Keep sending in those questions – we love to answer them! Just remember if we didn’t get to your question this week…we will do our best to cover it another week!! As always a big thanks to my buddy Christy over at Haphazardly Hobbying who gives me so much help to get the questions answered.
Remember–there is a tab at the top of the site called “Q & A” where I organize the questions and answers from this feature so that it can serve as a quick reference!
Here are this week’s questions:
- Why won’t my store(s) let me use a $X/1 with a B1G1 coupon?
- Do you print Internet coupons as they are available or do you wait until an item goes on sale or you are need of a specific item before you print the coupon? ?
- What are some general guidelines for trading etiquette?
- Where can I find $X/$XX coupons?
- What are your stock up prices for diapers, etc?
- How can I tell which item “wyb” coupons will attach to?
- Why do some manufacturer’s coupons say “Do Not Double”?
- Do you find there’s a best day, best time of day, best time of month, etc., for finding tearpads?
- Can you make all these coupons go together?
- Why don’t they have coupon inserts in the Sunday paper on holiday weekends?
And here are the answers!
- Dana wants to know: You have stated before that you can use a second manufacturer’s coupon (such as $1/1) with a B1G1 coupon. I have tried this at three different stores (2 Target and 1 Walmart) and both said it couldn’t be done – is it only allowed in certain areas?
- Debbie wants to know: Do you print coupons from sites such as coupons.com, smartsource.com, and redplum.com as they are available or do you wait until an item goes on sale or you are need of a specific item before you print the coupon? I’m wondering if it is a waste of paper and ink to go ahead and print all the coupons that are available at the beginning of the month in hopes that those items will go on sale. Most of the time there are specific coupons available for products that I enjoy, but I wouldn’t necessarily purchase it with out a sale/coupon match up.
- Jennifer wants to know: I have A LOT of some of the coupon books out there and would be willing to trade and/or participate in a giveaway. But frankly I haven’t because I don’t feel comfortable giving my personal address out for fellow traders to send me stuff. Also, some Q booklets I have multiples of are either expired PQ’s or about to expire MQ’s (Summer Savings Booklets) that I thought about giving away but didn’t know how to do that without giving my address out (for people to send me self addressed envelopes to send them their goodies). Can you give me some general trading etiquette guidelines? Also, is there a way that you know of to trade without giving out my personal address?
- Carolyn wants to know: How and where do you obtain Publix $X/$XX coupons? Is there a place where I can obtain multiples of these coupons? My Publix also accepts Winn Dixie and Sav-a-Lot – but those seem few and far between lately too. Any ideas??
- Amy wants to know: What are your stock up prices for diapers, etc?
- Bonnie wants to know: When Keebler cookies were on sale last week I saw that you could use a $1.00 off 2 packages mfg coupon and $1.00 off milk when you buy 2 packages coupon. I thought these were both mfg coupons. How can you use two mfg coupons on this deal??
- vanhooks@ wants to know: If a store is usually the one paying for doubling or tripling a coupon, why do some manufacturer’s coupons say “Do Not Double”? How does doubling affect the manufacturer?
- Diana wants to know: Today I made a rare Friday trip to Publix, and I was shocked by what I saw: Tearpads! Tearpads! Tearpads! Everywhere I looked, I saw tearpads. Usually I shop on Thursdays, and I almost never find tearpads. Now I wonder if my store puts them out on Fridays and the weekend shoppers use them all. So: do you find there’s a best day, best time of day, best time of month, etc., for finding tearpads??
- Dawne wants to know: This one is confusing me: I have a publix store coupon for buy 2 ore ida frozen get 1 free. I also have a manufacturer’s coupon for B2G1 ore ida frozen. Do I buy 3 and get 2 of them free or do I buy 4 and get 2 of them free? This one is a little confusing to me today. How would this work if I also have a publix coupon for $2 off heinz gravy and ore ida frozen steam and mash, can I use this as one of the ones I have to buy??
