Pathmark Freebies Thread!

[sweetmelissa]

Thanks for all the shopping tips listd in this thread. I too use coupons to their maximum potential!! LOL!! I live in South Carolina and 'round here we have Ingles and Bi-lo grocery stores. Both have weekly buy one get one free specials. Sometimes they even have buy one get two free deals. You don't have to purchase both items to get the deal. They scan at half price with the BOGOF deal and 1/3 price with the BOG2F deal. When you use a coupon that doubles along with these deals, you save BIG TIME!! Most times, these items cost mere cents or are even sometimes free. Also, I don't know about other grocery stores, but Bi-lo's weekly sale usually coincides with many of the coupons that are in the previous Sunday newspaper. Coupon clipping can be a little time consuming but it is soooooo worth it. I even watch for sales on items that we don't use that I have coupons for. I buy them for nearly nothing and donate them to a local food charity. Just last week, I had several coupons for canned Tuna. It was on sale and by using my coupons, I bought 12 cans for around $1.25 total. We don't eat canned Tuna in our household, not even my cats, who would absolutely go crazy over it. I keep a box in the closet in my pantry for items like this. When it gets full, I donate it. My sister keeps saying that she can't understand how I can get deals handed to me everywhere I go (she's jealous because I found an authentic Coach purse at a yard sale for $2) and that I am the luckiest person when it comes to deals. I believe I owe my good fortune to the fact that I try to help others as well as myself. Some people act like bargain shopping is a competition and try to get and keep all the bargains to themselves. If I find a bargain that I can't use, but know someone that can use it, I get it and share. It is a very nice and inexpensive way to give to others in need! Thanks to all members on this site who share their bargains and great finds!

[bpesch]

There is a new sample on Pathmark, free Bigelow Tea:
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[verwon]

I live very near to Bi-Lo's main corp, they do that on purpose, they try to match their sales with upcoming coupons so they can get more shoppers.

When I lived in Ridgway, Pa. the store owner, who saw me in there with my coupons shopping many, many times, used to come up and ask me how they had done matching their sale items with the coupons, what did I think they could do better and etc.

They don't mind coupon users at all, because they are getting all of the money back, even for doubles, (sometime if someone wants me to, I will explain how this works, but I don't feel like typing it all now!) and if saving money is what keeps people coming back, then they will go all out to help that along as much as they can.

I love triples, we only have one store that does them, Martin's, about once a month and they are over an hour away from me, so I don't get to go too often, unless I can plan ahead because I know I am going to get some good deals. They also only let you triple 6 coupons at a time, and only one of each coupon. So say you have 4 coupons for Pop-Tarts under 99¢, they will double or triple the first one, then the other 3 are face value! ICK!!

So not my favorite store to shop at, unless I specifically know they have something we can use for free or pennies.

One of my favorites is Giant Eagle in Indiana, Pa. they let you double 5 of the same coupon, and if you have more than that, they will just have you split your order, so you can use as many as you have, you just have to check out a couple times. Works for me, I usually go when Andy has just one or two classes that day, he drops me off with my coupons, goes to his classes, then picks me and the groceries up when he is done.

My favorite store, which is the one who had that freaky woman I had the post about in GCC a little while ago, the one who accused me of being a thief and etc. (Who happened to get herself severely demoted and is no longer allowed to associate with any customers AT ALL!) Well they double up to 99¢ with no limits at all!! If I have 20 or 30 of a coupon, they don't care, I can use them all. When I first moved here, they didn't double, but a lot of their prices were lower than other stores in the area anyway, so we often picked up pop, meats, and etc. in there, the stuff you don't always find coupons for anyway, then they decided to start doubling when the other store in town that did went OOB, and I have been addicted to their store ever since.

I also have to say that since my experience with that freak, I am treated like royalty in that store. The employees in different departments all come up to me and make sure I am doing okay shopping, if I need help with anything, or if I can find everything I am looking for, and etc. They definitely won me back as a customer, and made me feel comfortable shopping there again.

The front-end manager, Ron, who is her direct boss, and is the one who called me about it, because he was so upset that I was treated that way, came up and introduced himself, made sure I knew she would not, ever, be bothering me or any other couponer again, and he also makes sure that the girls at the checkout know me and my stack of coupons, so they are ready and know how to ring them up and etc. That way, my cane and I, aren't standing there in agony any longer than necessary.

