- Pick one or two stores to focus on. Don’t try to get every deal at every store. You’ll get burnt out before you see significant savings.
- If a store ad says, “Spend $25, get $5 back,” you can use coupons and have it total less than $25 after coupons.
- Stockpile – buy extra when the price is right so you don’t have to pay full price later.
- Don’t buy more than you can use before it expires.
- Get extra newspapers in order to take advantage of the sale.
- Be familiar with the coupon policies at various stores.
- Keep coupons in a binder and always take the binder to the store with you. You never know when you will run into something marked down that you have a coupon for.
- You can save money even without clipping coupons. Use PYP’s shopping lists to find out which sale prices are good and how to use the deals like catalina offers and buy $20 get $5 back, etc.
- Plan your meals around what is on sale this week and what you’ve stocked up on from previous weeks.
Feel free to add your best tips!
shayla
Regarding tip #2…is this always the case? At Albertson's this past week (in NV), I spent $15.90 before coupons in order to take advantage of a "spend $15, get $5 back" sale. My catalina coupon didn't print even though I made sure I only bought things that were specifically pictured. The cashier said it was probably because my coupons brought the total below $15. I was very confused since I've only ever heard to use the before coupon prices. I rechecked the ad and it said something to the effect of "minimum excludes coupons." Any thoughts? Anybody else in NV have trouble with this last catalina?
Kip and Nicole Tonks
Shayla, I did the same thing at Albertson's at Ann and 95. My deal was that the items I purchased to equal $15 were marked at 89 cents each. The store had additional discounts making them 49 cents each so my addition did not work. They were so gracious and redid it so that I received my $5 coupon. I also think that it is each stores individual policies on when discounts apply.