Welcome to Learn to Coupon... in 30 days. For the next 30 days (week days), I will be posting a couponing how to. Each day we will build on the prior days information. The goal of this series is to teach you the basics of couponing. Where to start, what coupons to use, how to use your coupons and more.This series will focus on realistic strategies for couponing. There will be some depth to the posts, so you will need to spend the time reading the posts in the entirety. Since each post will build on the day before, I suggest you read them chronologically.
Stacking Coupons
If you have not read the previous days post, you can read them here.
As we previously discussed, there are two types of coupons – a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon. You may use one manufacturer coupon per item. However, to maximize your savings, you can use both a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon on one item. This is referred to as coupon stacking. Coupon stacking is one of most effective ways to save money.
Coupon stacking is not to be confused with doubling coupons. Doubling coupons means the store will take the value of your coupon and double it. Coupon stacking means using two coupons on one item.
Each store has its on policy on whether they allow stacking. If they do permit stacking, this will allow one manufacturer coupon and one store coupon per item. Remember, you have to determine if your coupon is a store or manufacturer coupon before you try to stack. Just because a coupon has a store logo on it, it does not automatically make it a store coupon. You will want to check to make sure it is a true store coupon and not a manufacturer coupon.
Example #1
Note there is no notation of Manufacturer Coupon. There is no barcode that fits the manufacturer coupon guidelines. It has the store logo on it.
Example #2
The second coupon is a Target Web coupon. This coupon is valid only at Target. Note that there is no remit to address. There is no notation of manufacturer coupon.
Example #3
The third example is a Rite Aid coupon. If you look closely this coupon says manufacturer coupon. However, this is a Rite aid store coupon. A few things to note: Good only at Rite Aid. The bar code starts with RC. The barcode will not scan at another store. There is no remit to address on the coupon.
So now that you have determined that you have a store coupon, you can stack them.
An example of coupon stacking:
Kellogg’s Cereal $2.50
you will use $1.00/1 manufacturer coupon
you will use $1.00/1 store coupon
Pay $.50 after both coupons
Some of you have looked at the verbiage on the coupon that says that you may not use the coupon with another offer. When you see this verbiage, it means you may not use two manufacturer offers or two store offers together. It does not mean you cannot use a store coupon and manufacturer coupon together.
It is important to know your stores policy. Here are some common stacking policies:
Rite Aid
Rite Aid actually allows 3 coupon per item. Per their policy you may use one manufacturer coupon, one Rite Aid RC48 coupon and one Rite Aid RC49 coupon. To determine what the RC code is, look at the 4 four digits of the coupon. Regardless of the source, you may only use one of each type per item.
Target
Target allows one manufacturer coupon and one Target Store coupon per item. Target Store coupons include those found instore, online and in newspapers. Regardless of source, you may only use one Target Store coupon per item.
CVS
CVS allows one manufacturer coupon and one CVS coupon per item.
Walgreens
When purchasing a single item, Walgreens accepts one manufacturer coupon and applicable Walgreens coupon(s) for the purchase of a single item. The only caveat at Walgreens is – The number of manufacturer coupons, including Register Rewards manufacturer coupons, may not exceed the number of items in the transaction.
Remember, not all stores allow coupon stacking. Some stores do not offer store coupons at all. Please check with your store to see what your stores policy is.
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mary says
I have a store Q that says buy 2 get 1 free and a manu Q that says the same, can I stack? What would be the savings?
Hannah says
Hi, So I’ve just started to do some couponing and I’ve been told that I can print off coupons from coupons.com and match them up with coupons from the newspaper. only they all say “manufacturer’s coupon” on them. can they still be stacked together? I would be shopping at weis or martins.
Carrie says
No, unfortunately, you cannot stack coupons printed from coupons.com with the manufacturer coupons out of the Sunday newspaper because the coupons you print at coupons.com are indeed manufacturer coupons, and you can never stack two manufacturer coupons together. You can stack a Target Coupon from the Target website with a coupon from either the Sunday newspaper or coupons.com because the Target coupon you print off is a store coupon, and the coupons from the newspaper and coupons.com are manufacturer coupons.
tabby says
my store coupon says “one coupon per transaction”. does this mean i can only use that coupon and no other? or, can i also use a manufacturers coupon?
