Lesson 5

Today we are going to talk about “Knowing Your Stuff”. When you walk into a grocery store planning on using coupons it is important to know the policies of the store. The good news is that most stores have their coupon policies available online. The bad news is that most of them counter these policies with a disclaimer that basically the store management can do whatever they want {in so many words} BUT it is important to know the basics of your store coupon acceptance policies so that you have the framework for planning your trip.

WHY is it important to know the store policies, the cashiers know them right??

First, I try to never expect my cashier’s to know the store policies. Many times, the coupon users know more about the policies {which are ever changing} then the cashiers! If you don’t know what you are talking about, how can you explain their B1G1 sale policies or their competitor coupon policies?

But stores just take the coupons, right?

Some stores yes (Like Walmart)- what you see {or hand over} is what you get..but others there are so many nuances that it actually takes 25 minutes for me to cover in my workshops! You can use this coupon here, but not there and 1 today and 3 tomorrow….ahhhh but it keeps life interesting!

So, what are the policies?

Here is a quick run down of the major stores we cover here on MoolaSavingMom: Lowes Foods, Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Walmart, Aldi, Target, CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid and a few others.

Walmart:

Their complete policy is located HERE.

The basics are:

Coupons must be in date
Internet printed coupons: must scan, b1g1 and cents /$ off accepted NO FREE internet printed
Manufacturer coupons: must scan, have remit address
Competitor coupons: for specific item ONLY. bogo accepted ONLY if price for each is listed
Catalinas: for specific items only no total purchases accepted, must scan
No limit on number of coupons per order
If coupon exceeds price of item=you WILL get cash back!

They do NOT accept:

% of or $ off entire purchase coupons
Free internet coupons

Note: 40 + coupons, $20 or more coupon and $50 + in coupons will require supervisor verification.

Food Lion:

The basics:

Nothing is doubled
No stacking of store and manufacturer
No competitors coupons accepted
Limit of 10 like coupons

and that is it…because they don’t do much with coupons

Lowes Foods:

Here are the basics:

Coupons with a “face value” of .99 or less are doubled everyday with a limit of 20 doubled (the rest are accepted at face value).
Only 4 like coupons accepted per day (internet or paper)
No cash back is given (coupon is adjusted down)
DND {Do not double} coupons are not doubled
Internet coupons: must scan, b1g1 accepted, no FREE internet coupons, 4 internet coupons per day. They will not manually enter Internet coupons.
Competitor coupons: circular or direct mail for $ off purchase accepted- NO DRUGSTORES accepted. They will accept

Stacking @ Lowes Foods:

You can use a manufacturer paper coupon, and store coupon on the same item.
Digital Coupons and paper coupons are not to be stacked according to their policy.

Harris Teeter

Here are the basics:

Coupons with a “face value” of .99 or less are doubled everyday with a limit of 20 doubled (the rest are accepted at face value)
Only 3 like coupons doubled, others accepted at face value (only 3 like internet coupons accepted per day)
DND not doubled
internet coupons: no “free” product coupons accepted, must scan
accept competitor manufacturer coupons (such as catalina, etc)
accept circular and direct mail $ off total purchase from local competitor
They will accept and honor a competitor’s raincheck

Stacking @ Harris Teeter:

You can use an evic coupon and a paper coupon.