Danville, I may be missing out on some of the deals because while I love to save money, it's not worth driving to SoBo on the weekend. Though the lady at the register told me they were opening a Walgreens in Danville.
SEPARATE Transactions! I messed up at Walgreens, but I did it right at CVS and did three separate transactions. To be polite, just ask the cashier if this is okay, and go to the back of the line if they are busy.
First transaction:
Buy 2 Softsoap for $6, get 4 Extra Care Bucks (like a gift card, if you didn't know)
- 1.00 coupon of any one Softsoap body wash
- .50 coupon of any four pack of Softsoap bar soap
Cash due: 4.80
ECB printed: $4
Second transaction:
Quatro for Women Razor 8.99, get 4 ECB
- 5.00 coupon off any Quatro for Women (printed from coupons.com)
- 4 ECP
Cash due: .45
ECB printed: $4
Third trasaction:
Kotex Buy 2 for $7, get 1 ECB
-1.00 coupon off one at website
-1.00 coupon off one at website
- 4.00 ECB
Cash due: 1.35
ECB printed: 1
Total spent at CVS: 6.60
This can be a pain keeping it all straight. You also have to keep in mind what deals are better. Walgreens was running a sale on Softsoap, but I would have ended up getting them for like $2, and with ECB, I got them for .50 for both. But, I think this is kinda fun, so it's entertaining on top of saving money. Next week I am going to go and do my regular monthly shopping trip, but all I am going to buy are meat, eggs, milk...and they may be it. So that will be a big savings.
I didn't go to Piggly Wiggly today; I was tooo tired! But I will try to go tomorrow and let me readers (reader?) know about their coupon policy.
I made a couple mistakes today, but here is the "haul:"
Total OOP: 32 - 6 RR and ECB to use next time = $26.
Happy shopping!
After work, Courtney and I headed over there...only to find out a lot of the things I wanted (the Walgreens maxi pads, the Remington razor, the cough syrup)...were sold out. So I couldn't use their Register Rewards. Then, I was flustered because my beautiful plan was messed up...and I made a mistake. I split my transactions into only two instead of three, and while I do have 5 RR to use for next week, I could have split it and had five dollars less out of pocket.
This leads me to two couponing lessons:
GET THERE EARLY -- This is Monday. The sale started yesterday. They were out of a lot of the things I wanted. Actually, now that I think about it, they were out of the things that were free without coupons. For example, buy Walgreens maxipads for $2, get $2 back, so even people who don't coupon can do those deals without working too much. The ones that were free or a moneymaker WITH coupons (like my razor: 8.99-5 dollar coupon = 3.99-5 RR = 1 moneymaker) there still were some left. Though not many of those either. I am going to have to start going Sunday. Which is rather stinky.
In fact, since at the moment there is no Walgreens in Danville, I may be missing out on some of the deals because while I love to save money, it's not worth driving to SoBo on the weekend. Though the lady at the register told me they were opening a Walgreens in Danville.
SEPARATE Transactions! I messed up at Walgreens, but I did it right at CVS and did three separate transactions. To be polite, just ask the cashier if this is okay, and go to the back of the line if they are busy.
First transaction:
Buy 2 Softsoap for $6, get 4 Extra Care Bucks (like a gift card, if you didn't know)
- 1.00 coupon of any one Softsoap body wash
- .50 coupon of any four pack of Softsoap bar soap
Cash due: 4.80
ECB printed: $4
Second transaction:
Quatro for Women Razor 8.99, get 4 ECB
- 5.00 coupon off any Quatro for Women (printed from coupons.com)
- 4 ECP
Cash due: .45
ECB printed: $4
Third trasaction:
Kotex Buy 2 for $7, get 1 ECB
-1.00 coupon off one at website
-1.00 coupon off one at website
- 4.00 ECB
Cash due: 1.35
ECB printed: 1
Total spent at CVS: 6.60
This can be a pain keeping it all straight. You also have to keep in mind what deals are better. Walgreens was running a sale on Softsoap, but I would have ended up getting them for like $2, and with ECB, I got them for .50 for both. But, I think this is kinda fun, so it's entertaining on top of saving money. Next week I am going to go and do my regular monthly shopping trip, but all I am going to buy are meat, eggs, milk...and they may be it. So that will be a big savings.