[verwon]

Now, I know there is at least one more pathmark thread somewhere, that I didn't find to add to this one, I will do it when I find it.

Let's just do this one the same as the Wal-Mart thread, post the newest items and etc.

[BRONXAROD]

Thanks!

[eladmiz]

bump... they added sunsilk

[not4sale]

Originally Posted by verwon

LOL! I have actually done some online articles, as well as some old posts on here, to help people learn the tricks to couponing.

Well written VerWon!

I have a couple of more tips that save me usually 70-95% on my grocery bills. Yes, 95%! I have a collection of receipts (ok, I am weird) that are for under $1 total! I've actually had to buy extra items sometimes so that the store doesn't owe me money. This happened to me before I knew some of the information below when coupons marked "DO NOT DOUBLE" did double and then required a manager override to finish the sale. I had to stand there while the cashier and manager rifled through my grocery bags to match each coupon to my purchases. Eventually they actually gave me some cash, but since then I will buy gum or candy if I realize the total will be negative.

Here are 10 of my grocery store commandments:

Have thy coupons nearby and organized: You have to have a good coupon organizer, and you have to keep the coupons IN YOUR CAR. This allows you to use your coupons wherever and whenever you have to run into a store, especially if it isn't your regular, planned shopping trip.


Thou shalt buy sale items and stock up: Ok, so there may never be a sale on a couple of items, but rarely over a couple months does something not go on sale. Stock up and save. Having an extra freezer is a must. Always try to combine sales and coupons.


Know thy store: It is important to know if your store doubles or triples coupons, and what the coupon policy is for each. Here in the Detroit area, pretty much all the grocery stores double, but just for coupons up to 50 cents. Farmer Jack's just ran a double coupon up to $1 a week or two ago, great when you can time it to a sale.


Thou shalt buy Markdowns within the store: Dented packages are usually marked down - know where the store keeps the "Scratch and dents". Avoid cans that are bulging, but most dented cans are no different than the regular cans. I once bought 30+ cans of Dole mandarin oranges that had $1-off store coupons on them due to dents - and they were on sale for 79 cents each!! You don’t have to be a math wiz to figure out that getting paid 21 cents to take each can home is a good deal. The cashier laughed about it and commented that it would have been cheaper to toss them in the dumpster. I Love to get paid to buy stuff.

Also, know what time the meat department marks down last or next-to-last day of sale items, and shop at that time. Farmer Jack's here marks down first thing in the morning, but one Kroger does it after the dinner rush while another does it mid-morning. Be careful to look closely at the package and even smell it, just like you would for the meats with several days left for the sell-by date. Don't be shy, ASK a meat dept. employee to mark them down if it is the last day of sale, they gladly do it about 80% of the time for me.


Thy Size Matters: If things are marked down, buy the smallest package with the $1 or $2 off sticker - your cost per pound will be the lowest (i.e. a 2lb package of hamburger for $2/lb with $2 off brings the price to $1/lb, but a 3lb package with the same $2 off sticker is more expensive, $1.33/lb.) The same holds true for using manufacturers’ coupons, usually buying the smaller size will be cheaper. As you mentioned, Suave shampoo with the 50 cents off doubled coupon gives you $1 off. The small size is $1.19 here, so it costs 19 cents (you beat me by a penny!). The large size is $1.79, so it would cost 79 cents. Yes it is 1.5X the size, but the cost is 5 times higher - not the best deal.




Get thee to a couponry: Great sources for coupons are not always the obvious ones. Of course, the Sunday newspaper insert is a great source, as are the "Blinkies" that automatically dispense coupons in the store. I get multiple copies of the coupon inserts every Monday morning, when I visit my Grandmother's apartment - there is the paper recycling bin where I can usually find 5 or 6 books of inserts within about 2 minutes. I had a neighbor that used to go with her kids to the community recycling center and get dozens of them each week. Don't forget the "Catalina's" - those are the coupons that print out at the register when you make specific purchases. I go online weekly and see what items print out coupons, especially when they are for $xx off your next shopping trip.

