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Coupon Stacking

Submitted by: on September 3, 2009 Font Size:

The art of coupon stacking. Coupons stacking is using instore sales, coupons and manufacturers coupons to get items at an extremely low cost, for free or sometimes, the “big one” a money maker!

I present: The ABSOLUTE basics of coupon usage.

To begin you need coupons! *surprise*

To get coupons online:

My FAVORITE:

Print coupons for your favorite brands and save at Coupons.com.

This coupons can be “loaded” onto your grocery store rewards cards. I suggest ONLY using the coupons that are over $1.00 in value because these coupons WILL NOT DOUBLE.

Shortcuts.com offers many loadable coupons! There are only a handful of stores participating, but you can submit the store you want to see added and you will be emailed when it’s available!

The Proctor and Gamble E-Saver will load P&G related products onto your store card with ease! P&G brand is mainly Household and HBA products.

Upromise now has loadable E-coupons for MANY different grocery stores!

Printable Coupons

Boxtops for Education offers printable coupons on Boxtop Products.

CouponDad.net has the latest and greatest coupons organized by category

CouponTom is ridiculously simple. You just start typing the brand name (Juicy Juicy) or item name (butter) of a coupon you are searching for a BAM! it INSTANTLY appears

The all favorite Redplum and SmartSource offers great grocery coupons

Eat Better America offers great grocery coupons for Healthy Eating! You won’t find chips and soda at this link!

Extensive List of Searchable Coupons! HotCouponWorld Database
Not registered? Username: ‘webfloss‘ Password: ‘password‘

Get coupons delivered straight to your cell phone, for FREE! With Cellfire, you’ll never forget your coupons again!

Also check your local weekly circular at:

Some people find if cost effective to just purchase groceries online. Personally, I have never tried it. Brandie, over at FreeSampleFreak.com has a great writeup about Alice.com a new online grocery purchasing service!

Coupons offline can be found:

Products – (hangtags, peelies)

Grocery Stores – (pamphlets, blinkies, instore coupons or catalinas – maybe even a coupon fairy if you are lucky!)

Newspapers – Sunday papers and sometimes the weekly ads.

You can preview your Sunday coupons here:

Alright. Now that you have your coupons, we can get started.

First, you’ll want to check out your local grocery store circular and make sure you have signed up to whatever rewards program they offer. Also, check your bank because sometimes they offer even more rewards at certain locations to earn a % of cash back.

Thanks to Karen, over at FugalRIMama.com, you can see the latest stacked coupon deals from the major drugstores and Stop&Shop! She has all the sales, coupons and more listed for you – even where to find the coupons!!

If you are looking for a different grocery store, check out the GroceryGuide.

If your store isn’t listed at any of those sites, you might have to do coupon stacking manually. *faints*

First make a list of what you NEED. (weekly)

[ While you are at it, make a second make a list of what you use ALOT. (stockpile - another post for another day) ]

Using your list, check out your local circulars and find out if anything on your list is on sale. Mark down where and for how much because sometimes items can be on sale at multiple locations.

Then, for the items that are on sale, check to see if you have ANY type of coupons that can be used in conjunction with the sale. ( adv. Don’t forget to check for mail in rebates! )

The trick here is knowing the highest amount you want to pay for items. For instance: I refuse to buy name brand cereal for over .99 per box. That price is to highest I will pay for the item because I KNOW I can get it for that much or less.

It takes time to develop your price limits. Actually all this takes time at first. After about a month though, you’ll find yourself telling random shoppers that they can save money if they do “such and such” and will be saying things like “Ok, if I use the BOGO and the MFCs during triple save my receipt and then send in the MIR, I’ll make $10 bucks!” – :D

Now, you also have to pay attention to each stores coupon policy. I favor the stores that double my coupons or take competitors coupons. Make sure you read the policies BEFORE heading out the door with your wad of coupons!

Now you should have a list, the stores that have sales on the items on your list, any matching coupons, and you know the policy of each store you are going to.

All that is left if to load up your cart and shop!

For a great list of tips to save money at the grocery store check out this post at Grocery Guide!

Sample of tips:
Watch for unadvertised sales – Often referred to as “Managers” or “In-store” special these products can really help you save at the checkout. Be sure to check the freshness dates, milk is usually good for about seven days after the “sell by date” has passed

Select your refrigerated and frozen foods last. – The great price on that ice cream means nothing if it melts on the way home. Put a picnic cooler in your vehicle and place your frozen and refrigerated groceries in it.

More resources:

Want to learn about CVS ECB dealing? Check out Nicole @ NicolesNickels.com and her CVS 101 post!