Carrie says
It means you can only use one coupon for that specific type of product in one transaction. For example: If I have a manuf. coupon for baby wipes tubs, and the coupon says “One coupon per transaction”, that means I can only use ONE of those types of coupons on baby wipes tubs. So I couldn’t buy four tubs of baby wipes and use four of that specific coupon. If the coupon says, “One coupon per purchase”, then I could buy four tubs of wipes and use four of that specific coupon, one coupon per tub of wipes. Make sense?
Sharnett says
Hello, I am new at couponing and I desperately need some guidance.
amber says
can you use more than one manufacturer coupon when it is a group of items. For example. Campbell’s soup. $1.00 off 5 and another for $.50 off 3 cans. My questions is, can I get 5 total cans and use both coupons together for all items? So I would get the $1.00 off the total 5 and then $.50 off 3 of the 5???
Shannon says
No you cannot. One manufacturer coupon per item.
halen moore says
hi i have a grocery store name TOPS so u know if they stack coupons?
Sabrina says
hi, i live in Iowa and would like to know if there is any store’s around here that let you stack coupons?
Rachael says
Hi,
Thanks for the great tips! I’m having trouble figuring out what’s allowed with coupons discounting multiple items. For example, if I buy four boxes of cereal, how far can I stack? I know I can use single item coupon, but how many “off 2”, “off 3” etc coupons can I use? Thanks so much!
ardel says
Im new to couponing. im wondering if i can use 2 manufacturer coupon at the same time? it has different expiraion on it and bar codes. im really confused. pls help
Lisa says
I am very new to couponing. I have been trying to find out if any stores in Chicago, IL. area will double coupons. Does anyone know of any who will?
JoAnna says
Hi Lisa,
I know you posted months ago, but I’m going to respond anyway…
I’m also near Chicago, IL and unfortunately, I have not found any stores in this area that do double coupons. The closest we can get is by stacking coupons at Jewel, Dominick’s, Target, Walgreens, and CVS. Occasionally (maybe twice a year?), Kmart will do a double coupon event for 5 coupons up to $2, or something like that. I have visited the Rockford area – if you’re ever feeling really ambitious – they have a few grocery stores that do it. Not worth it for me to plan a trip up there, but if you’re further north it might be worth it for you.
susan Bennett says
Last week I was in Safeway (Washington State) and on two of the manufactures coupons I used they said weren’t valid yet….The expiration date was only in July, so I couldn’t figure out why they said I had to wait to use it?! I couldn’t find anywhere on the coupon where it had a “start date” for being useable. I should have asked the manager but got nervous, and just took them back. I guess I will try and see if they are good tomorrow….I never had that happen before! Can you help?
Thanks!
Shannon says
I have never ever heard of a start date on a coupon, unless its a store promo.
Cici says
I had the exact same thing happen to me the other night. The cashier said it wasn’t valid until 11/4 but no where on the coupon did it say a specific start date only an end date of 12/1
Steph says
Hi, I’m a newbie here, my friend led me to your site.
I’ve known about Target stacking, and Walgreens has had issues before with me using manufacture coupons w/ their flyer coupons, but I made them give it to me, because it didn’t tell me I couldn’t lol.
Since you’re in PA, do you know about Shoprite? I mostly shop there or Wegmans. Wegmans tends to not have store coupons because alot of their stuff is cheaper regularly.
Great info btw :)
Shannon says
Steph,
Yes they do. So does Wegmans.
Steph says
Great! Thank you :)
Seana says
Thanks a bunch!!
Seana says
I am fairly new to coupons, although am learning quick. Your series is great. I am not sure how much you know about the New Jersey Grocery stores, although I have heard 2 different things regarding coupon stacking at ACME. One says they take 2 coupons per item and one says they don’t. Do you have any info about that.
Thanks
Shannon says
Well Acme is a store I shop at, so yes they will take an acme coupon and a store coupon.
TraceyF says
Thank you so much for this informative series! I’ve always been a bargain-hunter and coupon clipper, but really appreciate ways to stretch my budget for my family of 5 and more effectively use the coupons I clip. After reading your articles, I realize I could’ve used more of my coupons together for more savings, but didn’t understand what was allowed and what wasn’t. Thank you for the crash course!!!
Shannon says
I am glad to hear that you are getting something out of the series!
Tina says
Love the series. It is helping me to understand more ways to use coupons. I have always used them but now I am stepping it up to get the most. Yesterday I spent $116 at Kroger but only paid $68 after all of my coupons. Was very excited with this outcome.
Shannon says
LOVE IT!