Email a company that rarely has coupons in the paper or in-store. My daughter has become a Kosher vegetarian, and it makes it tougher to just buy anything. We saw a fairly new product from Amy's Kitchens which were all organic vegetarian frozen foods. They are pretty expensive, but I had bought them using coupon overages (explained below) just to try them out. The good news/bad news was that these products are outstanding, so my daughter wants me to buy them all the time now, and I've yet to see them on sale. I went on their website to find out additional stores that carried their products and saw that they had a comment section that included people thanking them for coupons! I emailed Amy's Kitchens to compliment them on their foods, and it asked for my address. About 2 weeks later, brochures and $1 off coupons arrived in the mail.


Partake in thine abundance: Get coupons from in-store displays as well as from the blinkies. I am holding a bunch of coupons that expire at the end of the year for M&M's and Hershey's Kisses. I will use them after Halloween and Xmas, when the leftovers are on sale for 50%, 75% or 90% off. I have about a 3 year supply of Halloween Zip-Lock bags from last year. They were 90% off, and I had a bunch of coupons for 55 cents off which made them less than free. Reynolds Wrap had in-store displays earlier this year for $2 off seafood when you bought foil, and $1 off produce when you bought plastic wrap. You can combine these coupons with the regular mfg coupons for those items, so you can really save.




Bless thy Wine: This tip is so good, I almost don't want to share it! My best coupons come from an unlikely place: the wine section of the store. In my area, it is illegal to have coupons for beer, wine and liquor. They are limited only to rebates, but many will put coupons on their products for other things. The "winetags" are coupons hanging from the neck of a wine bottle, and are usually for meat, pasta, bread, cheese, fruit, etc. The beauty of these coupons is that they are not usually for a specific brand but to be used on any item in that category. I have redeemed hundreds and hundreds of coupons for $2 off beef, poultry, seafood, ham, lamb, etc. These coupons are always labeled "No Wine Purchase Necessary". I look for and have met many of the wine vendors by now, and if I see one in a store, I will ask them for coupons. They have handed me packages of 50 or 100 of these coupons many times. I think they would rather give them to someone in bulk than take the time to place them on each bottle.

I DON'T buy any of these products anymore without a coupon. Combining these with the in-store markdowns and sales usually results in these items being very cheap, free, or in some cases "less than free" also known as an overage. I recently stocked up my freezer with chicken that was on sale and marked down and then used $2 off chicken coupons to make them less than free. I bought about 30lbs of chicken, and the overages on the coupons ended up saving me an additional $1.40 off my other purchases. In this way, I also haven't spent a penny on ground beef in a couple of years, there is probably another 30lbs of it in my freezer now. Want a T-bone or Porterhouse? I have many in the freezer that were less than $1 each, thanks to the cosmic alignment one day of a sale, markdowns and $2 off beef coupons that were expiring that day. I bought around 50 packages of meat, and spent about $7 total! The $2 off any shrimp coupons were great in my store that has a self-service frozen shrimp bin. They were on sale, so I packaged them in sizes that resulted in about a $2 package, so that was free as well.

If I have a coupon for $1 off seafood, I will usually use them on the solid white tuna we all like here - of course when it is on sale for $1/can. This has been the worst item to redeem - I've had to argue with cashiers that tuna really is seafood. Because it comes from the grocery dept, not the fresh seafood dept., I've had cashiers try to not let me redeem these coupons. I say, if it swims in the ocean and has a fish on the label, it really is seafood!

A couple of years ago, one wine company practically littered the stores with $1.50 off any salty snack coupons. When the store put Lays on sale BOGO, they were free, so I bought 40 bags. Yes, I am now fatter, but mmmmmm!

The best time of year for winetags is just around the corner. Thanksgiving usually means coupons for Turkey, Flowers, Stuffing, Fresh Veggies, Cranberries, Gravy, etc. Same for Xmas. Summer usually brings winetags for sunglasses, sunscreen, beach towels, fruit, grilling meats. This year I got about 100 coupons from a wine distributor that was a tri-fold coupon, $1 off for any BBQ sauce/marinade, $1 off Meat and $1 off Charcoal. Suffice it to say that I stocked up on BBQ sauce at $0.79-$1/bottle and used the meat coupons. I was able to use a few of the charcoal coupons to buy plenty of wood chips for my smoker, and also let me play Santa Clause all summer - every time I saw someone with charcoal in their basket, I gave them the $1 off coupon.






