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:

  1. I think you mentioned that you only get one newspaper delivered and all of your other coupons you get from a clipper service. Can you explain your process a little bit?
  2. Is there a list of great deal prices for basic products?
  3. Can I use both a Publix $5 off $25 and a CVS $10 off $50 if my total goes over 75 dollars?
  4. If a coupon reads $1 off X Item OR Y Item, do I have to buy 2 of the SAME item to use the coupon, or can I mix and match?
  5. How do you interpret the Publix Promise?
  6. Which of the ‘Black Friday’ ad-leaking websites is the most reliable, in your opinion?
  7. What are your thoughts on buying mass quantities of the good deals and reselling them at a yard sale for profit?
  8. Do you know of a website or blog that tells you which inserts can be recycled, meaning all coupons have expired?
  9. I have a manufacturer’s coupon for $1/2 and (2) competitor coupons for $1/1. Can I use all three of these coupons to get $3 off 2 items?
  10. Do you recommend buying or selling coupons on ebay?

And here are the answers!

  1. Joy from the comments wants to know: I think you mentioned that you only get one newspaper delivered and all of your other coupons you get from a clipper service. Can you explain your process a little bit? I’m thinking of trying this since I live in a smaller area and end up ordering lots of coupons anyway.
  2. Christy: I’m going to leave this one to Michelle, since I only use clipper services during weeks I don’t get my papers at the drugstores (usually few & far between) or for super sale items that I’m going to buy large quantities of.
    Michelle:  I have found that forking out money for additional newspapers is not beneficial for me.  If I needed an additional 4 newpapers that would be $6.  I may only need 10-20 TOTAL coupons from the inserts in any given week (if even that many).  I find it is more cost effective to pay a clipping service (or ebay seller). For that same $6, I can get more like 50 coupons that I have specifically chosen and that I will definitely use. Also, many times I might need more than just a few coupons, so the clipping services are a better option!!
    I will also tell you that I love getting my coupons sent to me already clipped!  You are paying for the coupons to be clipped and sent and some days that is such a nice treat…especially on those Sunday nights at 11pm and I am still making my list for the week 🙂

  3. Audrey from the comments wants to know: I am new to couponing and while I’m excited by the deals I have been getting I was wondering if they’re really that good. Is there a list of great deal prices for basic products?
  4. Michelle:  We have touched on this before.  Everyone will have a different price point for the items they purchase as it is based on need and rate of comsumption.  I introduced the stockpile button for that exact reason.  The items that are checked are a great price or a great price with a coupon.  The weekly Super Deals that I post are also a great indicator of a good deal.  Ultimately you have to determine what price you are willing to pay.  I will rarely pay more than 25¢ – 50¢ for a box of cereal since that is not a necessity in my house.  If you use 3-5 boxes of cereal each week, your price point may be as high as $1 per box.  After all getting a box of cereal on sale for $1 is much better than paying full price.
    You might consider creating your own personal price book that details what you consider a good purchase price.  I can give you some general guidelines with the check mark and super deals but ultimately you have to decide your price point 🙂
    Christy: Yup, we have talked about this before for specific types of items (HERE and HERE). I think the best marker of a great price are the check marks in the weekly ad matchups, but Michelle is right, you’re going to have to make your own price list for some things. I’ve noticed that Michelle and I have different stock up prices for certain things, and that may be due to regional differences in price/coupons available or to the fact that she’s been couponing longer than I am – either way, you’ll find that after about 6 months you start saying “I wouldn’t pay more than $x for that” almost instinctively!

  5. Aleida from the comments wants to know: I have a question when it comes to the X/XX coupons. Can I use both a Publix $5 off $25 and a CVS $10 off $50 if my total goes over 75 dollars? And if so, should the total be $75 before or after coupons?
  6. Michelle: Each store will have different rules on stacking x/xx coupons–so it is best to ask at your store.  As for when to use the coupon, generally you can use the coupon once you meet the purchase threshold (before coupons).  If I have purchased $75 of products, additional coupons that will be used are irrelevant!
    Christy: I agree with Michelle on this one, but I’ll add that you should probably ask at your customer service desk each time you plan to stack $X/$XX coupons – my stores will usually let me, but it can sometimes depend on whether the managers that know me are there! Better to be sure ahead of time than disappointed and unprepared at the register!

  7. Brittany from the comments wants to know: If a coupon is $1/2 x or x, (ex: $1/2 Sorrento Ricotta or Block Mozzarella Cheeses, Any), do I have to buy 2 or the same item to get the $1 off or can I buy one of each item?
  8. Michelle: If the coupon states OR then you are safe mixing and matching as long as you purchase the correct quantity. If the coupon states x AND y –then you must purchase one of each item.

