Coupons in My Driveway

This post is to let everyone know that in Gwinnett County GA we receive free coupons on Sundays.  “Gwinnett Daily Post” is delivered to our driveway every Sunday for FREE! It has advertisements, articles, latest news and yes, coupons. All the booklets: RedPlum, SmartSource and P&G.

Oh wait, there is more! On Thursdays we receive “The Evening Edge” portion of the “Atlanta Journal Constitution”. It is delivered in our driveway and yes, it is free. It has recipes, several community articles and coupon booklets.

I noticed that most people leave this great coupon source in their driveway for weeks at a time or they pick it up and throw it directly in the trash (or the recycling bin). This is a great opportunity for anybody who is not familiar with using coupons to start doing so – at no expense to them. Try doing this Sunday. Pick out that newspaper, pick out the coupon booklets and give them a try. Your piggy bank will be happy.

Add a comment April 12, 2009

When Brand Name Costs Less Than Non-Brand Name

I am one of those consumers who don’t care to buy only brand name products. Unless I notice an obvious difference in quality between manufacturers of the same product, I will go with the cheaper choice every time. I don’t care about the pretty packaging (which by the way is starting to be a ridiculous waste these days) and I don’t care about seeing a certain brand name in big bold letters every time I open my pantry. In my recipes, I am using salt, not “Morton” salt. I care that my sourcream tastes like sourcream, not like “Daisy” sourcream. And I care to use a laundry detergent that cleans my clothes, not the one with the best commercial.

It just happens that products manufactured by the companies with the pretties packaging and the commercials all over the place cost more than the rest of the manufacturers. You may have noticed, a can of soup Kroger brand costs 50 cents, while Campbell’s or Progresso, cost $1.50, respectively $1.80 for the same product. But it also just happens that these same companies issue coupons. Most of the time I buy Kroger brand – and I am very happy with the quality of the products. But when coupons and sales enter the picture, I have found that brand name products end up costing less than the more economical alternatives. I guess the name of this post should have been “How to buy expensive-brand products for less than regular-priced-brand products.”

The same idea applies over and over: wait for a sale and use a coupon. Today for example, I wanted to buy some yellow rice. Mahatma yellow rice is on sale for 79 cents a package, while for the same package, Kroger yellow rice is on sale for 50 cents a package. Does the Mahatma yellow rice actually contain gold? I don’t know, it might. I used a coupon I had for Mahatma rice: 75 cents off 2 and I paid 42 cents each package. This way I got to take the gold in my pantry.

This is just one example. Did you notice similar situations during your grocery shopping? I would like to hear more examples, so post them as a comment!

Add a comment March 6, 2009

Kroger Likes Coupons, I Like Kroger

One time I had 12 coupons for the same item. It was a good deal and I wanted to use all of them before they expired. So I took my coupons and went to Target, who had the item on sale at the time. I took a special trip to the store, filled up my basket with 12 boxes of the same product and walked to the counter with my 12 coupons. The cashier looked at me weird and I took her look to mean that something wasn’t right. So I told her I have a coupon for every single item in that basket. “Well, I don’t think you can do that!” she said. Why not? The coupon states I can use one coupon for each item. She called the manager and the manager said the same thing: I could only use one coupon, if I wanted to. I said OK, I will stay in line 12 times, purchase one item at a time, make you pay for each credit card transaction and use all my coupons anyway. They both said no, I could not do that either! I was not outraged, but I was a little pissed. I purchased one item, left the store, and went to Kroger.

Nothing of thins kind has ever happened to me at Kroger! Their cashiers have gone out of their way to make it easy for me to use a coupon. One time I needed to spend about $3.00 more, to be able to use a $10 off the entire purchase coupon. I told the cashier that, and told him I wanted to purchase a Kroger brand yellow cake that I had seen on the shelf. He walked in the bakery department and brought me the item I had asked for, without even blinking. I couldn’t believe it!

At Kroger, they accept printed coupons, free coupons (coupon that will give you an item for free), several identical coupons in the same transaction, coupons for items on clearance, eCoupons, and they even double coupons. They have coupons on the back of your receipt and they print customized coupons for you on the spot! Periodically, they offer coupons on the shelf by the exact item. They even send you Kroger coupons in the mail! Shopping at Kroger is heaven for the coupon addict that I am.

