Beginners

How to Fill Your Coupon Box:

There are several different ways to start a nice stash of coupons. First, start getting the local Sunday paper (for previews of upcoming coupon inserts check out SundayCouponPreview.  Remember that coupons vary by region, and you may not get all the coupons in your local paper, especially if you’re not in a large marketing area (so try to get the paper in the largest market available, i.e. Nashville, Atlanta, Memphis).

Next, start printing coupons.  First remember though, IT IS NOT OKAY TO COPY INTERNET PRINTABLE COUPONS ON A COPY MACHINE. Typically you can print two coupons per printer, and that’s it. Grocery and Drug Stores will only get reimbursed for coupons printed legitimately (you’ll notice that each bar code on your printed coupons is different, that’s why it takes a few seconds for each to print). There are some printable coupons that come in PDF form and can legitimately be printed several times, but be sure to read the fine print to make sure it’s okay to use more than once.

At first printing coupons will be a hassle! It’s a pain registering for lots of  different sites to get coupons that have coupons, so try starting with:

• Coupons.com
• Smart Source
• Red Plum

Couponing at Publix
Publix store sales begin each Wednesday (or Thursday in some areas). Included each week are TONS of Buy One Get One Free items, so your goal is to stock up on those while they’re on sale, especially if you can combine those sales with a coupon.

Publix doubles manufacturers coupons. Publix will double your manufacturer coupons up to $.50. They do not double competitor coupons.  Most Florida stores do not double manufacturer coupons.

Publix accepts competitor coupons. Depending on your area, Publix will take competitor coupons from local groceries and even some drug stores.  Here in the North Alabama area our Publix stores are no longer accepting drug store coupons, however they do take Target, Kroger, Star Market, Earth Fare, Dollar General Market and Save A Lot coupons.  Acceptance of competitor coupons definitely depends on your cashier and store management. Some cashiers will not take other computer generated coupons (i.e. Save a Lot $4 off $20). However, if the coupon is professionally printed (from a newspaper ad or local coupon book) most cashiers will accept them without a problem.

Look out for Publix store coupons. Publix puts out coupon pamphlets monthly. Each month they have a Green Health and Beauty flyer and Yellow Advantage Buy flyer. These will typically be located at the front of your store in a kiosk with other flyers. They also have other coupon booklets that are put out seasonally, so always keep your eyes out for a new book!

Publix allows one manufacturer and one store coupon per item. If you have a manufacturer coupon for an item, you can “stack” a store coupon (or competitor coupon) with it to get a greater savings on that same item. For example, if you are purchasing a pack of Huggies, you can use a $2 off manufacturer coupon along with a $3 Publix coupon to save a total of $5.

The Publix Penny item is available Wednesday of each week. Each Wednesday Publix puts a penny coupon in the Sunday paper for a “mystery” item that you get for $.01 with a purchase of $10. You must spend $10 pre-coupon so if you have some great coupons you can often get this without spending hardly anything! (The Penny Item is not available in Florida markets).

Publix’s computers allow one coupon per item. Most stores will allow you to use as many coupons as you want. However, if the number of coupons exceeds the number of items purchased (for example you have 20 items and 22 coupons), the computer will question it. Typically your cashier will send for a manager and they will override it, however they have the option not to, so just be aware of this.

One note on coupon acceptance – a lot of times it just depends on your cashier and store manager as to whether or not Publix will accept a coupon. They shouldn’t have any problems accepting your manufacturer coupons (they will check the expiration dates though), but not all will accept competitor coupons. If you feel that you are using a legitimate competitor coupon, kindly ask them to check with a manager. When unsure about a coupon, just nicely ask if it’s okay to use one or not, and typically they allow it

Couponing at Kroger

Kroger doubles manufacturer coupons up to $.50.

The Kroger new sale starts each Sunday. Many weeks Kroger will have special incentives – i.e. Buy ten Proctor and Gamble items and get $5 off.  It is VERY important that you watch to get exactly the correct number of items or you will lose the $5 (for example) off – a huge loss!  Most of these offers will allow three offers per transaction, so you can actually purchase 30 items and get $15 off, and your goal is to match those items all with coupons for an even greater savings!

Be on the lookout for Kroger coupons. Kroger DOES NOT take competitor coupons or do price matching, however they do offer their own coupons.  Be sure to register your card online to receive monthly mailers from Kroger.  The more you shop Kroger, the more frequently you’ll be sent coupons.

Kroger offers CellFire and Shortcuts coupons. Go to shortcuts.com and cellfire.com to register your Kroger card.  Once you register you will be offered coupons that you can load directly to your card.  You can “stack” these coupons with manufacturer coupons, to get even better deals.  However each coupon only loads ONE to your account, so if you buy 5 packs of Cottonelle, you will only save on one of those packages.

Stockpiling

If you see a great deal, it’s a good idea to purchase LOTS of that item. For example, when pasta is $.15 a box with a coupon, you may want to grab 10 boxes and then not have to worry about purchasing pasta again for several months. My friend Lana e-mailed me this about stock-piling, and I love her idea! While I have a certain area in my pantry for my stockpile, I’ve never thought about it as my “in-house grocery” and I love the way she keeps it off limits. Here’s what she had to say:

“Stockpiling – I am sure you do this too but I stockpile on the item that is on special by maximizing coupons (I got my moms and mom-in-laws inserts and print on every computer the family owns!) So, last night I paid .75 cents for Cheez-its and got 12 boxes. I put 3 in the food boxes (slowly filling our boxes!) and 9 in the “grocery store”. It is the off limits pantry – you have to have permission to move it to our regular pantry so I know eveything in the grocery store remains sealed. I think over time, doing this I stockpile on the major things – cheezits, townhouse cracker, brownie mix, cookie mix, cake mix, dressings, mayo, salsa, rice, pasta, etc. then I don’t end up having to blow my budget by paying $4 for cheezits or $3 for fruit snacks 3 weeks after the specials ran. I think alot of people don’t get this – you have to have a dedicated place to store these deals and use the first in first out inventory method so you don’t end up with old food! Everyone has cabinet space, they just don’t know it – tupperware and popcorn poppers could go in the attic and make room for the inventory!!!!”