Tips and Tricks

Tip #1
Buy what you need, BEFORE you need it. The key to saving money with coupons is to buy the items you need from the store when they are on sale and you have coupons for the item. Most stores have rotate the items that they have on sale on a 6-8 week rotation, meaning that the item will be on sale every 6-8 weeks.
So, when you get your coupons, don’t use them immediately just because you have them. Watch your sale ads and see when it goes on sale.

Tip #2
Shop the stores with the best coupon policy.
NOTE: I have found it helpful to focus on only 2 stores. If you shop every grocery store in town, then you are taking a lot of time and will be stressed out with no energy by the time you finish. If you have time to shop each store, then you will most definitely get the best deals, but most of us do not have a lifestyle that accommodates that much shopping.
There are other good deals available at other stores, but your time is also valuable. I do look at other store ads to see if there is a SUPER deal (such as low cost meat) and will make an extra stop for items such as that, but as a general rule, I limit my shopping to those 2 stores. You may enjoy shopping at other stores, but these are the stores that I have had the most success with.
Obviously, I keep an eye out for great sales at the mall for holiday and birthday gifts as well. I have had great success at JC Penney and Kohl’s with their sales and newspaper coupons.

Tip #3
Use more than 1 coupon on the same item
EXAMPLES:
1. You can use a manufacturer coupon AND a store coupon on the same item.
2. Load electronic coupons on your Kroger card. You can go to shortcuts.com or cellfire.com and load electronic coupons on your card. These e-coupons will deduct on top of any coupons used for the same item that you bring to the store with you. If there is more than one e-coupon for the same item on the different sites, my understanding is that Kroger will take 2 of them in addition to your paper coupons.
3. BOGO: When you have a BOGO coupon, most of the time you can use additional coupons with the item. The store reads the BOGO coupon and deducts the price of the second item because it sees that you purchased two items. You can then use additional $off coupons for one or both of the items. Many times the store computer calculates the BOGO coupon separately, enabling you to use a coupon per item in addition to the BOGO.
Using this method, a couple of weeks ago, I bought 2 Steamfresh Meals for Two, priced at $5.49. I had a BOGO coupon and then two $1.50/1 coupons. So I got both of the Steamfresh Meals for $2.49. This deal could have been better if the store had also had the item on sale BOGO. J
This week, there was a special on Tide for $5.88. I had a BOGO, plus a $3/1 and a .35 (tripled to $1.05) so I was able to get to full size bottles of Tide for $1.89!!!
*Also, be on the look out when you are the store for items that have a coupon sticker on them. A lot of times, the store will accept the sticker coupon in addition to the coupon you already brought with you. I was able to get some Nestle Toll House cookies very cheap this way.

Tip #4
Check the clearance bins.
You never know when you will find an item in the clearance bin that you have a coupon for!

Tip #5
Stock up!
When you find the items you need on sale and can match them up with your coupons....build your stash!!

Tip #6
Go for the younger checkers.
In saying that, I am always nice to the store employees. If there is a coupon that they refuse to take, for whatever reason, I don’t argue with them. I shop there all the time and I don’t want to get the reputation as the mean lady with all the coupons who holds up the line. I also try to shop at a time when the store is not as busy and if I can, I will let other customers go in front of me so they are not frustrated by how long I take. Most of the time, the customers behind me are very nice and are impressed by how much money I saved.This is kind of sneaky, but my experience has been, as has also been indicated on many blogs that I have read, that if when you check out you go to a teenage (preferably male) checker, they are not as likely to question you about your coupons. They usually just scan them so you will hurry up and be out of their line. Also, I make an effort to go to the same checker every time I visit the store. He know that I am honest and am not trying to scam the store by using expired coupons. By making an effort to have a friendly relationship with the checkers, they are less likely to hassle you and most of the time will go the extra mile to make the coupon work if there is a problem. When you find a great deal, stock up on it! If you need to do separate transactions according to the store’s coupon policy, then do it. Take advantage of the sales. We have done this many times with our local Market Basket when they put their chicken on sale for .30/lb. or less. Brad and I will both go so that we can get double the limit.I get almost all of my meat at Kroger from the discount section and save 50%-75% routinely. I have also found good deals in the clearance bins that I have had coupons for, so I always make sure that I take all of my coupons with me to the store.. Depending on the store’s coupon policy, many times you will be able to use more than one coupon on the same item. I call this “stacking.”