Coupon 101: The Buy X Amount/Get $X Back deals!

It's a fun week at Kroger and I think it's affiliates too because the infamous Buy 10 Get $5 Back Promotion is this week.

You have to have a game plan for these deals to know you are going to make your 10 so here are some tips to maximize your savings.

1. Take advantage of these promotions! If you are buying more than one paper or collecting multiple copies of the inserts then this bonus on top of the savings is awesome! Group your items into groups of 10 on your list you printed from your source for the best deals this week.
2. Plan out your attack. Go do your list so you know which items are at their lowest price this week and you are interested in. Coupon Mom definitely identifies the items that not only are at their lowest, where the coupons are in which insert but if the item is part of the promotion.
3. Clip your coupons and figure out how many coupons you have and how many of each item you can purchase. Then you group your shop into 10s. If you are short to make a final group of ten then revisit the list and find items you can use that are still a good deal but aren't at their lowest price of the sale cycle yet. Try to get as good a deal as possible though or purchase something you would have bought or needed regardless.
4. Find out how many promotions you can do in one shop. It's usually 3 but check with your manager when you get there. Once the manager didn't know because no one had to tried to do multiples yet. He came over to the line and watched so he could override three if it didn't work. It was fine.
5. Be ready to have to go to Plan B. If you are planning to 5 Electrosol tablets and 4 Capri Suns plus 1 French mustard- you might not find 5 of the tablets. Just be organized and prepared to change things up a little.
6. Be prepared to do more than one shop. If you have multiple groups for the promotion this week then your best game plan may be to hit the store a couple of times this week. It's worth it to save this much on items you use!
7. Play nice- if you have to do multiple transactions to take advantage- don't pick a busy time, be unorganized or have a long line behind you. Wait until it's slow or do one, take it outside and come back in to do the next one. Little extra effort but stores won't do promotions like this if it causes headaches and managers will get weary of weeks like this and become difficult.
8. Remember if you don't hit 10 when you checkout then you won't get the promotion. And you're adding .50 cents to each item. Stop before you get in line, count out your 10 and make sure you have enough, go through your coupons and make sure you have everything before checking out. We find a quiet aisle, group the 10s, check the coupons and make sure we are good to go.
9. Watch the monitor. Make sure that $5 comes off at the end. And while you shop- make sure you see the signage at each item. I remember one time Hormel Chili was included but the Chili without beans wasn't. I grabbed that then realized my mistake and if I had checked out- I wouldn't have gotten the promotion. Just double check yourself through the whole shop.
10. And finally- if you are doing your lists- make sure you pay attention to which items are part of the promotion. If you don't want to participate, remember that the final price shown is the assumption that you are getting the $5 off from the promotion this week. Just add .50 cents to each item to figure out the final price.

These are fun weeks as a shopper and good deals to stock up. If you have any questions- please comment and I will address or email me!