There is one thing in terms of coupons that I would like to see Kroger doing. Put a box at the end of each isle (or by each type of product on the shelf, or at the cash registers where people can see them when they wait in line, or even only at the entrance in the store) where people can donate their extra coupons. A “give a coupon, take a coupon” kind of thing. This would bring in the store people who don’t have time for clipping, or just don’t usually use coupons.  I wouldn’t swear, but such a coupon swap opportunity would make me not even open the Target flier again.

Add a comment February 17, 2009

Earn and Manage Fuel Saver Points at Kroger

Points are earned on purchases made from the first to the last day of the same month. It “costs” 100 points to apply the 10 cent discount on gas. Any points above the hundred earned in a certain month, are wasted since they are not enough for a discount and are not transferable. Any points not used by the end of the following month will expire.

So towards the end of the month I make sure to gather up to the nearest hundred points, then I stop shopping for the rest of the month. On the first of the next month I start shopping again. This method has been very useful for maintaining a grocery budget and I strive to spend less and less cash for the same amount of points earned.

To fill up a whole tank or for just 3 gallons of gas with a 10 cent discount, 100 points get deducted from your account. We even got tricked to “spent” 100 points even for one gallon of gas that fits in the scooter tank. I have found that the best thing to do to maximize the savings is to fill up the nearly empty tank. How about filling up the scooter tank? This started not long ago, but when scanning your card you now get to choose whether you want your 10 cent discount to apply or not. If you choose to keep your points, a 3 cent discount still applies, which still makes me want to shop for groceries and gas at Kroger.

Add a comment February 17, 2009

Earn and Manage Fuel Saver Points at Kroger (part 1)

There are three ways to earn Fuel Saver points at Kroger: 50 points for each eligible prescription, 2 points for each dollar spent on gift cards, and one point for each dollar spent on groceries. Of course, all of these some with a little star * at the top, which usually means “I was just joking”. I have found, though, that the little star means something good in the case of each dollar spent for groceries.

Lets say I purchased two Progresso soups that are on sale for $1.25, down from $1.49 each.  One eCoupon for 50 cents applies at checkout and I have a paper coupon for 50 cents off 2, which doubles. (1.25×2=2.50-1.5=1.00) Then we add the 2% GA tax for food and I pay $1.02. This would mean one point, right? Looking on my receit, this actually meant 3 points.

The way that the points are calculated brings another reason to use coupons, both paper and eCoupons. The sale price for that product is considered, but coupons are not represented in the equation. So I earned points as if I actually pulled $3 out of my pocket. Not all items bring points this easily, but on average, we have been actually spending 60 cents for each point earned. This has helped tremendously with earning the points needed to fill up the gas tank each month.

Add a comment February 17, 2009

Save on Fuel at Kroger

Some Kroger stores have their own gas station where you can fill up your gas tank conveniently, without leaving the parking lot. The price for their gasoline is equal to or even lower than the price offered by RaceTrac, Shell, or QT in the same neighborhood. But Kroger goes one step further and makes it even more appealing to buy gas from them.

Use your shopper’s card and save 3 cents per gallon… but wait, there is more! For every 100 points earned by shopping in the grocery store, you can save 10 cents per galon of gas bought from their gas station. Still more, if you use your 1-2-3 Rewards Visa credit card, you can even save 15 cents per gallon of gas!

I applied for a Rewards credit card, but I was not accepted for one. So we are still only saving 10 cents per gallon. In our car, this means about $1.50 per fill up. Multiply this by an average of 4 times a month, for 30 months (which is how long we’ve been shopping at Kroger). So far so good, we probably saved about $180 by using fuel saver points at Kroger.

See how to get them and how to manage them in the next post.

Add a comment February 16, 2009

eCoupons – Save More on Magazines

If you want to save a bunch of money on magazines, purchasing a subscription makes sense. However, if you want to try out one issue before commiting long term, ShortCuts eCoupon program at Kroger offers some savings.

Subscribe to ShortCuts and add $1.00 off coupons for Lucky, Brides, Bon Apetit Glamour, Self and GQ Magazine. Many of these magazines offer coupons and contests also, so your savings can go even further!