- Bonnie wants to know: Why don’t they have coupon inserts in the Sunday paper on holiday weekends?
Christy: While it may be that this will vary by store (based on the understanding of the cashier and/or the way in which the cashiers are trained), you should be able to use a $X/1 MQ with a B1G1 MQ. The B1G1 coupon attaches to the free item, and the $x/1 attaches to the item you buy in order to GET the free item. Think about it this way: the B1G1 doesn’t say “Buy One at full price Get One Free,” so you should be able to use a MQ to reduce the purchase price of that item just like any other – how much you pay for the one you buy has no bearing on the free item.
Michelle: I think Christy covered that one nicely. It will depend on the store and their specific coupon policy. It is a good ideal to know (and even carry a copy) of each store’s policy in your binder just in case. Note: Not all stores have a written policy.
Christy: I’m selective about what I print, but I’ve learned to strike a balance between printing EVERYTHING and printing nothing. For example, I won’t print a $1/2 cereal coupon unless I know I’ll need it, but I’ll print a $1/1 coffee coupon for brands that I like so that I can file it in my binder. I’ve managed to score some good deals with unadvertised sales just because I have some of those “don’t know if I’ll need this” IPs with me when I shop – plus, sometimes if I wait too long the coupon that I would have printed has disappeared!
Michelle: I always print coupons for items that I might use. Coupons come and go very quickly and often if you wait they will be gone. I have a good supply of ink and paper so there is not a real loss for me if I end up not using the coupon. I would rather lose the tiny amount of ink rather than the $1 (or more that the coupons will save me).
Christy: Unfortunately, there’s no way to trade without giving out your address unless you want to establish a PO Box for your trades (and I can’t imagine that the expense of the PO Box would be worth it) or pay for the postage (for one-way trades) yourself. However, if you have a lot of expired or soon-to-be expired coupons that you’d like to be put to use, you can always donate them to a military base – you can get the details for how to do this HERE and you don’t need to include your return address if you don’t want to.
As far as trading etiquette: Only trade in forums you frequent, and only trade with people who you chat with frequently or with those who either have a good trader rating or who are consistently making trades with many people over time. Finally, never make a deal for a trade that you don’t feel comfortable with!
Michelle: Trading is pretty much impossible without exchanging information of some sort! Even if you wanted the recipient to give you paypal funds you would have to give them your email address. Trading requires an exchange…so you will have to divulge some information. There is a slight risk… but for me it is worth it. In my years of trading I have NEVER had one single bad experience. The majority of folks who seek trades are honest and have a similar interest–saving money. Believe it or not, I have made some dear friends from what started as a simple trade. If you trade long enough, you may find you are trading with the same folks and you never know….a year from now you may be chatting with them on the phone every other day 🙂
Just remember when you are starting out…start slow and never send anything worth value to someone you don’t know. The mail system is not perfect and things do get lost occasionally. Use your best judgement and common sense when arranging trades.
Christy: The Publix $x/$xx can be found in home mailers, in store promotional materials (the Publix Art Calendar, the Publix Mother’s Day cards, etc), and sometimes in newspapers – and the only way to get multiples is to collect a number of the newspapers, card, calendar, etc in which the coupon appears. However, be careful of expiration dates – Publix usually assigns short expiration dates to such coupons so they can only be used for a very short time (unless your Publix accepts expired PQs).
I agree that the $X/$XX coupons have seemed to be in short supply lately, but I bet we’ll see more of them as we get closer to the holidays. It seemed like there was a new one every week last November and December!
Michelle: I wish there was a specific spot to snag those babies…but they are out there!! I have seen several up for trade in the forum. They are rare but they are out there!! Trading is often your best bet!!
Christy: This one is ALL Michelle – no kids for us yet!
