Sale Cycles and Stacking Coupons

Sale Cycles:

Now that we've covered where to get your coupons and what all the coupon lingo stands for let's get into more of the nitty gritty.  The best way to truly save money is to buy when the price of an item is at it's lowest.  Most sale cylces run in 4 to 6 week intervals.  Meaning  If Cheerios are normally $4.00 a box there price will fluctuate over a six week period but only one week during that period will they be at their lowest.  Our job is to find out when they are at their lowest and take advantage of that by using as many coupon as we can!



For example  Capri Suns normally run around $2.10 a box.  During a six week period that price will fluctuate, one  week it may be $1.89, the next it may go back up to $2.00, the third it could be down to $1.69.  I, however, know that the lowest price in a sale cycle for Capri-Suns is $1.49!  So during that 6 week sale cycle I don't buy any Capri Suns until they hit the rock bottom price of $149, then I stock up!  Now just so you know I find this rock bottom price at Kroger during their Mega event and it just so happens that the rock bottom price for Capri Suns is this week!  Now you won't see coupons for Capri Suns or other drink boxes very often at all so it's best to stock up when they are at rock bottom and not try to wait until you have a good coupon.  Obviously if you have a coupon, use it.

Now not every single item in the store goes through these sale cycles but the more attention you pay to the ads the more you will start to see the repitition.  If there are items you need on a regular basis or items your family really loves I would suggest that you keep a diary of sorts.  Noting the price and the week, this will help you know how often this product hits it's rock bottom price.

Stacking Coupons:
Oh how I love to stack my coupons!  Kroger no longer allows you to do this but Publix does!  What is stacking coupons, well let me explain.  There are different types of coupons:  First we have the Manufacturers coupon:  this coupons barcode will always begin with a 5 or a 9.   This is a coupon put out by the manufacturer and can be redeemed at any store for that product.

Next we have store coupons:  Store coupon are coupons that will have the store name printed directly on them and can only be redeemed at that store (unless you can use them at another store as a competitor's coupon!)

Third we have e-coupons:  e-coupons are great!  These are electronic coupons that you load on to your customer card.  The hardest part here is remembering what products you have coupons for on your card :)
Examples of store cards you can load e-coupons onto:  Kroger, CVS, Rite Aid, Food Lion.     Publix does not have a store card but they have partnered with Upromise.  It is a Upromise card you carry and the savings from the e-coupons go into a saving account. 

We'll talk  more about e-coupons sites later today if we have time.

Now that we have our three different types of coupons we need to know how and when we can stack them.
The best time, but not the only time by any means, to stack your coupons, is when you have a BOGO item sale.
  For Example:  This week at Publix Sweet and Salty Nut Bars were BOGO , now at Publix you do not have to buy both items.  You can buy one item and pay half price for it.  So if I had a store coupon and a manufacturers coupon for the Sweet and Salty Nut bars I could use both coupons on ONE box of the Sweet and Salty Nut bars.  The best way to do this however would be to have TWO Manufacturers coupons and TWO store coupons and purchase TWO boxes of Sweet and Salty Nut bars.

I.E.  Sweet and Salty Nut Bars BOGO at $3.98   use Mfr Q for .40/1   and store Q for .50/1  (the manufacturer Q would be doubled)  Making my total discount in coupons $1.40 for a$1.99 box of SSNBars  Now I've only paid .59 for a box that normally costs $3.98.  If I have two coupons for each item I've now only paid $1.18 for something that would normally costs me almost $8 at regular price!!!  Wow!  Now that is the way to use the system!


Now if you didn't have a MFR coupon in this case but an E-coupon you could still stack it with a store coupon.  The only difference is e-coupons do not get doubled.  Most stores will double up to .50 but we will be covering that when we cover the individual stores coupon policies.  Your saving wouldn't have been quite as great but they still would have  been tremendous.


Well that's all for now.  I've got to get going with my day.  Please don't hesitate to ask questions or make requests.  I am here to help in any way that I can.  I don't know everything but if I don't have an answer I'll get one :)

Make it a great day!
~The Boss Lady~