Worship no brands: VerWon is 100% on the mark for this - brand loyalty can cost you, but so can the store brands. I have used Mach 3 razors for years, but I will now use Titanium. But I won't use the cheaper disposables or store brands because they don't last long and I get a horrible shave. But Edge with a coupon is cheaper than the store brand, but I will use any brand on sale with a coupon. As an aside, my kids have forbidden me from buying the store brand ketchup or Hunt's. We have to buy Heinz or they won't use it and worse than that, they twitch and moan so much that it really isn't worth it. Good thing the store had 50 cent off "blinkies" which I held onto until a recent sale, and now we are stocked up for the next year or so.

Many of the cashiers know me now, and usually make nice comments on the amount that I have saved. I guess that I am the coupon King so you can still be my Queen. I rarely spend more than $10 for a $100 trip to the store. We eat very well, buy the top brands and can survive for months without a trip to the grocery store, but what would be the fun in that?

Hope this helps!
~Gary

[verwon]

Great tips from you, too, not4sale, sorry though, I had to remove the bar code tip though, since it is, technically considered cheating, because misuse of a coupon means the stores don't get reimbursed for it, that type of stuff isn't allowed to be posted on DOD, just like the selling of coupons, can't post that either. No big deal, just wanted to let you know why that had disappeared and editing was done, you are new and I don't think anyone, ever, reads all the site rules when they sign up! LOL! I know I never do.

Don't forget you can also combine your coupon savings with rebates or rebated programs, as well as other programs such as UPromise, Upromise is nice, even though they only give a small percentage of your purchase price back, they take it from the full, regular purchase price of the item, not the sale price or after coupon price. I recently picked up Cottonelle Flushable Wipes at Eckerd, which is now a participating store, and though they were on sale, Tub for $1.99 and Refill for $1.79, which I coupled with $1 off any coupons from the blinky machine so I only paid 99¢ for the tub and 79¢ each for a few refills, I still got the Upromise amount based on the regular price of $2.99 each.

I have also had it occur where I had negative balances and I do the same thing now, I add something else, like a candy bar for my son, or a pack of gum.

I have two freezers, the one on my fridge, which is a side-by-side, so it is a nice big freezer space, because we actually buy more frozen items, than we do refrigerated, and I have a large upright freezer. Keeping them organized is a must though, as otherwise you will never find anything.

As to the winetags, not all areas have these, because, for instance, in PA they do not sell it in the grocery stores, it is illegal, so none of those here, though I gladly trade for them when I can, often using paypal, so if you ever have any extras, let me know!

As to your other tips, which some consider cheating, so I had to remove as well, most of the time, you are correct, the store does get the full amount of that coupon, regardless of what you pay, and if it weren't against the rules, I would have left it in there, but... Sorry about that.

Generic ketchup is just nasty, I can't even get my husband to use it here, it has to be Hunts or Heinz and preferrably Heinz, though we rarely get coupons for it, so I stock up when I do, just recently ran out from a sale last year that with coupons had me paying 29¢ a bottle.

Another good trick is to store hop, read all the sales flyers for stores that are in a reasonable driving distance from where you live, trust me, careful planning and couponing will save more than what you spend on gas! Match the sales flyers with your coupons, forget picking something up just when you run out and need it, if you can get it for free or pennies, PICK IT UP NOW, because you know, you WILL need it. This saves a lot of money, because if you wait, because that jar of Mayo at home isn't empty yet, when it is, and you really need to pick it up, the sale may be over and the coupons expired, so you are stuck paying full price.

Here in Punxsy, we have a regular grocery store that doubles to 99¢, a Super Wal-Mart, Eckerd, RiteAid, and another small wholesale grocery. Now, the wholesale grocery had huge markups on the items they have to order in and don't get cheaply from overruns and such, so items such as cereal, meat, deli, and most frozen foods are not worth buying, they will be significantly cheaper at Wal-Mart or the other grocery, even though they do double to 99¢, however, when they get various condiments, pickles, canned goods, peanut butter, jelly, cleaning items and etc. in on their overruns, they are super cheap, they have no limits for the amount of coupons you can use, so you can buy as many as you wish and for which you have coupons.

