Weekly Walmart Trip 11/7
I had a great trip this morning! I love shopping early because then I don’t worry about the people behind me. I forgot to check the Halloween section for clearance prices, but they did have a few items in the baby department. The onesies and pajamas hanging up were $0.80 each! There is also one Dr. Pepper missing from the picture because I handed it over to the cashier. Of course I had to pick the line with a new cashier being trained. I didn’t realize it until it was too late to back out. I was afraid I was putting too much on her plate by price matching, but by the end of it I was glad I went to her line. I kinda broke her in so to say! She did a great job and so did her trainer! Thanks!
Subtotal Before Price Matching & Coupons $249.84
Subtotal Before Coupons $$177.71
Subtotal After Both $117.88
Walmart Coupon Policy Change
Walmart Coupon Policy
There has been a lot of chatter lately about the Walmart Coupon Policy. Have they changed their policy? Do they still accept internet printable coupon? Is it now necessary to bring in your ad to price match? Can you price match and use a coupon on the same item? So, many more questions, but to make this short and hopefully answer them all, Paul over at I Heart The Mart wrote a great article that I want you to take a look at.
One of the problems that Walmart is facing is FRAUD. That is why it is so important to be honest in all your dealings, and follow ALL the rules! No making copies of coupons, no price matching stores that they do not accept a competitor, not lying about prices, and so on. When you do these things, it makes it harder for stores and cashiers to believe any couponer, even the most honest ones! It also makes them tighten up when dealing with coupons and price matching.
If you don’t have any other stores to shop at, then you should be thankful for the Walmart Coupon Policy. It is actually a great policy, and you can save a lot of money by using it the right way. Now, with saying that, I know that not all of the cashiers are the friendliest people to interact with. But, not everybody in life is! You just have to deal with it. As I mention in all my classes, when cashier profiling you need to look for one thing in a cashier. A SMILE. Nothing else. If they do not already have a smile on their face, then pick another checkout lane!
To read the full Walmart Coupon Policy go HERE. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comment section below.
What’s The Best Way To Shop?
I’ve been teaching a lot of people how to save money recently. I have to say that I love doing it and it is FUN for me. I get excited! Who doesn’t get excited when saving money? Now, one way to really maximize your savings is to use coupons stacked with sales. If you use a coupon on a regular priced item, you’re not really saving that much money. In fact, you can probably still buy the store brand for less. However, if you use your coupon with a sale, you can get the leading brands for less than the store brand! That’s what I’m talking about!
Since I’ve been sharing my coupon techniques with people, I’ve been getting a lot of static from the non believers. You know, the one’s who haven’t taken a coupon class yet or say it’s a waste of time. Ha! We know they’re crazy right? But why are they crazy? I have been told that to use a coupon you have to buy something you normally wouldn’t buy. Or, why would stores put things on sale if it will make them FREE or make them lose money on it? I have the answers.
To answer the first question with a question: Are you telling me you don’t bathe with soap? Or, brush your teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste? Hum. Then maybe couponing isn’t what we should be discussing here. Anyways, there are coupons for something that everyone uses. If you’re a total heath nut and you refuse to buy anything but fresh and organic food, you can still use coupons! The biggest part of a budget is usually in the toiletries and household items. Such as body wash, shampoo, laundry detergent and cleaning supplies. I’m not going to go into all the ways to save on these items using coupons, you can go to a class or watch one of my videos for that. I just want everyone to know that coupons are not just for useless items.
Second question. Why would stores put a product on sale if it will make them lose money? How can they do that? This is probably one of the most frequently asked questions. It’s simple. These sale items are called loss leaders. A loss leader is a product that is put on sale below market cost to stimulate other sales. Check out the picture above. Here you see that Office Depot has one subject binders on sale for only a penny! What?! They are definitely not making any money off of the one subject binders. But everyone who took a look at that ad has already decided that it’s a good deal and they will be making a trip to Office Depot. Now, you have to look deeper into the ad to find that you must spend a $5 minimum to get the penny items. Ah hah! It’s a marketing strategy. Most people will still do the penny deal even though they must first purchase a $5 minimum.
