Store Polices and The Notebook (of crazy! lol)

One of THE MOST important things with couponing is know your store's policies. I have a printed copy of each store's policy I go to in a pocket of my notebook. I shop at several different stores but my most popular three for my coupon extravaganzas are: Food Lion, Kroger, Walgreen's, and CVS. Its really easy to get a coupon policy at your favorite store. You can either request a copy next time you are there or check their website for their coupon policy. It will include doubling/tripling procedures (if they do), what kind of coupons they accept/don't accept, if they allow "stacking", if they accept competitors coupons, or any limits they way have (for example, Publix wont allow more than 10 like coupons per transaction/trip/day/household, etc.). Make sure you are fully aware of the policies before coming in with your coupons! this is key!

I'm sure alot of yall are wondering some of the terms I'm using, and I will explain all of that now. :)

doubling/tripling:

some stores will double a coupon's value. Kroger and Ingles (with some limitations) will double manufacturer's coupons (any coupon that does not say "valid only at [insert store name here]") up to $.50 any day. Food Lion (in Atlanta area stores, not the Macon area stores) will double Manufacturer's coupons up to $.60. Giant Mart (here where I live) will triple manufacturer's coupons up to $.34 and will double up to $.50. (starting to see where having your coupon policies are important?) Fred's will double any coupon up to $.70 every saturday, but it will only do the first one any like coupons per transaction. (if you have three coupons for $.65 off soap, you have to do three seperate transactions.) All these doubling policies will be stated in each individual store coupon policies.

"stacking"

"stacking"- verb. To use a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon one one item. Most stores will allow "stacking" including Publix, Kroger, Walgreens, etc. There is nothing saying against it in the Ingles coupon policy, but the one here in town wont allow it. Some stores take compeditors coupons (a co-worker of mine informed me of a Publix that takes their coupon, a Kroger coupon, AND a manufacturer's coupon on one item. Combine that with a sale, and thats how you get your free stuff! ) However, you cannot "stack" two like coupons on one item. I.E. you cant use two manufacturer's coupons on one item, or two like store coupons on one item, etc.

one thing that you can do at some stores is if you have a coupon tht states B1G1 (buy 1 get 1) free of X item AND you have a coupon that says $1.00 off one X item, the B1G1 is a coupon on the FREE X item (item 1) and the $1.00 off applies to the OTHER X item (the one you are paying for). its not using two coupons on one item, but two coupons on two items. (if you have any questions about this one email or text me and I will explain it further)

limitaions:

some stores have certain specifications for their coupon policies. the long list usually includes:

• No internet coupons that has a free item with no purchace requirement (these are usually fraudulent)
• no one coupon over [insert amount here] will be accepted (some jut without management approval)
• no more than [insert amount here] of one like coupon
• all internet coupons must have a scanable barcode (usually if it wont scan they wont take it. I always ask for them back when this happens because my printer smudges the barcode sometimes and I know its a perfectly legit coupon)
• blah blah blah

Some stores have a purchace mininum before they double a coupon (Ingles for example will only double three coupons of $.50 or less for every $10 spend. spend $10 they will double 3 coupons, spend $20 they will Double 6 coupons... so on and so forth. I dont buy at Ingles very often) I cant rsay it enough: always always always know the couon policy or a store before uing the coupons.

Regester Rewards (RR), 1up, and Extra Bucks (EB)

Have you ever walked into a drug store and almst fainted at how high some of their prices are? How would you react if i told you this is where I get my best deals? LOL. combine a good sale price + a coupon + another coupon that prints at the end of the transaction to use on your next purchace? oh yes. this is how i was able to get almost $130 worth of stuff for $14!! (walgreens is my personal favorite) If you have ever looked at a sale ad for Walgreens (or CVS or Rite Aid) and saw something like "buy X item, get $X Regester Rewards!* *good on next purchace"? THAT is the key to coupon glory! how do you think I have enough body wash for my husband to last him until 2013?! (Im NOT exagerating)

Here is how:

• look through the ad for item that are on sale for what you need and have a coupon for.
• write a list of what items you are getting: Transaction 1; have all items that will earn you a regester reward, Extra care buck or 1up reward. Transaction 2: have all other items tha you are getting
• tally up the amount you will pay out of pocket for each transaction. Transaction 1 will always be more than Transaction 2.
• keep in mind that the reward will be counted before coupon price but not before sale price (a very popular one is walgreen's buy $30 of X products, get $5 RR on top of a B1G1 50% off sale on X products.) and also alot of them are limit one per transaction. so if you want to utilize a amazing RR you would have to split the trasaction or have two seperate CVS cards.
• these rewards are different than coupons, they are like little paper gift cards so they can be used after all the coupons and store coupons are scanned.
• make sure you have all your coupons for transaction 1 and 2 seperated. I use little envelopes to slip my coupons in and write exactly what I am getting with that transaction , how much before coupons and after.
• Go shopping with a game plan and a hop to your step because you are about to save some serious money!!!

now before you hit those stores, you need to havean organized way to find your coupons quickly and easily and be able to have your coupon policies ready! so now im going to give the run down on (drumroll) THE NOTEBOOK

a standard 3-ring notebook will do, but I really advice a nice zippered binder. get some baseball card holders (or photo holders near the scrapbook section), a zipper pouch, a pair of sissors, a small calculator, and some sort of dividers with tabs (i did mine with construction paper and clear packing tape). divide your notebook into catagories. some do my aisle, grocery and non-grocery, or somewhere in-between. (I have mine divided by "dry/can", "frozen", "refrigerated", "Pet", "hygene", "cleaning", "other", and "store".) find what works for you. so one thing that is congruent among all couponers is the following for the binder:

• on the front have your name and phone number, so if it ever gets lost/misplaced it can be returned (thats such a scary thought! my notebook has become like a child to me!)
• when you open it you should see the store policies in the pocket and the zipper pouch sitting on top of the coupons holding your scissors and calculator.
• Tabs diving your coupons into sections that makes it easy for you to find what coupon you are looking for.
• Always have a copy of the sales ad on your person! i usually stick mine in the back of my notebook.

and there you have it! there are lots and lots of people on youtube wanting to show off their notebooks and how they have it done! And a excellent site I have learned alot from is www.thekrazycouponlady.com. It has alot of great tips, savings rundowns, and a beginners link at the top that has alot of advice and great tips! Check it out!