  9. Elizabeth from the comments wants to know: How do you interpret the Publix Promise? I ask this knowing that your answer is going to be, “It depends on your store”!! Really what I’m wondering is how you think this scenario should work out: I went to Publix specifically for refrigerated parmesean cheese. I saw that the sign in the fridge case said they were BOGO. That seemed a bit odd to me, because I thought they were BOGO the previous week, but there was no date on the sign, so I thought maybe it was an unadvertised sale and I grabbed 2. When I checked out, they rang up full price, so I told my cashier about the sign, and she gave me one free. I am definitely not one to argue, but I really thought I should’ve gotten both free. It seems to me that they offered me the falsely advertised price (which I think any grocery store would do) and that they weren’t really honoring the Publix Promise. What do you think?
  10. Michelle:  Nope…this one is easy as it is stated on the Publix website:
    Our Publix checkout promise guarantees that if during checkout, the scanned price of an item (excluding alcohol and tobacco products) exceeds the shelf price or advertised price, we will give the customer one of that item free. The remaining items will be charged at the lower price.
    So you should have only received one free and the other should have been charged at the display price.
    Christy: I had actually never heard of the Publix promise, so I think this is really good information to have. In the scenario you describe, I think you probably should have gotten the second item at half the BOGO price – or at least gotten a third item free! Depending on how long ago this was, you might want to take your receipt in and talk to a manager next time you shop – not necessarily to get money back or a free item, but to describe the situation and get his/her read on it so that you know for next time!

  11. Amanda wants to know: With Christmas 63 days away, I’m already anticipating the Black Friday deals like any good deal hunter. : ) My question is this – Is there anything to all the “black friday websites” that supposedly leak the ads in advance? Is there one in particular that is the best? Or are they all bogus? How do those ads get leaked? They look legit, but…I’m cynical I guess.
  12. Michelle: Companies are getting smart and many will release the ads early.  I am not sure if there is a better site than others since they all just have ad scans 🙂  Most of us deal bloggers will start posting the hot deals for Black Friday very soon.  I will tell you that I usually find that I score much better deals on Cyber Monday!!  In some ways they are bigger deals and there is the element of surprise as it is hard to leak an online deal 🙂
    Christy: You know I think that those of us who follow deal sites year round probably make out as good or better than everyone who stands in line at 3 am on Black Friday! That said, I usually find that the best Black Friday deals (for me, anyway) are at the drugstores and those ads are usually leaked pretty early and are pretty accurate – and they very rarely have crazy lines! 🙂 As for real holiday gift deals, I stick to Cyber Monday  and sleep in on Black Friday! 🙂

  13. Susie wants to know: What are your thoughts on buying mass quantities of the good deals and reselling them at a yard sale for profit?
  14. Michelle:  I say to each their own.  As long as there is not a law prohibiting it then a person can do whatever they want with the items once they are purchased 🙂
    Christy: I actually had a yard sale with a fellow couponer buddy of mine not too long ago (hi Brittany! :P) where we sold some of our overage items (mostly from drugstores) at a small profit. For example, I think we each had a number of Sundown vitamins that we marked at 50¢ or $1 each, or body wash that we marked at $2 – that kind of thing. Neither one of us is a shelf-clearer – we just buy a few of each deal when we shop and then donate or trade if we end up with too much – but we figured we might as well try to get a little compensation for our time scouting deals in this one case. (For the record, we donated everything we didn’t sell immediately). Personally, I don’t see how anyone could actually make enough for the hassle to be worth it, but to each their own!

  15. Lisa wants to know: Do you know of a website or blog that tells you which inserts can be recycled, meaning all coupons have expired?
  16. Michelle: Every once in a while Amy over at Who Said Nothing In Life is Free will send out an email letting me know she has posted a list of current inserts.  Maybe we need to see if she will make that a monthly post 🙂  If anyone want to volunteer to send me a list I would be happy to put it on my monthly schedule.  I am way overdue in cleaning out my file cabinet of inserts!
    Christy: I second that motion – I am embarrassed to say that I have no idea how many weeks of full inserts I have to clean out :).

  17. Caroline wants to know: I have a manufacturers coupon for $1/2 and (2) competitor coupons for $1/1. Can I use all three of these coupons to get $3 off 2 items? I was under the impression that I should only use one of the competitor coupons with a deal like this, but my husbands thinks we can use all 3. I thought about trying it, but I don’t want to “cheat” if that is not kosher.
  18. Michelle:  Your husband is correct.  You can use a store coupon per item purchased.  So you can use (2) $1/1 coupon if you buy two products.  Since Publix allows you to use a store coupon in addition to the manufacturer’s coupon then that $1/2 will make your savings $3 on 2 items 🙂 
    Christy: I would caution you, as usual, to check with your store about this for the final say. A few of the stores in my town will allow me to use multiple prints of the same competitor coupon, but others will only accept one – so it depends!

  19. Megansmom wants to know: Do you recommend buying or selling coupons on ebay? I was surprised how many coupons are for sale and that you can just clip your own coupons and sell them as a lot.
  20. Christy: I know that people who do sell coupons on ebay always have to specify that you are bidding for their time and not for the coupons themselves, since it is illegal to actually sell coupons. I think this is perfectly legitimate because as we all know it takes a LOT of time to keep coupons in order! I’ve occasionally thought about listing bigger lots of coupons I have & know I won’t use on ebay but frankly I just haven’t had the time to actually do it so I end up trading or donating them away instead. I’d really be interested in hearing from anyone who does sell on ebay in the comments – what has your experience been?
    Michelle: I am not sure about all the rules on ebay as far as selling so I really can’t comment on that…but I buy coupons from ebay quite often!  I have told you guys before that I use the money I earn from survey sites to cover the cost of my coupons.  I choose to have them deposit my money in my Paypal account then when I find coupons I need on ebay–that money covers the cost.  That way I don’t have to pull any money from my account to cover my coupons!!  I have never had a bad experience.  I usually look at the ad on Monday and place any orders I need and often will have the coupon by the time the sale starts on Thursday 🙂 

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.