Michelle: I am keeping my fingers crossed that my diaper buying days are over 🙂 You can usually score a great deal at the drugstores and often get packages for next to nothing. I always tried to keep my out of pocket to less than 10¢ per diaper. I often scored them for much less than that!! Like most things, if you are willing to buy what is on sale you can score a deal! If you are brand specific you might have a tough time– but it can be done.
Each week, I list a diaper deal over on I Heart Saving Money. Some weeks there are multiple stores where you can grab a deal. Playing the drugstore game is your best bet!!
Michelle: The $1/2 reduced the price of the cookies and the $1 reduced the cost of the milk.
You have to look at what item the coupon is reducing the cost of…as long as it said save $1 off milk wyb xyz you can use it with a coupon that discounts the cookies. If the coupon had said $1 off cookies AND milk then you would not be able to use an additional coupon.
Michelle: I have no idea!! I looked to see if I could find information and came up with nada!! So…I am hoping there might be a reader who can educate us. If you know the answer to this one…give us the scoop in the comments!!
Christy: Same here – I did some research and while I found a couple people with plausible theories, there’s no definitive explanation out there. Commenters, you’re up!! 🙂
Christy: I’ve noticed that most of my stores seem to have a lot more tearpad coupons out or even taped to products on Saturdays and Sundays – the days I generally avoid the store since it is so crowded! So depending on your store you might want to take a stroll through the aisles on a busy weekend day – you never know what you might find! 🙂
Michelle: I wish I had that information 🙂 I think it will depend on lots of things. Some coupons (like tearpads) are often supplied to the store by the vendor. If you can find out the schedule of the vendor(s) you might be able to narrow it down a little bit. I have a buddy who is a coupon fairy (she sticks peelies on products) She has a specific schedule and visits specific stores on a pretty consistent schedule each week. I think the big vendors also have a general schedule as well. If your store cares to share that information with you, you might have a better shot at grabbing some of those good tearpads!!
Michelle: I find it is often easier if I write it out:
Item 1
Item 2- Free with Publix Q
Item 3–Free with MQ
You have purchase the required amount of products (3). The manufacturer’s coupon covers the cost of one item and the Publix coupon covers the cost of another item. You still have an item open that can have a coupon attached to it.
Christy: Michelle and I have something of a running joke lately that I *THINK* I’ve done the math right for a particular deal, but, um, yeah. I’m not so good with the math sometimes :). Michelle is absolutely right – write it out! It makes everything SO much easier to get straight that way. Especially if you’re math-challenged like me :).
Christy: They do sometimes – I know we’ve seen a P&G insert on a holiday weekend sometime this year! However, I would assume that there aren’t inserts in most holiday weekend papers because many people vacation over holiday weekends, and so the coupon would actually reach far fewer people on a holiday than it would on a ‘normal’ weekend. Plus, think about it this way – last week we had no inserts and this week we had four inserts! That certainly made up for it! 🙂
Michelle: I choose to believe that it is so that I get an opportunity to clean my binder and take a break from clipping and sorting 🙂 Ok…so Christy’s answer is more accurate–but I really do like the occasional break!!
I hope our answers to these questions were helpful! Make sure you ‘tune in’ next week for even more Q&A with I Heart Publix. If you have a question you’d like to see answered, email me at contactiheartpublix@gmail.com.
Hey–Rachael here….Christy & Michelle, I used some of those printable DND coupons yesterday at Publix, and when the cashier scanned them, the phrase “Bonus Coupon Supressed” appeared on the screen. My 9-year-old managed to ask what that meant before I could get it out of my mouth, and I was told the policy now is that if it says “Do Not Double or Triple,” then that’s exactly what they’re going to do. I don’t understand it either, since if it’s the store’s POLICY to double up to .50 cents, why does it matter what the manuf. says? They’re (the store isn’t) not getting that “double” money back from the manuf. anyway. I think it’s a way for them (the store) to get away with not doubling and save a few cents. I don’t think it’s fair, but I still used the coupons although my “bonuses” were “supressed!”
