If you find yourself in a situation where you are having problems checking out don’t be afraid to get help! Don’t be shy and simply ask for a manger. This is very important if the cashier is not handling your coupons correctly. Very often the cashiers do not even know their stores own coupon policies. It’s not their fault, maybe they were not trained correctly or maybe they are new to their position. Just ask nicely if they can have a manager come over.
This is why it is important to have a copy of it with you and always ask for help if there are questions. Most of the time mangers are very friendly and more than willing to help you out in any way that they can. In fact sometimes they look forward to the opportunity to help their employees get hands on training is properly providing customer service!
If manufactures coupon are not giving you your desired result, then you may need to beef up your coupon binder. Here are a few ways to beef up your binder:
Use printable coupons.
Keep all your CAT’s a.k.a Catalina’s. (They give these to you at the register.)
Grab blinkie’s when you can. (These come from the red blinking machines in the store.)
Keep your peelies. (These peel off the product.)
By going the extra mile and saving these coupons as well, should increase your weekly savings by ten folds.
To help make your coupon shopping experience more pleasant, you should look for friendly, smiling cashiers. It doesn’t hurt to do a lap around the registers to find that right cashier. Some cashiers are easier to deal with than others and you can usually tell by their body language or how they are responding to other customers they are helping.
Some people call this “cashier profiling” but really you need to find someone that you feel comfortable with and know you can work with as you hand them your stacks of coupons and begin to check out. If you are not sure who would be the best fit for you, your cart and your bulging coupon binder, then ask a manager! In most cases managers are more than happy to help you out, and sometimes they will even ring you up themselves.
No matter what your experience is, go or bad make sure you smile and say thank you!
The number one way to save money with coupons is to wait on the weekly sales. Do not use a coupon unless you have a deal to match it up with.
Most coupons are on a 45 day rotation. What this means is that just because the coupon is getting ready to expire, nine times out of ten it getting ready to come back out the next week. People who practice in this type of saving technique cut hundreds off their food bills.
Generally all sales papers come out on Tuesday and the sales run from Wednesday to Tuesday.
Did you know that coupons are more like cash than trash? Many stores will give you cash back if the coupon happens to be more than the item is worth. Take Wal-Mart as an example, in their policy it states there is no limit to the number of coupons you can use. It also states that if the coupon is more than the purchase price that they will give the customer the difference back in cash or apply it to the basket purchase!
There is also the point that expired coupons are not trash either. Did you know you could send your expired coupon to solider over-seas? A solider can use an expired coupon at the mobile PX up to six months after it has expired overseas. Click here to find out more information about this great program.
To find the best deals in town you should shop more at stores that Stack coupons for you. Stacking coupons is when the store will let you use more than one coupon per item. Here is an example of Stacking coupons:
Target has an on line printable coupon for $5.00 off Imas dog food.
P&G insert has a manufactures coupon for $2.00 off Iams dog food.
Target will let you use both coupons for one bag of Iams dog food. Target sells the dog food for $6.79, so you just got the one bag of dog food for FREE!
*This is only an example to help explain how stacking coupons work. We are not saying in form that these coupons are in circulation at this time.
Want to know how to get more inserts but don’t know how? Here are a few tips that I have learned over the year to grab as many coupons as I can.
Don’t settle for one newspaper. Get weekend subscriptions to several (provided they carry quality ads and aren’t too expensive). You can also get deals on discounted newspapers in your area by simply doing a search through Google on your computer along with your zip code! I never pay full prince for my newspaper that is for sure! You can also ask friends and coworkers to give you any ad inserts they aren’t planning to use.
Hit up some of your local newspaper distributors. Local businesses might let you have any unsold Sunday papers they have leftover come Monday. In the past, when I have hit them up for their old newspapers, I have not only provided a box, but have dropped off few free candy bars or drinks when I pick them up. It makes them more willing to help you out. Multiple copies means multiple coupons. So you might have more things that you can give away to help you get the stuff you need. In the past, local animal shelters have given me inserts and in exchange I pick up low or no cost cat food for them with the coupons I gather.
If you go to church, you might want to ask if you can put a “coupon bin” near the door so that people can drop off their inserts as they come to services. This works really well if you donate some of your goods to the church to help out families in need and so on. Make a cute little bin or box and then include that items that are “some items purchased will be donated to the church.” Then make sure you follow through. Make a big box to say “Thank you” and then ask for it to be mentioned during the services or displayed.
I always give back when it comes to people helping me out. There are many things out there that you can get for free that you might not need and they can truly help other out. This has also worked for me when I need coupons printed online too so just get creative. Don’t ever be afraid to ask, people are more than willing to help, especially if you bribe them with free chocolate!
