Extreme Couponing for Normal People

Just by shopping at Walmart can save your family money over most stores.  Combining couponing on top of their already low prices and competitor ad matching, you can save a TON of $$!  The key to maximizing your saving is in the planning!  Even if you are not a "couponer" you can save a considerable amount of money simply by taking advantage of  Walmart's Ad & Price Match Policy.
  
For example, let's say a competitor store has a great deal on 7-UP 2 litter sodas for $0.88 each, but it is across town, and you have no other reason to go in that direction to pick up the deal.  Besides, Walmart is closer, but their "Everyday Low Price" for 7-Up is $1.00.   What do you do?  Lose out?  NO!  Take that printed ad that states the price of the competitor's pricing to Walmart and when you check out, tell the cashier that you have an ad match.  The cashier will manually adjust the product price from $1.00 down to the ad price of the competitor!  You just saved $0.12/bottle without coupons simply by asking for a price match!  Now, $0.12 each in savings is just the beginning!  Imagine doing that with several items from all the competitor ads!  Even without coupons, that adds up quickly!!!  The only restriction is that the product MUST be the identical product, size, etc as what is listed in the ad.  (Not pictured, but LISTED in print)  Be sure to check Walmart Coupon Policy as well as Walmart Ad & Price Match Policy.   I recommend printing off a copy to keep in your binder for easy reference for yourself as well as educating some of the staff at your local Walmart.  


Occasionally, you will come across a cashier and/or manager who doesn't understand their own corporate coupon/ad match policies.  If you happen to encounter one of them, don't sweat it!  Just refer to your official print out of their corporate policies and if that doesn't resolve any issues then simply smile, politely say thank you and finish your transaction (choose to either purchase the items in question or not).  Once you are home, contact Walmart Corporate Customer Service to clarify the issue/s you encountered. 


Most times, it is a training issue at the local store level and Walmart will make every effort to rectify the misunderstandings.  In all my times shopping and couponing with Walmart, I have only experienced one time that a cashier clearly had no understanding of the store's policies.  When I contacted Corporate for clarification, they apologized for my inconvenience, said they would contact the local store to be sure this was not repeated AND sent me a $20 Gift Card!

The other AWESOME advantage to coupon shopping at Walmart, (on top of their ad match policy), is that you can actually MAKE $$ and have overages at Walmart from your coupons!  For instance, say you have a coupon for $3/1 Bayer Aspirin, but Walmart has it priced at $2.22.  You don't lose that $0.78!  You can use it against other items in your transaction or if that is the only item you are purchasing in that transaction, the cashier will hand you $0.78 cash back with your paid receipt!!!!  What's better than FREE??  Getting paid to shop!!

If you are just starting out, I recommend starting with Walmart.  They are the simplest for couponing.  No worries about coupon limits, they don't double (so it is a great place to use your high value coupons.  Walmart allows overages (either to be applied to other products in your transaction or cash in hand) AND they price match ALL competitor's local ads too!