Know the policy before you get to the store.
When we lived in Hawaii I thought I was completely cut off from “deals”. Sure the Safeway had some good sales and I sought them out and the Wal Mart and Longs (which is now CVS – which is awesome for coupons and deals) had sales too, but I was still paying $10 for 2 gallons of milk and over a buck for a small container of yogurt – and those were sale prices so I never really felt like I was saving anything.
Boy if I had known then what I know now…
The Plain Dealer is usually flush with coupons and ads, as is the Wall Street Journal Weekend and the Sun Papers. The direct mail Red Plum ads during the week here have multiple deals in them.
Knowing the stores coupon policy is key in efforts to save money. Many are available online or you can check with the customer service desk.
General rule: NO ONE seems to take internet coupons that say FREE – most out there are apparently not legit, so they are not taking them. Some stores will only take coupons up to a certain value of the item such as K-Mart who will not take coupons that exceed 75% of the item cost, or Giant Eagle who will not take internet coupons over $3 in value. On the positive side some stores such as Giant Eagle have have paperless electronic coupons that you just "load" onto your store rewards coupon and the register will automatically take the coupon value off your purchase (gotta love that). These are all good things to know ahead of time.
Here’s some help:
CVS does not have their coupons policy printed on their website but they will provide one to you on request. Longs is now CVS – this is good new s on the coupon front! Lots of good store coupons at their site though - and you can stack store coupons and manufacturer coupons at CVS!
Walgreens does not have a particular coupon policy that I can find other than to accept manufacturers coupons as stated on the coupon / and they will take “stacked” coupons.
Rite Aid’s policy is not on their website either but again you can get a copy at the store or write to their corporate offices for one.
K Mart seems to not have a well defined coupon policy and what I’ve learned from thekrazycouponlady.com on the subject tells me I’m better off at Wal Mart of Target unless I really need to go to K-Mart (which of course is the only store in walking distance of my house).
Kroger does not have their coupon policy at their website but they do offer ‘digital coupons’ there that you can ‘load’ onto your Kroger card that will be automatically deducted when you buy that item at the store. Nifty! http://www.softcoin.com/Sites/Kroger_ECoupons/Page/HomePage/Retailer/Kroger
Giant Eagle: http://www.gianteagle.com/saving/coupon-redemption-policy
Target: http://www.target.com/b/ref=br_bx_4/180-0311849-4571964?ie=UTF8&node=2223357011
WalMart: http://walmartstores.com/7655.aspx
Marc’s: http://www.marcs.com/coupon.cfm
Safeway: http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Coupons-Policy
Acme Fresh Market: http://www.acmestores.com/internet-coupon-policy.html
Next up: “stacking” coupons
