Where I Shop

Unfortunately, around here we have a very small selection of grocery stores. (And only a few that double coupons-most being 45+ miles away.) So this leaves me with only 3 places to shop.

#1: Walmart
: : : Ugh, yes, Walmart. Couponing is hard at Walmart when compared to stores like Kroger or Homeland that double coupons and have Catalina machines. You won't get "Extreme Couponing" results at Walmart but you can still save a good chunk of money! The best thing about shopping at Walmart is they are one of the few stores that allow overage. (Meaning, if you have a coupon for $3 and the item is only $2 you can get that $1 applied to the rest of your items, or if you have no other items you can get it back in cash. Just have to pay tax. I certainly try to use as many overage producing items I can to lower my grocery bill.

#2: Food Pyramid
: : : Most of their stuff is overpriced when comparing to Walmart but their sale prices are definetly better than Walmart. The best part? They double coupons up to $0.50. That means, if you have a coupon that is fifty cents or less in value the register automatically doubles it. A $0.50 coupon becomes a $1 coupon. I would not suggest getting all your groceries here...just things that you know will be a great deal after your coupon doubles.

#3: Walgreens
: : : This is where I get most of my health/beauty products. Their prices are also very high, unless it's something advertised in their weekly circular. The great thing about Walgreens is their Register Rewards program. It is a bit tricky though. I'll explain best as I can. Certain items each week trigger Regiser Rewards (RR) (you can check their weekly ad to see which items are producing RR) Here's an example of an upcoming RR deal: Buy 1 Goody Ouchless hair item for $3 and receive a $3 RR. So you will pay $3+tax for the item, but a $3 RR will print off with your receipt for you to use on your next purchase. Here's an example of "rolling" register rewards: You just bought the goody deal and you now have a $3 RR to spend on your next purchase, you could do this deal: Buy 2 Colgate Total Advance toothpastes for $3 each, and get a $4 RR. A couple weeks ago there was a coupon for $1.50 off Colgate Total advance. Since you're buying 2 products you can use 2 coupons. Making your cost only $3 for both toothpastes. You could then use the RR you got from the goody deal on the toothpaste deal to make your total out of pocket (oop) $0 (just pay tax!) Does that make sense?

Here are a few more things you'll need to know about Walgreens Register Rewards:
-You cannot have more coupons than items. In the Colgate scenario I just showed you, you would actually need to add what we call a "filler" item. (Which is just the cheapest thing in the store you can find. I personally use laffy taffy because it's only .15) So, basically, you cannot have 4 items and 5 coupons, or 2 items and 4 coupons, etc.
-There are restrictions. You cannot use register rewards to buy things like tobacco, alcohol, or dairy. You can find a complete list HERE.
-RR cannot exceed the price of the item(s) you are using them on and they will not cover tax.
-Customers redeeming a Register Reward against the same offer may not receive another RR. (Example: If you do the Goody deal, and get your $3 RR if you try to do the same deal and use the RR to pay you will NOT get another RR back. You will need to switch between deals if you want to do more than one.

Told you it was confusing. :) You'll get the hang of it though. I think every week I am going to show what deals I will be doing and how I will be doing them. Comment with any questions. :)