Coupon Tips and Tricks

- Often stores will let you use a manufacturer’s coupon and a store coupon on the same item.  Check the store’s coupon poilicy.  (I believe that Shaw’s, Target, and BJ’s allow this.  See BJ’s coupon policy with regard to their rules.)

- Some stores will allow you to calculate the price of a catalina based on the full price of the item, rather than the sale price.  (This has worked for me at Shaw’s.)  That is, if  the catalina states that you have to buy at least $20 worth of groceries and the sale price of each item is $2 but the normal price is $4, you only have to buy 5 of the item, not 10, in order to reach the $20 limit.  Then, if the catalina is a $10 coupon good on your next purchase, your net spending is only $10 for $20 worth of stuff (and that’s without factoring in coupons!)  Check to make sure that your store allows this before you try it.

- Very often, the same item will be on sale at multiple stores in the same week.  If that is the case, there is usually a corresponding manufacturer’s coupon in the same week’s Sunday paper.  Be sure to look at all the sales before you decide where to buy.