I didn't go to Piggly Wiggly today; I was tooo tired! But I will try to go tomorrow and let me readers (reader?) know about their coupon policy.
I made a couple mistakes today, but here is the "haul:"
Total OOP: 32 - 6 RR and ECB to use next time = $26.
Happy shopping!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Piggly Wiggly deal!
Piggly Wiggly doesn't carry a lot of brand names, or rather, not many brand names were advertised in their weekly mailer this week. However, they are having a REALLY good deal o Campbell's condensed soups: 10 for $5. This means they are .50 cents each. From what I am finding out from a quick Google search, this is Piggly Wiggly's coupon policy from I Dig the Pig:
Our Coupon Acceptance Policy:
We will gladly redeem your coupons. The following guidelines apply when presenting manufacturers’ coupons clipped from newspapers or magazines, received by mail, or obtained legitimately from the internet through our website or that of our partners:
•The coupon must be legible and have a scannable bar code (UPC) and a remittable manufacturer’s address.
•Coupons with an expiration date must be used within the stated time frame. Expired coupons will not be accepted.
•Only one manufacturer coupon per item will be accepted.
•Coupon values that exceed the price of the item will not be accepted.
•Digitally duplicated copies of coupons (copy machines, scans, etc.) will not be accepted.
The following guidelines apply to internet coupons:
•Manufacturer coupons that involve any kind of free product will not be accepted, including “buy one, get one free” offers.
•No coupon that exceeds $3.00 will be accepted.
•Internet coupons are not eligible for double coupon promotions or any other program that exceeds the actual face value of the coupon.
Also, *some* Piggly Wiggly stores double coupons. I have some coupons for these soups in my coupon binder for forty cents off two, or forty cents on three. Even without doubling, this could lead to a really good deal, like ten cans of soup for about three dollars. I could eat tomato soup every day, and chicken noodle is also super yummy.
I will probably go to our local Piggly Wiggly (near Cane Creek and the airport) this week and I will let you know if they double.
Happy saving!
Coupon Policies
Our Coupon Acceptance Policy:We will gladly redeem your coupons. The following guidelines apply when presenting manufacturers’ coupons clipped from newspapers or magazines, received by mail, or obtained legitimately from the internet through our website or that of our partners:
•The coupon must be legible and have a scannable bar code (UPC) and a remittable manufacturer’s address.
•Coupons with an expiration date must be used within the stated time frame. Expired coupons will not be accepted.
•Only one manufacturer coupon per item will be accepted.
•Coupon values that exceed the price of the item will not be accepted.
•Digitally duplicated copies of coupons (copy machines, scans, etc.) will not be accepted.
The following guidelines apply to internet coupons:
•Manufacturer coupons that involve any kind of free product will not be accepted, including “buy one, get one free” offers.
•No coupon that exceeds $3.00 will be accepted.
•Internet coupons are not eligible for double coupon promotions or any other program that exceeds the actual face value of the coupon.
Also, *some* Piggly Wiggly stores double coupons. I have some coupons for these soups in my coupon binder for forty cents off two, or forty cents on three. Even without doubling, this could lead to a really good deal, like ten cans of soup for about three dollars. I could eat tomato soup every day, and chicken noodle is also super yummy.
I will probably go to our local Piggly Wiggly (near Cane Creek and the airport) this week and I will let you know if they double.
