Sunday, April 19, 2009

A good week for saving

For those in the Chicago area, this is a great week for couponing. To get the most bang for your buck, know the rules before you walk into the store.

KMart stores are doing Super Doubles.

The last time our area had KMart Super Doubles was November 30, 2008. Not that I keep track. On a calender. In the top drawer of my nightstand. No way--that would just be weird.

Rule #1: They will double most manufacturer's coupons up to and including $2.00.
Rule #2: No expired coupons and no internet coupons.
Rule #3: No more than four like coupons in a transaction.
Rule #4: KMart stores will not give overage with the doubles. Example: if you buy an item at $1.29, use a .75 off coupon, it will take off the $1.29 price of the product and not $1.50.

TMI Tip: Look for coupons with high values, and match them with the cheapest version of the product to get the most savings. You can get many items for free or next to free this way.

Dominick's is having a great "Living Well, Feeling Great" catalina promotion going on through May 5.

If you spend $30, then you'll get a $10 catalina coupon to use on your next transaction. To get started, read the post at Moneywise Moms. This promotion covers over 3,000 items from food to health/beauty to basic household supplies.

Rule #1: Dominick's catalina deals go off the sale prices, not the shelf prices.
Rule #2: Dominick's does take expired coupons and internet coupons. And expired internet coupons. Yay, Dominick's!
Rule #3: You can stack manufacturer's coupons with Dominick's coupons for greater savings.
Rule #4: You can roll the catalina coupons, so after your initial investment, you'll be spending very little out of pocket.

TMI note: Plan for this before you go to the store. Get items you'll use, hit the $30 total, and then use coupons to bring that number down. Rinse and repeat!

In bad coupon news, Jewel-Osco stores will no longer accept expired coupons after May 1st. They've sent letters to their employees stating that they will lower overall prices by 20% to offset this new policy. HA! Jewel marks up their prices so much, that even with 20% off they cannot complete with other area stores like Ultra Foods (which takes expired coupons) and Super Walmart. I will be shopping at Jewel a lot less after May 1st and I've already called corporate to voice my dissatisfaction with this new policy. Boo to Jewel!

4 comments:

Allison Beasley said...

Yes! I did my Kmart shopping yesterday (I only go when they do double coupons). I saved $30 in coupons and spent $50. I thought it would have been a better savings, but that's ok...my cart was full, so I'm happy.

I was seriously in mourning when I went to Jewel on Friday and saw the signs posted that they are no longer taking expired coupons. I'm so disappointed. I do almost all of my shopping at Jewel because of the expired coupons! I regularly save between $40-$60 a week in coupons in one transaction at Jewel because of the expireds!

I didn't know that Ultra takes expireds though...hmmmm...is that a corporate policy, or just your Ultra do you think?

I so love your blog - keep blogging!

Chicagolandia said...

Amanda - Thank you posting this, I will have to check out the Living Well deal over at Dom's - looks like that'll make for some welcome shopping-relief in the middle of the week.

Allison - It is Ultra's policy to take expireds. I emailed Ultra and had them fax me their policy to take expireds - I did have to show it to the clerk when one of my coupons beeped (an expired winetag), but the rest of my expireds went through without a hitch, and you do get overage with coupons there!

Helen said...

ugh. Kmart runs out of stuff so quickly I'm not even bothering.

Unfortunately, Dominick's goes off the sale prices, unlike Jewel's catalina deals. But you can see I still did well ;) I'm going to Jewel with a couple more FREE expireds this week. One of my former coworkers told my mom this week about the upcoming "lower prices" and they both had a good laugh at it. ugh.

Yes, I LOVE Ultra. Overage not a problem. Those Free Marcal TP rolls that are $.85, the coupon scans $1! great :)

Allison Beasley said...

Thanks for the info, Chicagolandia!