Extreme Couponing Strategy #8 – Using More than One Coupon
One of the most confusing things to anyone new to the world of extreme couponing is tying to figure out exactly how many coupons you can use. This has also gotten more complicated over the last few years since every store now has a different policy regarding stacking coupons. Luckily the Manufacturer Rules for using coupons are not near as complicated!
Limit 1 per Purchase – This is the most confusing part of a manufacturer coupon. Most Manufacturer coupons contain the words “Limit 1 per purchase” or “Limit 1 Coupon Per Purchase” What this means is that you can use 1 coupon per item you are purchasing. So if I am “Purchasing” 3 items I can use 3 Coupons.
There’s a little catch to this, which really makes a lot of sense if you stop and think about it. See that text that says “on Product/Quantity Specified” That means that if your coupon is for $1 off 2 items then you must purchase 2 items to use 1 coupon. So it looks like this:
Buy 2 – M&M’s Candy bags, $2.50 each
Use 2 – $1 off 1 M&M Coupons (1 per every 1 item purchased)
OR You could use 1 – $1 off 2 M&M Coupons (1 per every 2 items purchased)
Honestly I find this the most confusing not for people using coupons but for store cashiers, they often read 1 per purchase to mean you can only use one coupon for that item for your entire transaction, not one coupon for each item purchased.
Also, keep in mind this only addresses Manufacturer Coupons, not the Stacking of Store Coupons which I covered Here.
Limit 4 Per Person Per Day – Some coupons now have limits on them. Unilever Brand Products and Proctor & Gamble Brand Products are the 2 most common brands that limit the number of items you can purchase. Most P&G Brand Coupons now have a limit of 4 like coupons, per person, per day. These still say a Limit of 1 per purchase, but you are then limited to 4 total for all of your transactions that day. This is something to pay attention to when you are checking your coupons and working out your scenarios.
Cannot Be Combined With Any Other Coupons – This is also new wording on some coupons, most manufacturers are making it known that they don’t want you using multiple manufacturer coupons on the same items. I addressed this briefly in the post I did on using Buy 1 Get 1 Free Coupons. You cannot use a B1G1 Free Coupon + a $1/1 Coupon on the item you are buying. Some stores allow this in the coupon policy still (But it’s VERY VERY RARE) But most manufacturers are adding this wording to coupons.
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.
I personally question the reasons why you named this posting, “Can you Use More than One Coupon | Using Multiple Coupons”.
In any event I admired the article!Thanks for your effort-Kandi
This may be the number one issue I have had with using coupons- next to the walmart here not taking printable coupons!
I was wondering did you write this article from an official coupon policy that spells it out? It’s not that yours isn’t clear enough but I would like to have something printed out about this that I could take to the store to show them.
How do I prove it to people who have their minds made up that they are not going to take more than one coupon? Ive also had a manager lie right to my face several times or he is completely oblivious and just makes stuff up on the spot.
He told me that the coupons in the monthly book cant be combined with mfg coupons at walgreens because the coupon said not to be combined with any other offer!
Maybe you could cover this as well in another article. I’d like to take something in there and show him an “official” document describing that as well. I called corporate about it and the person acted like they werent even listening and said the usual- the manager has the right to refuse any coupons. It was their coupon! Ridiculous!
I was also told I could not use the starbucks coupon yesterday at two walgreens because they would have to change the amount by .1. I have bought other items before and they didnt have any problem with changing it. But these were different employees I hadnt delt with before and walgreens I didnt usually go into.
What I learned on that is that the next time I have a coupon like that Im going to ask before I even get into the line so there isnt an issue of me either holding up the line or just letting it slide.
I had a huge issue with the b1g1 free coupons at a couple walgreens last week. I finally went to one where the manager knew what the coupon policy is on that. I printed it out so I dont have to go through that again. But there are some gray areas that arent spelled out like your article discusses that I wish I also had a print out on. Thanks!