Change The Way You Shop In One Week! - Day Six

It's Game Time! We are at the store, ready to score on some serious deals!

In The Aisles

I like to get in and out of the grocery store as quickly as possible, so I always make the same loop. I start over near the produce and make my way over to the frozen food section, so my refrigerated and frozen foods are kept cold as long as possible. Always check your clearance sections - usually in the back corners of the store for surprise deals. I have found some serious money makers just by sifting through a clearance rack.

As I add items to my cart, I mark them off my list and move the coupons for those items into a seperate slot in my coupon envelope. That way, I am not forgetting any coupons and I am also not handing the cashier any coupons I didn't purchase items for.

As you are grabbing your items off the shelf, keep your eyes open for peelie coupons, tearpad coupons, and blinkie machines. They are everywhere! Just take a few, you are not going to use an entire tearpad of coupons.

If a store is out of a certain item, don't get upset - get a raincheck! I LOVE rainchecks! Just ask at customer service or ask your cashier and they'll fill one out for you. This way, you can make your own sale later after the store has restocked it's shelves.

At The Register

CHOOSING THE CORRECT CASHIER

This can make or break your grocery trip. Although all of your coupons may be legitimate, some cashiers are just incessantly grumpy about coupons. I've had cashiers slam coupons around, reject them because they appear fraudulent, and make up excuses why they can't take them. I scan the registers and try to choose someone who appears happy with life. It makes the transaction run a lot more smoothly if the cashiers aren't angry.

BE ORGANIZED

Everything runs more smoothly if you are organized at the register. I try to make it as easy for the cashier as possible to ring me up. If I have raincheck items, I keep those to the back of the belt and then alert the cashier before they ring them up.

COUPON ORDER

The order in which you hand your coupons over is important. If you are using a x/xx coupon, you want to hand that over first, while your total is still at the level required by the coupon. Then hand over manufactuer's coupons. And finally hand over any store coupons. I have found this order leads to less beeping and less confusion. I never hand my coupons over in one big stack. Inevitably, coupons will stick together and one will get missed.

MULTIPLE TRANSACTION ETIQUETTE

If you are going to do multiple transactions, be curteous to the other customers. If it's a busy time, I finish up one order and then loop back around in line to do my second transaction. If it's not busy, I just line up my transactions on the belt, seperating them with the little rubber bars.

WHAT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG?

If something goes awry, don't panic. If a Catalina coupon doesn't print, it is best to call the Catalina company directly. I have a detailed post here on this very situation. If your total seems way higher than it should be, I always cash out so I can review the receipt and then go to customer service to sort it out.

Now, you celebrate in all of your awesome savings!

One more day in this series ... you are just about done. Check back tomorrow for the last post of this series where we will discuss "Stockpiling vs. Hoarding".