Joyce says
I´m new at coupons and I´m loving this serie. I have a question, in the Giant summer magazine the coupons look to be a manufacture coupon (starts with 5) but if I understood they are good just at Giant right? But I would like to know if I can stacking this kind of manufacture coupon with the regular manufacture coupon (like a P&G). Is this possible at Giant or any other store?
Thank you so much!!!
Shannon says
All the coupons in the Giant Summer Magazine, minus the mustard one, are manufacturers. They can be used anywhere technically. They cannot be stacked with another coupon.
Hope that helps.
Joyce says
Yeah helped, you always help, thank you!!!
Melissa S says
Do any grocery stores allow stacking?
Shannon says
Melissa,
Yep lots!
I forget where do you shop?
Melissa S says
I used to shop Wal-mart, until again thanks to you I found out Weis Markets and Giant Food stores double coupons and I could save big on my grocery bill. I was actually paying retail. So…I shop Weis Markets, Giant Food and occasionally Wal-Mart. Thanks Shannon!
Shannon says
Melissa, Giant and Weis Both allow stacking :)
Lindsay in PA says
What?…Giant allows for stacking!!! I had no idea! I’m so glad I read the comments in this post! :-)
I find Giant’s coupon policy, especially the fact that they only double the first like coupon really hard to save $$ there. I am constantly breaking up my shopping into multiple transations so my multiple like coupons double!
They are building a Weis near me…I can’t wait to check it out & see how they compare to Giant!
Thanks Shannon – you ROCK!! :-)
J says
This has been a wonderful series! Thank you! I do have a question hoping someone can clarify about Target stacking. I often have a MQ for $1 off TWO items and a matching Target Web q. The TQ verbiage says something about one per transaction…does anyone know if this in enforced? Could you use identical TQs on both items to stack with the $1 off TWO q?
Shannon says
J, This is a tricky one. I called corporate to ask and they said its store level discretion. The two of the stores i go to here, you can only use one Target coupon. Other people have success using two. I would check with your store to find out.
J says
Thanks, Shannon. I’m pretty sure my store only allows one unless the cashier doesn’t know better. Sounds like it’s best to plan on one per transaction rather than be disappointed/upset at the register.
Shannon says
Yeah that is the case at my store.
kari says
I’m a little confused about the walgreens explantion… Could you break it down with an example?
Shannon says
Hi Kari,
I will be doing walgreens in depth at a later date, but basically you cannot use more coupons than you have items. Register Rewards are counted as manufacturer coupons, so you need a filler.
J says
I have found that planning a Walgreen’s trip can be very tricky and it is hard to make out as good there as with some other stores. I also noticed that their registers, despite their petty coupon per item policy, do not tag coupons to items for tax purposes in my area of PA; so you pay sales tax on the full value of the item and not the item-less-coupon price. So be careful, even if you work the popular Gillette razor deal, if you check your receipt, you probably ended up paying the sixty cents of sales tax on your $0.89 razor! (Example, I bought the $9.89 razor with the $4 P&G coupon, then bought $2 Twizzlers with a $6RR…2 items and 2 coupns, they don’t care if the RR is more than the “item” you use it with, so long as it is less than the total sale!)
Josey says
Question about Rite Aid…I did the Veet deal today. I bought 2 of the small face strips for 4.49 each. I used the 3.00 coupon from Facebook and a 2.00 printable. Then I brought 2 of the 2.00 (off one) Rite Aid coupon from the circular. I assumed they would only let me use one, but she took them all and I still got the 5.00 RR. So I actually made $5.02 in total. Did the cashier do something wrong? I really wasn’t expecting her to use both of the Rite Aid coupons. I don’t want to get excited and try it again with another purchase only to find out that I can’t.
Shannon says
Josey,
Many stores do not allow multiple in ad coupons as they say one per person.. so I would not expect this to be the norm.
Jessica says
Thanks for the great info! I wasn’t sure if I could do that but now that I know I can !!!! YIPPPY! Awesome!
Tammi McKay says
Manufacturers COUPON VALID 5/22-6/21 FRED MEYER
there is two bar codes, the first starts with a 5
Shannon says
Tammi,
If there is a remit to address, it sounds like a true manufacturer coupon.
donna bibb says
Thank you for the great information
Tammi McKay says
the ones that confuse me are the ones from Fred Meyer that state “Fred Meyer” and the words , “Manufacturers coupon”.
Shannon says
Tammi,
Do you have one that you can look at. Look for the signs of a manufacturer coupon – does it have a barcode, start with a 5 or 9, remit to address?