Happy saving!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Coupon Lessons from Shopping
Petmart had Authority cat food on sale for 5.99, and there was a 5.00 printable coupon, plus you got two free cans of cat food. PLUS, while I was in the store, a lady handed me a coupon for 15% off my entire order. I got the bag of kitty food and two cans of cat food for .87. I'm going to start a donation box for the local animal shelter. :)
Petsmart and Petco in Danville are good places to save money on pet food and treats. They have decent sales, rewards for their card members (just fill out a form) and they take manufacturer coupons. Plus, they were running several promotions with various types of dog and cat food where you got free cans of wet food when you bought dry.
Target doesn't double coupons, but they do have their own coupons online. You can stack one of their Targt web coupons with a manufacturer coupon to save a lot of money. I did this today with Aquafresh: they had it on sale for $3, but there was a 1.50 coupon on the Target website, and I had a .75 coupon off from the Sunday part, so I got the toothpaste for .75 cents.
COUPON LESSON: Stack store coupons and manufacturer coupons for even better deals.
Before I went to Target, I planned out my trip and took out all of my coupons that I planned to use, and then put them in a baggie. I still took in my coupon binder in case I found something else good, which I did! Target has Milkbone dog biscuits for 2.54. I don't have the oz in front of me, but the decent sized box, not the jumbo. On the dog was a peelie coupon for a free pouch of Milkbone soft and chewy treats when you buy two boxes of dog biscuits. I opened by binder and found a Target coupon for 1.50 off two boxes of Milkbones, so I got two boxes of Milkbones, plus the soft treats (which were 3.59) for 3.58.
COUPON LESSON: Keep your coupons with you!
Also, when I was checking out, the cashier told me to make sure to leave a peelie coupon on the product instead of peeling it off. If it has expired and you leave it on the product, they still have to honor it.
COUPON LESSON: Don't remove stick-on or peelie coupons from the product.
Target is running a sale this week on granola bars. You can get 4 for 10, from a combination of Nature Valley and Fiber One. These can be as much as 2.98 at Walmart, so that's a decent price, BUT if you buy four, you get one free, making them 5 for 10. I had two coupons for $1 off 2, so I got all 5 for $8, making them 1.60 each. I each one or two granola bars every day at work, so I'll definitely use these.
At Walmart, I had the best time. :) Walmart doesn't double coupons, and they don't run many sales on their various products. Sometimes they do rollbacks, but their average price on almost anything is pretty comparable to other stores. They will price match, if you are used to doing that. What Walmart WILL do, and a lot of other stores won't, is that they will give you cash back if your coupon is more than the price of the item, or you can use it towards the cost of other items in your transaction.
Example: I had a coupon for $6 off two packages of Schick disposable razors, excluding the 2 count pack. Walmart has a 10 count package of Schick disposable razors for 1.97. They aren't as nice as the more expensive razors, but they will get the job done. The price of two is just $4, so for each coupon I use, I MAKE $2. I had four coupons, so I bought 8 packages of razors, and got 8 dollars BACK to use towards the other items in my basket. I bought 2-liters of Coke and a box of Capri-Sun, since we are always using those and Walmart has the cheapest price. I also bought two bottles of Diet V8 Splash because I love it, and because I had a coupon for $1 off too, making them 1.50 each. I got my eight razors, four bottle of Coke, two bottles of V8 Splash for 2.88. PlUS, when I got home, I realized that the razors have coupons them for $3 off of one package of Schick razors, so I can use those to increase my stockpile if I wanted, or save them to use later. They don't expire for another six months.
COUPON LESSON: Watch for moneymaking coupons! Use the overage to buy things you don't have coupons for and still need.
If you watch Extreme Couponing, this is the type of coupon those ladies would have used to be able to buy things like meat and produce. I only had four of these coupons, but some of the extreme couponers on the show would very likely have had, say 100 of those coupons and received LOTS of money back. That's one of the ways the people on the show are able to buy so very much for so very little.
Today, all of my purchases together were $31.60.
I still wish we had some of these other great stores with awesome coupon deals and policies, like Harris Teeter, Kroger, or Rite-Aid, but you can still do a lot of good couponing and saving with Walgreens, CVS, Target, Walmart, and Farmer's :)
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