Coupon Basics 3

When do you use your coupons?
    This is the best part!  In past years people would get the coupons out of the paper, make their meal plan for a week or two and then check to see if they have any coupons for the items they needed.
     What we are teaching is a whole different way of thinking!  Don't feel bad if it takes a few days (or weeks!) to change how you think!
     What we do is wait for a sale and then we use our coupons to get the best possible deal.  Example:  The ads for Albertsons and Smith's come out every Wednesday.  We go through the ad and find everything that is on sale that we have a coupon for.  Example:  Toilet paper is on sale for $6.99 for a pack of 24, (normally priced $11.99) and we have a coupon for $1.00 off so now we only pay $5.99.  Another example:  Albertsons has a sale on Kelloggs cereal - 4 boxes for $10.00 or $2.50 each.  It says in the ad that if you buy 4 boxes at the same time you will get $4.00 off automatically at the register which makes them 4 boxes for $6.00 or $1.50 each.  THEN you lay down four $1.00 off coupons (because you can use 1 coupon per item) and it takes your total down to $2.00 for 4 boxes of cereal or $.50 a box!  When is the last time you paid $.50 for anything let alone a box of cereal?  This is why you want multiple copies of the newspaper so you have 5 coupons for each item.
     So instead of just buying what you need for 7 or 14 days, you will stockpile products when they are on sale and then you will not purchase them again for a few months or until they go on sale again. You were just able to save 80% on cereal so if you buy 20 boxes you will pay $10.00 which is what you would have paid for 3 boxes at normal, everyday prices.
     Then if that isn't exciting enough, every so often Albertsons will put out Twice the Value Coupons (Double Coupons) which mean that we are able to double any manufacturers coupon up to $1.00 in value.   So taking the example of the toilet paper above, you would now double your $1.00 coupon and pay $4.99 for the toilet paper.  Other example for cereal, you would double 2 of your $1.00 cereal coupons and only have to pay tax for the cereal! (Which would be tax on $4.00 since the store is reimbursed the value of the manufacturers coupons)

     By the way, you can only use 3 double coupons per shopping trip!  That means that when we get double coupons you can purchase your items then go out to your car and come back into the store.  You CANNOT do multiple transactions at one time.  You MUST only use 3 coupons and leave the store and come back in.