How To Use Your Coupons
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Using coupons to really maximize your savings means that you will have to actually do some work. Read on to learn how to really get the most out of your coupons.
MATCH UP COUPONS WITH SALES: It can seem like a poker game sometime in knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. In the coupon “game”, playing your coupon at the right time can really save you money. If you match up an item on sale with a coupon, you can really increase your savings — sometimes even getting free products!
This can take some time, so that is where I come in. I do the hard work for you each week. I match-up Price Chopper, Hy-Vee, Hen House, Target, Walmart (when available), CVS and Walgreens each week so you know which coupons to use. So, now that you know how to read and use your coupons, you probably want to know how to find them. Stay tuned and we’ll cover that next week!
COUPON STACKING: Stacking is when you stack two or more coupons together to save even more. This is allowed when you have both store coupons and manufacturer’s coupons. Target is a great example of this. Target has access to many store coupon right from it’s website. When you match these up with manufacturer’s coupons, you can save even more.
Be sure to pay attention to quantities on coupons when stacking. For example, if Target has a store coupon for $1.00/1 Juicy Juice and you have a manufacturer’s coupon for $1.00/2 Juicy Juice Products, then you can actually use TWO Target coupons, resulting in $3.00/2 Juicy Juice Products.
One type of stacking is using Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupons PLUS value off coupons. I cover this in a separate post, which you can find here.
PRESENT YOUR COUPONS IN THE RIGHT ORDER: If you have a coupon that reads (for example) $5.00 off of a $25.00 purchase — always hand that one over first and then give any store and manufacturer coupons. That way, you can really tack on the savings. Otherwise, if you use the coupons, you could fall below the required purchase amount and then not be able to use this coupon.
For example, if your purchase total is $28.00 and you have $4.00 in coupons and a $5.00 off of a $25.00 purchase, you would want the $5.00 to come off first. Then, they would reduce your purchase by an additional $4.00, making your final amount due $19.00. However, if you give the $4.00 in coupons first, then your total is now $24.00 and the $5.00 off of a $25.00 purchase is no longer applicable.
The only caution with this is to read the lingo on the $5.00 off of a $25.00 coupon – it may state that this coupon can be used only after all coupons are deducted. So be sure to read the fine print.
BUY ONE GET ONE STORE SALE + COUPONS: When a store runs a B1G1 Free promotion, you can purchase two items and use two coupons – one for each. After all, you are still purchasing two items, so you should get the discount on both. So, if your item you are purchasing as B1G1 Free retails for $4.00 and you have two coupons for $0.50/1, you will actually get two items for only $3.00 (One is free and then $0.50*2=$1.00).
The only caution I have to cashing in on store B1G1 is if you have a coupon for B1G1. When this occurs, you will need to check with the store’s coupon policy to see how this works. This would be handled one of two ways:
Option 1 – Both items will be free. The store gives you one free (which is considered to be the one you paid for) and then the coupon gives you the other one for free.
Option 2 - You would need to purchase 4 items. Two of them would be free due to the store’s promotion, one would be free as a result of your coupon and you would pay for the last item. So, this is like getting 4 products for the price of one.
It can be tricky to learn how to use your coupons. You will make some mistakes that might result in you paying a little more than you should have. However, with time and patience, you will learn exactly how to play the crazy coupon game like a pro!
CLICK HERE TO LEARN EVEN MORE ABOUT USING COUPONS!!!
Tracie is a stay at home mom to three young children; ages 4, 6 and 8 in Raymore, Missouri. In November 2007, she and her husband decided to eliminate their debt and made many changes in their lifestyle to do just that.
In 27 months, they eradicated over $37,000 in debt through both budgeting and learning how to live a frugal life. She now shares her knowledge in order to help you stretch your hard-earned dollars so you can live the life you want.
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i have got 5 free coupons each worth 100 rupees from times of india newspaper.
where all could i use this to purchase????