In response to question #3: if I have a coupon that is near the expiration date and I’m sure I’m not going to use it, I leave it at the store next to the product it’s for. Especially if it’s a high value coupon. I’d rather someone use it than for it to get thrown away.
I went to Publix on Monday, and found a peelie on the big can of Albacore White Tuna (which was I think 3.65) with a .50 DND (started with a 5) coupon and it doubled. We eat that Tuna all the time, so it was a great deal at 2.65. I guess it really depends on the store.
I was at Publix last week and had a coupon that said Do Not Double. But the computer doubled it. The cashier started laughing and said that happens all the time.
To the diaper question: I have found that Amazon has the best deal right now. If you sign up for subscribe and save you get 30% off plus free 2 day shipping. You can cancel this as soon as your item ships. Plus if you get Parents or Parenting magazines, they’ve had 20% off diapers at amazon coupons. You can stack those. Last month I got a box of Pampers 140 count for $10.48. They were listed at $46.99. I thought that was an amazing deal!
In response to the first question, I have had the same problem at the same stores: Walmart and Target. They are not very coupon-friendly, and seem to make up their own rules about coupon usage (and the rules change day to day, even though both stores have a written Q policy). Just today I was unable to use a store Q in Target… and that was just after I heard employees talking about how the store is not making their quota each month. I know I shop at Target and Walmart much less now than in the past, because I can save so much more at other stores that accept Qs the way they are intended. So, basically, show them that they need to change by spending your money elsewhere!
In response to the first question. and to Rachel’s comment. I believe the main issue is trying to use the coupons at Target and trying to stack at Walmart. I have had horrible issues with Target so I’m currently boycotting them. At Walmart I only use straight forward 1 coupon per item and I have not had issues. With Target its mainly a Target computer issue and secondarily its undertrained/underinformed managers/cashiers.
At Walmart I think its pretty much they have always liked to keep things simple. They are stuck in their ways and I think they believe they offer such low prices that they don’t have to be “friendly” to couponers.
and hooray Rachel:) Glad to see someone else is walking away from Target because of their disrespectful behavior!
I spoke with the manager at my store about the “Bonus Coupon Supressed” after several of mine had been supressed for the first time ever. She said that first of all, the computer doesn’t supress the coupon, the cashier has to manually do it and that any coupon .50 and under automatically doubles. Second of all, she said it shouldn’t be done because in the eyes of Publix it’s no different than any other coupon. I received the amount that had been supressed in cash right there.
As far as why coupons say, Do Not Double, here is my theory. I think, long ago, a store was doubling and tripling coupons and expecting the manufacturer to reimburse them for it. So the manufacturer felt the need to start adding that phrase to it. Or they are putting it on there just in case a store asks for the doubled amount reimbursed. Kind of like on the hair dryer there is a tag that tells you not to use it while taking a bath. Either someone did it one time and blamed the hair dryer company, or they are afraid it’s going to happen and someone is going to sue them.
LOL – Ln, I LOVE that theory. A lot of policies & such can usually be traced back to a kind of “stupidest common denominator,” why not this too? 🙂
In response to Amy in number 5 about stock up prices for diapers, etc. I have noticed that my stock up price for wipes stays around 1 penny per wipe.
ive thought about trading Qs that i have/get, but wont/dont use. my problem is, though, i have NO idea how the heck i trade Qs. i cant find any “instructions.” i think not being able to trade Qs really hinders my couponing and buying power. could you do an overview sometime, please michelle, of how to trade Qs on the trading forums? thanks. 🙂
[i esp. want to do this now that i use cloth diapers and wipes. so all those diaper Qs and wipes Qs could go to someone who really could use them, and then i could get Qs for stuff i need [like laundry detergent…LOL!]
In response to question #8—I discovered last week that many tearpads (not all) are being kept at the service desk at my Publix. So I now walk in and just make a pit stop by the service desk and ask for any new “Q’s”. 🙂
Why take the Publix coupon books if your not going to use them?