Rules to Remember to Help Avoid Common and Simple Mistakes

Okay, did everyone get your grocery ads today and see what damage you could do with some coupons.  I promise Zach and I and countless others have looked and compared and I promise if you will learn to use your ads and your sale fliers you will soon have a pantry full of name brand foods, toiletries, and household items, and be on your way to a stockpile of usable goods at the lowest prices possible.

Before you set out on your shopping excursion there are a few rules to remember.

• Look at your coupon and read it carefully.  If it says $1 of of any , then it's good on any size color, flavor etc...  Most will say in the fine print not good for travel or sample sizes. If it says $ off of any two etc, then make sure that is what you have when you check out.  Most registers are computers these days and track, but YOU have to be the one to make sure you have BOTH or ALL items required for the coupon to be used.

• Check the expiration date.  I know you are thinking "well duh", but trust me it is easy to misread a date.  I had one the other day and it was dated for a weird date.. I thought I had till the end of the month but it actually expired on the 16th.

• Read to make sure it doesn't say Do Not Double or Triple, and also to see how many like items you can buy in one transaction with a certain coupon.  If you have 10 Frenches Mustard coupons and it says only 4 items per transaction you will be making 2 extra trips through the check out lanes ( or sending your hubby or wife to a different register with his stack of coupons).  Usually it is popular or new items that have these types of restrictions, but also know that some stores will only double up to a set amount  and the others will be at face value in the transaction, so you will then want to have multiple transactions.  All of the store rules are explained in their coupon policy.

• Coupon policies vary from merchant to merchant and also seem to vary by region at like merchants.  You should be able to find the policy on the stores websites or you may ask for a copy at the customer service desk.  I am currently working on getting copies of all of my frequently shopped stores to keep with me in my binder.  These policies leave a lot to interpretation sometimes and can be frustrating.  That is a whole other blog I will write on later.

• Internet Printed Coupons are awesome, however some stores have outrageously strict rules about these in their policies which like I said earlier leave a lot of room for interpretation. You can argue till the cows come home (trust me I did at Kroger yesterday) and the managers interpretation will be the winner.   The reason for all the hubub over IP Q's is because like everything else good in the world, someone went and made copies and started FRAUD in our little coupon world.  The stores loose money on fraudulent coupons so it is understandable, but it is a pain.  This is another time that it is good to send your hubby (or wife) to a different register.

I am sure I am probably forgetting something but these are the basics.  You will learn as you go.I hope to have a couple more "lessons" up before the weekend coupons come out.  The preview I have seen shows 2 inserts this weekend, but I haven't seen a listing of what's in them yet.  I will post as soon as I see it.  Hope everyone is safe and warm.