- 16pk of Doles Mandrin Fruit Bowls
- Two 6 packs of Light Progresso canned soups
- 3 pack of Crest Pro Health Toothpaste (with bonus mouthwash)
- 3 pack of Perdue Chicken Nuggets
- Case of Luvs wipes
- 2 pack of Listerine Whitening Mouthwash
- 3 pack of Dove deodorant
- Skim milk
- 3 pack of Johnson and Johnson Head to Toe Baby Wash
- 18ct Egglands Best eggs
Total after coupons: $53.90
Total Savings: $37.10
That's the good part, here is the not so good part....my check-out experience. We went to the self-check out aisle. It was a busy Saturday afternoon with the lines all about 3 or 4 families long. After scanning all of the groceries, I started with the coupons. A few of the BJs coupons were on top and they scanned fine. I came to my first manufacturer coupon..."Coupon not accepted". Ok...hit the "Need Help" button and moved on to the next manufacturer coupon..."Coupon not accepted". After the next one, I started getting grunts and groans from the line of people behind me. I decided to stick with the BJs coupons until help arrived. Finally the lady came over and told me the manufacturer coupons won't work (I assume she meant without her help) and you can only do one coupon for each product.
Well, I came prepared with a printout from BJs website on their coupon policy and pointed out that it clearly says you can use one BJs coupon and one manufacturer coupon on SINGLE items, and one BJs coupon and multiple manufacturer coupons on MULTI-PACK items (items that would be sold separately elsewhere) as long as they match the number of items in the multi-pack and they don't bring the total to $0.
She reluctantly agreed, took my coupons and checked all the items in my cart to make sure they matched up, leaving me with an angry couple breathing down my back and stares from numerous people that started in my line and abandoned it for a "quicker" checkout line. After verifying my cart, she had to manually input the coupons. At that point the man behind me LOUDLY stated how he had been in line for half and hour (probably only like 22 minutes!), my husband on the other end of the checkout was trying to become invisible behind the cart, and my daughter was yelling "Mom, NO MORE COUPONS!".
It was me against the BJs shoppers (apparently including my 3 year old daughter).
But, in the end...it worked! Would I do it again? Risk being completely embarrassed?
Yes, but with a few changes. I will not go on a weekend. I will go when there is less of a crowd. I will also not go to self-checkout lane. The BJs lady suggested I try going where someone else will check me out.
The bottom line is I saved about 40% with coupons! I look at it as getting almost half the stuff on my list for FREE! If I give up to spare myself embarrasement, I might as well be handing over my $37 savings to the "hot heads" behind me.
So what if next time I roll into BJs and the staff groans and say "that annoying coupon lady is back"! :)
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