1) Okay, so the Sunday papers did not contain a bonus insert...they did contain 2 Smartsource, 2 Redplums (the one that says Unilever is put out by Valassis who is owned by Redplum) and 1 P&G insert. A great week for coupons!
**Keep in mind that next Sunday is a holiday and there will be no coupon inserts in the papers**
It also appears that Daily's no longer has the $0.99 Sunday papers. Hopefully Walgreens or another store will start offering them at a discounted rate soon. If I find the papers anywhere for less than the typical $1.75, I will let you all know.
2) I went to Kroger yesterday (I was running behind on this week's deals) and was VERY disappointed to learn that they are no longer taking any type of competitor's coupon for money off total purchase...IE: $5 off $50, $3 off $20, etc. They will continue to accept comp. coups for individual items...but not for money off total. That is a real bummer! The manager I talked with stated that they never should have accepted them and tried to tell me that they never have, to which I politely explained that was not the case and they had been accepting them for 1 1/2 years with NO problem. She insisted that they should not have. Bottom line...no more money off total coupons!!! :-(
3) Spoke to the manager at Publix again today...he is such a great guy! He has been working with me really hard on fixing the out of stock problem that had been occurring over the last 6-8 weeks. After I talked with him about the class and the coupon/ad match ups, he immediately went to work on ordering more popular items. I have noticed a huge improvement. I have not left Publix with a rain check in 2 weeks! YEAH! Before that it was common to leave with 5-8 rain checks and that stinks. So hats off to Publix for teaming up with us to resolve this issue!!!
I also verified with him what competitor's coupons he will accept at the Spring Hill store:
ONLY...
Target
Food Lion
Kroger
So don't take CVS, Wags, Rite Aid, HG Hill or GFS coupons in there expecting that they will honor them...that would be cheating and that is just not right!
Knowing the coupon policy BEFORE you go in is key to getting the best deals.
4) As you know, I work very closely with the local store managers and they have been a great asset to Faithful & Frugal. However, I have gotten some reports from them lately that they have seen an increase in coupon shoppers breaking the rules...for example using expired coupons, coupons that are not for the specified item/size, improper stacking and customers using coups that they know aren't accepted but they know that a paticular cashier will take them. Now, I do not think for one moment that any of these shoppers are Faithful & Frugal alum, however I felt it important to just post a reminder of my position on couponing since our readership is increasing. PLEASE remember that as F&F alum we are always representing God...especially during our shopping trips. There is always someone watching us to see if we are "one of those" coupon shoppers. The one thing I stress to store managers is that we are women of integrity and that while we DO take advantage of great deals, we DO NOT cheat the system. And that is why they are so willing to work with us, because they know that their store will not loose money on people like us. Because couponing has become so popular within the last few months, I am seeing blogs popping up everywhere...some of them even encourage the "take what you can get free, even if it's wrong" mentality...that is certainly not our position! And keep in mind that it only takes a few rotten apples to spoil the whole bunch...so if we want great coupon deals to remain, we must continue to shop properly.
So, just as a reminder...please continue putting God first in your shopping experience and as a result you will always maintain integrity and honor in your frugal shopping!
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5 comments:
I think I need a lesson on stacking as I don't know how to do it, so I just don't do it. Like I see you stack all the time and I am just scared to as I don't want to break the rules.
Great job!!! Thanks for all the updates. I certainly am loyal to doing coupons correctly. I read on a blog the other day where a woman bought $300 of stuff from Publix with coupons and took it back a few hours later. She was trying to get all her money back, like total price not with the coupons subtracted. They accounted for the coupons thank goodness but they lost a lot of money because they cannot restock refrigerated/frozen things. Apparently she went in awhile later and bought milk...and then took it back later. The manager was peeved!!!! I am not sure where this was, not in TN.
Also, I was at our Kroger the other day and I had a Target coupon that printed with my reciept for $1 off pampers. They wouldn't take it and said they do not take coupons generated from the store "like that". Do you know anything about that?
Stephanie...we need to hook up and I can go over the stacking "rules" LOL...you C A N do it!!! It's easy!
Kara...I read that too...it made me so mad. I thought, are you kidding me? really? she returned all the stuff...it's stuff like that that tends to ruin it for the rest of us. I have come across some great blogs recently even...but they tend to encourage bad couponing...it's really frustrating! One of them (here in TN) knew that her coupons were expired but pushed them through anyway and was "so excited" when the cashier didn't notice...uggghh! I've really noticed the stores tightening up "coupon security" lately and I'm sure it is because they are concerned about people taking advantage of the system and in turn losing money. Good thing is, there are still enough of us that respect the deals...so that is a huge plus for our area of stores ;-)
As far as Kroger not taking the Target coup...that's silly. I have not run into that YET! But I tell you this, if that continues...I'll be shopping mostly at Publix...I have heard that some of the other Publix stores even accept better coups than locally, so it might be worth the drive out of town...we'll see!
Thanks for all you ladies do!!!
Thank you for posting this. It's exciting to see that you seek to be above reproach with this process. I don' know much about stories of people taking advantage of the system, but hopefully there are enough of us that play by the rules. If you're offering a class in May or June, please let me know as I'd very much love to attend. I just called my Publix in Bellevue, and they said they accept ALL competitor's coupons. Very good news for us here in Bellevue!
I got a paper at CVS for a dollar this week.
I'm still not up to your level yet, but still improved my savings, and stock piling, and hopefully one day I'll be saving more than I spend!
Thanks for this site and all the info, it's much appreciated!
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