Hi, I was told tonight when matching B1G1 store sales with manufacture coupons that they would not take off the 2nd item coupon since “the 2nd item was free and therefore cannot deduct off of free”. I am VERY upset and was treated unkindly when I tried to talk to them about it. It seemed like they did not understand coupons AT ALL. Oh and apparently the store (Kroger) has no official coupon policy.
…with their reasoning though, if both items were 50% off (essentially the same as B1G1) then I could have used both coupons!
I’m a little confused and feel like I’ve been bullied into just taking what they said without a shred of proof!!!!
That is apparently your store’s policy and since it is not in writing, it is up to each individual store. They are actually wrong about the BOGO and the 50% off sale – you can’t do that per the terms of the coupon. The reason is that you are already using a coupon for your free item (per the coupon), so you can’t use another one as that is using 2 coupons on one product.
It sounds like your store manager really doesn’t know coupons at all. Maybe you need to send him to my website.
I had some BOGO coupons for any Bic razors. I went to Walgreens and used 2 of the coupons for 2 Bic razor products and got them both for free. Did not have a problem doing this. Since it worked so well, tonight I went to Kroger and tried the same deal with the same product. The cashier said I could not use 2 BOGO coupons with only 2 products. I told him I did it at Walgreens and he therefore allowed it. It can be challenging sometimes.
You can’t use 2 BOGO on just 2 products – so Walgreens was incorrect. The reason is that you did not BUY one – you have to make a purchase. So your Kroger store was correct in this instance.
great I’am ready to learn
Hi there! I also live in the KC area and wondered if you ever did any in-person tutorials or classes on couponing or knew of a resource that did. I tend to learn better chatting things out face-to-face, so I thought I’d check and see if it was an option!
My question is…Walgreens has Neutrogena products on sale B1G1 50% off. I have (2) $1.50/1 coupons for any Neutrogena product BUT the coupon says “limit one coupon per purchase and one coupon per customer”- would I still be able to use 2 coupons if I get B1G1 50% off? I take it that the wording means that you can only use 1 coupon per item purchased- but my husband says we would still only be able to use 1 coupon even if we got 2 items in the same transaction. Please help, I’m new at this! Thank you!
If the coupon is limited to one per customer, then you can only use one coupon as you are the customer. So, your husband is correct, you can still use one coupon, even though you are purchasing 2 products.
I’m new at couponing. Ay HEB they have the yellow coupons. Can I use a manufacture coupon on top of yellow coupon?
If the yellow coupons are HEB then you should be able to…but you may want to ask at customer service before you try (I don’t have HEB here so I am not sure what these coupons are).
HEB’s policy states “Only one coupon will be accepted per qualified item regardless of its origination. H-E-B will not allow stacking of any coupons.” I had heard people say you can stack a store coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon though, but from what their policy states it doesn’t sound like they’re suppose to. Maybe that’s a new change. I’m new to this as well and haven’t tried stacking a store and manufacturer’s coupon at HEB yet. I do know the yellow coupons in HEB are either a manufacturer’s coupon or store coupon. The way to tell the difference is by looking at the box on the bottom left corner. It will either have a “M” for manufacturer’s coupon or “B” or “S” for their store’s coupon.
Thank you Priscilla….like I said, I don’t know anything about HEB, so you’d want to check before you tried to do that. I appreciate you sharing your insight!
The store has a BOGO on cleaning supplies. Currently Buy one Lysol wipes get one free. I have a coupon that says 50 cent off any 2 lysol disinfecting wipes, would I be able to use this coupon on the BOGO item?
Yep – you sure can as you are buying 2 of them. The purchase price happens to be $0 for one of them.
CVS is having a sale this week on Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Polish- buy one get one half off. I have a buy one get one free coupon as well. Does that mean I could use my coupon on top of the promotion, such that I could end up only paying for the half-price item? Would it work that way? Thank you!
The one that is 50% off would be dropped to free. Then you would pay full price for the other one. So, not always the best to use a BOGO coupon on a Buy 1 Get 1 50% off sale. I wish it worked that way, but it doesn’t.
