Coupon Basics – Understanding Coupons
Coupons are distributed from manufacturers.
Retailers are reimbursed for the face value of the coupon plus 8 cents for handling.
One coupon is permitted per item. (Note the wording on the coupon. Some say per purchase which means one coupon per item so if you have 5 items you can use 5 coupons. Some say per transaction which means if you want to use more than one coupon you’ll have to do more than one transaction)
Some stores like Kroger, Meijer, Target, Walgreens, etc. have their own “Store Coupons”. These “Store Coupons” can be stacked, used in addition to a manufacturer coupon.
Some stores double the manufacturers coupon. I’ll reveiw that on a store by store basis under their own section.
This is what the ideal situation would be.
My kids and I love Quaker Instant Oatmeal so I’ll use that as my example.
The Meijer I shop at sells Quaker Instant Oatmeal for $3.49, not on sale.
We’ll I don’t like to pay full price so I wait for it to go on sale. This week it’s on sale for $1.99
There are internet printable coupons for 1.00 off 1 box of Quaker Oatmeal and there’s a Meijer Mealbox coupon for 2.00 off when you buy 4.
4 x Quaker Oatmeal @ 1.99 = 7.96
minus 4 x 1.00 off 1 Oatmeal Coupons = -4.00
minus 1 x 2.00 off when you buy 4 = -2.00
Total for 4 boxes of Quaker Instant Oatmeal = 1.96 = 0.49 per box
That’s a savings of $3.00 per box x 4 boxes = $12.00 savings!!!
This is where stockpiling will save you alot of money!
Another point when using coupons, use it on the smallest product allowed. Sometimes you can use a coupon on a trial size if not excluded.
Coupon Ethics:
- Use the coupon as the wording states whether it’s on a specific product, size, quantity, etc. Read the fine print.
- Don’t photocopy coupons! Some have photocopied internet printable coupons. Not only is that coupon fraud, stores get reimbursed for legitimate coupons. Each internet printable has unique number on it when printed correctly from the internet.
- Self-check out scams. At self check out lanes you usually scan your own coupons and insert into the coupon box after scanning each coupon. Some have rescanned the same coupon and inserted a coupon they didn’t need instead of the actual coupon they scanned. Don’t do it. If you don’t have enough coupons there are plenty of ways to get extra coupons. See my finding coupons post.
- Counterfeit coupons – some coupons surface in PDF form. Some are legitamate and some are not. Use common sense. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
