Wednesday, September 24, 2008

If only I had known this sooner!

As you know, I am a bit of a coupon junkie. I'm learning a little bit every day about how to make saving money work for me, and there are several things I wish I had known sooner!

1. You can use a Buy One Get One Free coupon on a Buy One Get One Free sale to get both items free. Don't spend time trying to rationalize this--you'll go crazy. Just go with it.

2. Some stores allow you to use a store coupon AND a manufacturer's coupon at the same time for the same item. Recently I purchased two bags of Bird's Eye Steam Fresh Vegetables. Each was priced $1.79. They were on sale for 50% off, therefore I got two for $1.79. I had a manufacturer's coupon for $1.00 off of two bags, thus my price went down to $.79 for two. I also had a store coupon for $.55 off of two bags, thus the price went down to $.24 for two bags. That's $.12 a bag!

3. Some stores allow you to use two coupons on a Buy One Get One Free sale. Olive Oil this week was BOGO for $11.99. I had two coupons for $1.00 off of each bottle, thus my final price for two 32 oz. bottles of olive oil was $9.99--that's only $4.99 for each bottle (that was originally $11.99)!

4. Stores will gladly answer your coupon questions! If you feel hesitant about a deal, call the store first and ask anonymously. I've even called corporate offices and said, "I have a coupon question." They are happy to have you as a customer, and they will tell you what you need to know so that you can avoid any hassles when you get to the store.

There is so much to learn about coupons and rebates that I couldn't possibly fit it all into one article, but this is a good foot in the door to saving tons of money on groceries. Do you have any money-saving tips? I would love to hear them! What works for you?

5 comments:

Mom2fur said...

I've been doing "The Grocery Game" for several years now and have saved quite a lot of money. I've built up a good stockpile of both food and non-food items bought at the cheapest prices possible. It's gotten to the point where I don't spend much at the grocery each week because chances are I already have what I need at home! But I have to be honest, I never thought about using a BOGO coupon on a BOGO sale. Definitely have to give that one a try!
Speaking of coupons, if you write to a company and tell them you like their product and ask for some, they'll gladly send them to you!

Tara said...

Thanks for the info. I would have never thought of any of those working.

Rachel said...

Thanks for the tip about writing to the company mom2fur! What a positive way to do business--actually writing because you are happy with their products and not because you have a complaint. I like it!

Precision Quality Laser said...

Never thought about using a BOGO coupon for a BOGO sale...awesome idea!

Unknown said...

Just be aware that the B1G1 coupon on a B1G1 sale is a YMMV issue. 2 of my stores do not allow it and one does. So, I would ask mgmt before you try it out.