Now at CVS I used a BOGO coupon on A buy 1 get 1 50% off & a $2.00 coupon On Gillette Razors Making them both free
Hi I saw that there is a coupon for Lindsey olives but for a certain zip code. Can they be used nationwide or just specifically for that zip code?
Thanks.
Just started this today as I am disabled & my daughter just moved back in with new baby, so needing to learn a while new way of budgeting.my question is..if ur in Kansas city but I am in Bryant, Arkansas would 4 instance,my target & Walmart here have the same sale paper items as urs? I noe probably the “family” or “community” owned stores, such as say a “food giant” (our’s is an “Edward’s” food giant) probably would not b the same. Jw 2 see if I need 2 try & find someone like U that has a site in my area. Thanks
Most of the store deals from Target and Walmart as well as the drug stores would be the same (possibly slight variances of a few cents up or down). If you tell me what local stores you have, I might be able to help you there as well. You can click on the grocery store database at the top of the page and see if your store is listed there. If not, holler and I will try to help!
I have a question. I have a Target coupon for 20% off w/ purchase of ten Smart Ones frozen meals. I also have a manufacturer coupon for $3 off 10 Smart Ones frozen meals. However, the manufacturer coupon says ‘Cannot be combined with any other offer, coupon, or promotion’…………….Can I stack these or not? I assume Target is absorbing the cost from it’s coupon, so it doesn’t cost the manufacturer anything, but the wording seems to imply that stacking it with a store coupon is still not allowed.
That wording is confusing. It means with another manufacturer’s coupon. So you can use both the 20% off Target store coupon with the manufacturer’s coupon without any problem.
I just want to be sure I’m doing this correctly! I have a coupon from my grocery store for buy 2 get 1 free on drumsticks (ice cream) and I have a few $1.00 off of 3 MF coupons for them as well. Would I be using 3 of the MF coupons plus the grocery coupon, or just one MF coupon on all 3?
If you use the store coupon, Buy 2 Get 1 free, you can use one manufacturer’s coupon for $1.00 off of 3.
You can only use one manufacturer’s coupon towards the purchase of those 3 items as the coupon is limited to one per purchase and this case, you are required to purchase 3 to use it.
if you have more than one of the same coupon, can you buy more than one of that product and use the coupons in the same transaction?
Yep – you sure can! So, if you happened to have 3 coupons $1/1 product, you could purchase 3 of them and use all 3 coupons at the same time.
Joanns fabrics if you are using an in store coupon and you have acess to two different cell phone coupons that are accessible can you use each coupon more than once by using different separate purchases. Example 8 different and separate transations for two items that have different bar codes using three of the same coupons per the separate transations
I went to Kmart this evening and I was disrespected and mistreated by the manager! She did not know anything about coupons! I have a Sally Hansen coupon that is $4 off any nail polish $4.99 & up.. So I had 6 coupons and got 6 nail polishes worth $4.99 but at the register it was ringing up BOGO 50% off and I was told that I could only use one coupon on 2 nail polishes. When the coupon states one coupon per item and there’s no limit. Then I was told because the second one is already on sale and the price isn’t $4.99. I pulled up the Kmart website to verify with their coupon policy and I couldn’t find one. Then I asked the manager to show me some proof of an in store coupon policy and she couldn’t find one herself.
The best thing to do when you have issues with a store is to contact the store directly – via the contact us page on their website.
It always important to know that stores always do have the right to limit the number of coupons you can use at a single time, even if the coupon has no restrictions.
Now, in your case, if the polish was on sale, BOGO, then the cashier was right. The value of the second polish dropped below $4.99. Coupon values are based upon the purchase price and not the value. In this case, if the sale was buy one at $4.99 and get one at 50% off, then the 2nd polish is now only $2.49, which means it is below the value of the coupon and you can not use it. You could have still purchased 6 polish and used 3 coupons.
KMart does not have an official coupon policy that you can view online nor in the store.
If the store does not want to work with you, it is usually best to just no longer shop there and take your business elsewhere.
I live in GA but I receive a TN paper. Can I use the coupons in the TN paper in a GA store?
Yep! Coupons can be used in any state no matter where you get them.
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