Extreme Couponing Strategy #18 – Double Coupons
If you are in an area that still has double coupons you can save a lot of money by taking your coupons to a store that doubles or even triples coupons! I’m going to give you most of the details you need to understand and use double coupons at your local grocery stores.
How to know if your store doubles coupons –
The first thing you need to figure out is are there any stores in your area that currently double coupons? This is typically either advertised in the weekly flyer, posted in the store or something that the Manager or Customer Service Counter can tell you. If you’re not sure it’s worth a phone call to each of your local grocery stores to find out if they offer double coupons.
The next thing you need to know if your store doubles coupons is what the limitations are. For example I have one store that only doubles coupons valued at $0.50 or less, and they will only double 2 like coupons and 20 total. So knowing those limitations allows me to plan my shopping trips accordingly.
How Double Coupons Work –
Doubling Coupons is something a store offers as a promotion. They basically are “Matching the Value” of your coupon up to a set value/limit in order to earn your business. Most stores have a limit or max doubling value. Typically this is between $0.50-$0.55 and on rare occasions as high as $1. If your store doubles coupons they are basically giving you the value of the coupon off your item twice.
Here’s an example:
My local Harps Food Stores will double coupons up to $0.50, that means a $0.50 coupon will save me $1 on that item. I’m saving $0.50 from the manufacturer coupon and $0.50 from the store matching the coupon discount.
Nature Valley Granola Bars, $2.50
-$0.50/1 Manufacturer Coupon
-$0.50/1 Store Double Coupon
Pay only $1.50!
This is a great way to stretch your coupon savings. In most stores the double value happens when the coupon is scanned at checkouts. In other stores this may be manually entered by the cash register. In both instances it’s important to pay attention at checkout to make sure everything is doubled correctly.
Questions on Doubling Coupons –
I get a lot of questions about Doubling Coupons so I wanted to address a few of those questions and answers here to make sure everyone understands the process completely.
Q: Can I use 2 coupons when doubling coupons?
A: This is confusing if you have a $0.50/2 Coupon and the answer is you can use 1 $0.50/2 coupon for every 2 items you are purchasing. The same coupon count rules apply to double coupons as individual items so you can’t buy 2 items and use 2 of the $0.50/2 value coupons.
Q: Can I use 2 coupons on the same item at a store that doubles coupons
A: No. Double coupons does not mean you get to use double the number of coupons, it means the value is doubled so you can still only use 1 coupon per item.
Q: Can I stack Double Coupons with Store Coupons
A: Check your coupon policy for the answer to this one but typically no. Since double coupons are a store promotion you can rarely stack with another store coupon because the stores typically don’t allow 2 promotions on the same item.
Q: Do Store Coupons Double or only Manufacturer Coupons?
A: Most stores do not double store coupons, since the store is getting the original value of the coupon from the manufacturer and paying the cost of doubling store coupons out of pocket.
Hopefully that gives you a better idea of how to use double coupons. Remember it’s important to go ahead and check with your store first, every store will have a slightly different policy so make sure you know and understand all the rules and doubling coupons can be a great way to save!
Don’t Forget: You can Download the Stockpiling Price Sheet to see all of the estimated prices you could expect to pay for the basic items we buy each month.
There is also a place to compare unit pricing. This is just a guide, but a great way to help you learn the prices of each item.
Tomorrow we will be talking about another strategy for getting the most out of your coupons!
Make sure you check out our Saving Money Blog and also our How to Coupon Page for more tips, tricks and videos on saving money and using coupons.
View all the posts in the Extreme Couponing Strategies series.
