There's one more aspect of couponing that deserves a blog all it's own.  Price-matching.

If you live in an area with Publix, nothing beats their price-match and coupon-acceptance policies.  For the rest of us, there is Wal-Mart.  (Meijer also price-matches, but only on General Merchandise items.)

Those who don't have the time or desire to figure out Catalina deals or go from store to store often just stick to price-matching and using coupons at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart will price match on pretty much any item in their store.  Here's an outline of their policy:

• They will not match b1g1f items, loss-leaders, (Those items typically on the front page which are sold at a loss to try & get you in the store.), % off, $ off or free items.  Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds.  Their policy is pretty standard & is actually a good one.
• They will match the sale price for generic items from another store on their generic items.
• They will price match items in an ad...however...they will also match non-ad items if they can call & verify that is the current price on that item at another store.  Typically, they'll only do this on big items like computers & cameras and such.
• They will match produce sales.
• They DO typically match even loss-leaders.  As I've been told, that restriction is there to allow them to limit should they feel it necessary on loss-leaders.

As a bonus, their coupon policy is fairly decent.  IN THE POLICY, they say they will give you the overage on coupons.  In other words, if you buy an item for $.99 and have a $1 coupon, they will give you the extra penny towards your other groceries.   Still not sounding good?   Let's say you have an item that's $1.54 & there is a $2 coupon out for that item.  You're now getting $.46 to put towards your other groceries.  Now, let's say you have 10 of those coupons.  You've just gotten an additional $4.60 to put on ANY items that you buy from Wal-Mart.

If you are only going to shop sales and use coupons at one store, then I'd recommend you go to Wal-Mart...but take your ads from the other stores with you so you can get those sale items at Wal-Mart.

What's next?  I've had a lot of people ask me how to organize their coupons.  Those who have come to my couponing classes have seen first-hand all of the different ways one could organize their coupons.  The methods are so varied, it will be easier to describe each method in a separate blog post.  Those will follow soon.

If you have any specific questions about couponing, send them my way.

Be sure to check out the previous posts in this series:


Using Coupons and Saving Money on Groceries Part 1:  Don't Be a Brand Snob
Using Coupons and Saving Money on Groceries Part 2:  Know Your Coupon Policies
Using Coupons and Saving Money on Groceries Part 3:  What if I Have a Problem?
Using Coupons and Saving Money on Groceries Part 4:   Store Cards
Using Coupons and Saving Money on Groceries Part 5:  Where Do I Find Coupons?