Add a comment February 16, 2009

Personalized Coupons – I Love You Too, Kroger

A pretty envelope featuring pink and red heart-shaped cookies was delivered the other day. “Personalized savings just for you” boasts on its front, in bold red letters. Great! Who doesn’t like free personalized coupons brought at the front door? A short (and sweet) message from the president of Kroger Atlanta explains the purpose of these coupons: Kroger wants us to be its Valentine.

Every once in a while, Kroger sends a booklet of “personalized coupons”. When going through the list however, I can’t help but wonder if someone actually sat down, looked at the items I usually purchase, then selected these coupons just for me. Because if this is actually the case, this person is probably overworked, overtired, and still suffering from a hangover. Unless, of course, ”personalized” means anybody who 1. still lives and 2. shops at Kroger. Sadly, though, the second condition could not possibly apply because these coupons were delivered in James’ name, yet we have not used James’ Kroger card in about 10 months. 

Every single purchase that we make is recorded on that shopper’s card. Whoever can see that list knows more of the stuff I buy at Kroger than James does! We have not been purchasing cat food in a few months, yet we have been purchasing baby food. We have started to purchase organic fruits and vegetables instead of the regular ones. We have replaced junk food with fresh fruits and vegetables.  I would expect that with all the software available today, a set of coupons that were actually personalized could easily be printed out and mailed. Why is this still not the case?

Nonetheless, these savings are greatly appreciated and we always use the coupon for Free eggs. So I guess I have to say it: Sure, Kroger, I will be your valentine.

Add a comment February 9, 2009

Multigrain Cheerios – For FREE!

I took my baby to Kroger today. Our favorite hangout place. She gets lots of attention from other shoppers (“look at that cute baby”) and generously shares smiles left and right. I quicky walk down the aisles, scanning the yellow tags and mentally matching them with the coupons in my box. OK, here it is. I came for a specific item today: Multigrain Cheerios. I had some $0.50 off coupons for it and the picture on the coupon looked so good. I wanted to try this “healthy food”. It was on sale for $1.64 for a small box. At the register, the $0.75 eCoupon for Multigrain Cheerios applied, then, my $0.50 coupon doubled.

Oh, wait! I actually got paid to buy that box of “healthy cereals”. I made up for it by buying a second box (I just couldn’t resist paying $0.55 for a box)… and lots of other stuff. I was out of there before baby start acting up.

Add a comment February 6, 2009

eCoupons: The Best Of Both Worlds

If you want to get a decent price on your groceries at any store, including at Kroger, you must have a shopper’s card. This red piece of plastic can save you hundreds of dollars a year and it costs nothing to get one. The latest way you can make this card work for you is by addig eCoupons to it.

E-Coupons are discounts that will apply on select products at check-out. They require no clipping, storing, flipping through and finding. You won’t forget them home: if you have your card, you have your coupons. The best part is that these coupons, which can usually be found in printed form in the same period of time, can be used together with the paper coupons. Let’s say I had a $0.55 off coupon from Sunday’s newspaper. Then, I load a $0.55 ecoupon for the same product onto my card. Ta-daaaa! $1.10 off that product.  How awesome is that!!

The system is not perfect and some problems do exist. Sometimes, these coupons will not apply to the respective product. Nobody can explain why, it’s just that “the system” has a mind of its own. This can be fixed by shooting a quick email to customer service and they will reinburse you for the value of that coupon, if you give them the receit number, shopper’s card number, and value of the coupon. Sometimes, the scanner will not recognize a scan bar and the cashier will manually put in the price. If this happens, again the coupon will not apply and you can’t prove to the customer support people that you actually purchased the right product for that coupon to apply. Lastly, these coupons do not double as the regular printed ones and you don’t have them in front of you when you shop, to see if they are still valid or if they expired.

Go online to Kroger.com. They have two digital coupon programs and they both require registration.  Register to have access to both eSaver and P&G coupons. Make sure you input the correct card number, as all the cents off will be loaded onto your card. Then browse through the list of coupons they offer at the time and click “Add”. It’s that simple.

Add a comment February 5, 2009