Extreme Couponing Tips
If you have been watching the Extreme Couponing Series on TLC, you know that some of these shoppers walk away with a ton of groceries for next to nothing. Lot’s of questions pop up like, where do they get all their inserts, can you use that coupon on that product, etc.
This week’s tip is:
::Use Catalinas to Reduce Your Grocery Bill
One of my favorite ways to save on groceries is by using Catalinas. Depending on the store you are shopping in, these may also be called Your Bucks, or Register Rewards (at Walgreens). Catalinas are coupons that print out at the register after you have made a qualifying purchase.
Examples of Catalina Deals
Here are some examples of how Catalina Deals work. The deal show below is Buy 2 Purex Products and you receive a $1 Catalina Coupon. You would see the deal written like this:
Buy 2 Purex Laundry Detegents $1.99 each
use (2)$1/1 Purex Coupons
Pay: $1.98
Get a $1.00 Catalina when you buy 2 Purex Products
These catalinas coupons can then be used on your next purchase to help reduce your out of pocket.
Sometimes, there are deals that are just awesome money makers. For instance, about 2 months ago, ShopRite had a sale called Dollar Day Rewards. When you purchased a certain amount of items, you received Catalina coupons that were to be used on specific weeks.
Here was an example of one of the deals during Dollar Days:
Buy 4 Coffeemate $1.24 each
Buy 6 Carnation Evaporated Milk $1.00 each
-(4)$0.75/1 Coffeemate
-(3)$0.50/2 Carnation
Pay: $3
Get $12 in catalinas
free + $9 money maker after coupons & catalinas
In the example above, you needed to buy 10 of the participating items and then you received $12 in catalinas.
Planning Your Deals
Planning your catalina deals is the key to a successful shopping trip. When you are looking through the participating products in the catalina deal, try to find the lowest priced items with the best coupons. The goal is to find the lowest out of pocket that will still generate the catalina. In the example above, you can see that both the Coffeemate and the Carnation were low priced and had great coupons that, when doubled, made for an out of pocket of only $3. And, still giving you the $12 catalina. So, you are receiving $9 extra over your $3 out of pocket.
Using Your Catalinas
Once you have your catalinas to use on your next purchase, the next step is to plan how to use them. You can choose to purchase items that do not normally have coupons such as meat or produce. Here is an example of that:
Buy 2 Packages of Boneless Chicken $6.00 each
use $12 in catalina coupons
Final Price: Free
Or you can choose to use them on another catalina deal that will generate even more catalina coupons. This technique is referred to as Rolling Your Catalinas. Here is an example:
Buy 2 Pantene Shampoos $3.00 each
use (2)$1/1 Pantene Coupons
use $3.00 in catalina Coupons
Pay: $1.00
Get a $2 Catalina when you buy 2 Pantene products
So, you have reduced your out of pocket on the Pantene purchase to pay only $1 for 2 Shampoos and you still received a $2 catalina which you can use on your next purchase.
Once you master these Catalina Deals, you will be on your way to really reducing your grocery bill.
You can also check out the post, What Is a Catalina Coupon and other FAQs and check out all the current Catalina Deals that I have found.