Even though this loss leader required a minimum purchase, that’s not always the case. Take a look at the ad pictured below. The President Feta Cheese is on sale. With the sale alone you are already saving $5.39! That’s a great savings and you’ve only get one thing and haven’t added your coupon yet! This item is a loss leader. It’s put on sale to get you into the store. Since you will be shopping with them to get these great deals, they are hoping you will buy other things that you need that aren’t on sale. For example maybe a store puts hot dogs on sale, but not the buns. Well, you have to have buns to go with your hot dogs right? This is how stores can put such great sales on items every week. They want to entice you with the loss leaders and then hope that you buy other things that are not such a great deal. This is where your couponing and savings techniques come in to play. If you as a couponer only focus on the loss leader items, then you can save tremendously throughout the year. Yes, some weeks you will grab items that you don’t need to use right away. But, if it is something that you will use in the next six weeks, then you are being smart and saving money in the long run by purchasing it at its all time low.
Do you have any questions? Ask them by leaving a comment below.
Walmart: How To Price Match & Use Coupons Correctly
It seems there is a lot of confusion about Walmart and how their policy works. I mainly shop at Walmart because I have no other grocery stores close to where I live and I can save money by simply using their Ad Match Guarantee. In this post I will try to answer the most frequently asked questions about Walmart. This way, you can always come back and read it again if you forget!
First things first. Their Coupon Policy. Believe it or not, Walmart actually has a great coupon policy. Even if you don’t want to mess with price matching, you can still save money by using coupons. Most Walmart’s have put the highlights of their policy at every register. This is great for you and the cashier. If their is ever any question, you can simply look up and read what is posted. See picture below.
(Thanks, Brooke!)
Walmart will accept the following types of coupons:
Internet Printables
Catalina Coupons
Competitors Coupons
Manufacturers Coupons
Internet printable coupons are anything you find from Coupons.com, Red Plum, Smart Source, Coupon Network, or straight from a manufacture’s sight. However, if it is an internet coupon for a FREE item with no purchase necessary, they will not accept it.
Catalina coupons are another type of manufacturers coupons. You can use these types of coupons at Walmart, even though it printed from another store. In the picture below, the catalina printed from Walgreen’s. Walmart will accept it because it says save $5 off Enfamil Lipil. It is a manufactures coupon and it even states so across the top.
Competitor coupons are store coupons that are usually only good at the store stated on the coupon. Like a Target Web coupon is only valid at Target. You cannot use it anywhere else. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. If a store accepts competitor coupons and they consider Target to be a competitor, they will take it. In Walmart’s policy it states they will gladly accept competitor coupons with a specified price on it. See picture below.
This Walgreen’s coupon has a specific price for the Hershey’s candy. Walmart will accept this coupon and basically key it in as an ad match. However, there has been some questions about regular competitor coupons, such as the next picture below.
This coupon is a competitor coupon, but it does not have a specific price for the item listed on it. It only says $1.50 off. It does give a specific product that the coupon is intended to be used for. The policy does not say it won’t take these coupons, and from my personal experience, most Walmarts will accept these as long as the store it’s for is considered a competitor. I have called around all over the states, and I have not found one Walmart that won’t accept these. I am not guaranteeing it, I am just saying I have never had an issue using these coupons. You always want to check with your local Walmart to see what they will and will not take.
Now let’s move on to the Ad Match Guarantee. If you shop only at Walmart, this part of their policy is something you really want to pay attention to and use! Basically if another store has a lower price on a product in their ad, Walmart will match that price! If Walmart’s Dove shampoo is $3 and Kroger has it listed in the ad for $1, you can get it at Walmart for only $1! You do have to make sure you are getting the exact same item that is stated in the competitor ad. If the 23 oz.is on sale, you can’t grab the 34 oz.
Keep in mind that you do not have to have the competitor ad with you. If you feel more comfortable doing it with the ad on hand, that’s great. But as stated in the policy, it is not required. This reminder is also on the sign I pictured earlier that is hanging at every register.
You can also price match BOGO deals as long as their is a price listed. Some stores like to advertise a BOGO deal and not list a price, like CVS. If there is not a price in the ad, you CANNOT price match it. Also, if a store is having a buy one get two free, Walmart will not honor that. If a store is having a buy two get one free, Walmart will not honor that either. The first picture shown is an example of what you can do. The second picture is an example of what you CANNOT do.
When another store has a Meal Deal or Laundry deal, you cannot price match that deal. For example, if BiLo has buy one pizza get x, x, x, for FREE, you cannot price match that at Walmart.
If a store has a clearance deal on a product, you CANNOT use that price at Walmart. If a store has a percentage off sale, Walmart will not honor that either. Most drug stores will have a percentage off sale every week. Those sales are not valid at Walmart.
In closing, if there is a specific price for a product and it’s listed in the competitor ad, you can price match it! If there is not price listed, it’s a no no. If you are ever unsure of something, you can always ask the Walmart Manager. Now go save some money at Walmart!
*Go here to read Walmart’s full Coupon Policy.