I shop carefully as well, my family loves Kraft Suddenly Salad Ranch and Bacon, coupons usually come out for it, in the inserts, once or twice in the summer, and this is the time stores put it on sale since people love pasta salads as a picnic type side dish, so perfect stock up time, however, you have to watch the prices closely. The regular grocery store's regular price is usually around $3 a box, while Wal-Marts regular price is only $1.48 a box, so even though Wal-Mart doesn't double the coupon, I still get it cheaper buy picking it up there. This summer, my grocery store went crazy with these 10 items for $10 sale, you didn't have to buy all 10, you could just buy 1 and pay only $1, or you could mix and match, 2 of this, 3 of that, and so on. I figured with the trend they were following, they were going to hit the Suddenly Salad sooner or later, so I waited patiently, and sure enough they did. With a 40¢ coupon doubles, I stocked up for 20¢ a box, I had 14 coupons, so I bought 14 boxes for just $2.80, less than their regular price for one box.

Our local Sheetz convenience store always puts out the early edition of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on Saturday evenings, even if we aren't going anywhere, since it is barely 2 blocks from the house, I will often have my son run and pick me up a paper, he already knows at 11 to make sure the inserts are in there, before he buys it for me. LOL! He asks me each time how many too look for, and which ones. This lets me check out what coupons are in there, that I know will result in free or super cheap items for our family, then I know if it is worth the cost of the paper, basically will I save more than each paper costs due to the coupons in it, the Post Gazette here is now $1.75 each. If I am saving more than that, I will go out on Sunday and pick up multiples. I also have friends and family who send me their coupons every two weeks or so, when they have enough to fill an envelope.

My dad especially loves to save them for me, because whenever I go down, I fill the trunk up with extra grocery items for him. So I really stock two households, plus I donate a lot of stuff. When you get a toothpaste coupon that says it is good on ANY size, they really do mean that, you can even use it on the trial or travel sizes, which often makes them free, and homeless or women's shelters love to get these types of items. They never have enough money to provide for everyone that comes in and it is really hard to hygienically portion out a full sized tube of toothpaste. So I pick up shampoos, toothpastes, conditioners, soaps, shaving cream, disposable razors, toothbrushes, etc. and donate them regularly.

[not4sale]

Originally Posted by verwon

I had to remove the bar code tip though, since it is, technically considered cheating....

Would you edit Moses as well? Would you go see a movie with Charleston Heston called "The Nine Commandments"? LOL

OK, as even I pointed out in the now omitted sections, some of the suggestions did dip a bit into the gray area, and I appreciate you running a very clean forum.

On the other hand, I think it is good to know how to read the codes. I used a coupon the other day that was miscoded, but not at all in my favor - it was $1 off, but rang for only 70 cents. The cashier kept trying to scan it over and over (I think she kept thinking, "This time it will scan right"). Because I knew where on the barcode to look, I was able to realize that it had the wrong code on it, and was able to get her to call the mgr over so I could get the right coupon value instead of her theory that I was only getting the 70 cents due to the item being on sale.

It's a crying shame you don't have the winetags - I have saved thousands over the years. I know that without them, I would not eat so well. I do the travel circuit to not only get the bargains, but to get the winetags.

The downside to the winetags is that the cashiers don't understand them. I suppose it is very unusual for them to see a coupon that is good on any meat for example. I have been told that I can only use them on meat that has the wine brand or that they don't accept those coupons - even when I got them from their store! I've been told that the "Instant Rebate" printed on the coupon meant that I had to mail it in to get the money, despite the "instant" and the bar code that their scanner had already accepted.

I found that there was a strange thing going on with the cashiers. Many of them seemed to go out of their way to try to find reasons not to take the coupons. And I know that this will sound sexist, but I never had any problems with the male cashiers, only the women. The men would say things like "good deal" while the women seemed to act like the coupon was coming out of their paycheck. Have you ever noticed this as well? Another forum for coupons also has noticed this, and recommends that you choose the youngest male cashier if there is one, to avoid the "Coupon Nazi" mentality.

This summer, I had a ton of coupons that were for $2 off any Ham or Lamb. The coupon stated on it that it was good for "any ham or lamb purchase". I was repeatedly told that because the picture on the coupon showed a whole ham, I could only use it on a whole ham, not a package or slice of ham. I would ask where they sold the whole lambs, or if I could use it on lamb at all since lamb wasn't in the picture. Sometimes that would work, but I was told by a store manager (at Meijers) that they wouldn't accept the coupon at all unless I bought a whole ham. It irked me to no end, so I went and got a small package of lamb chops and asked him to honor the coupon - and he refused. He went on to tell me that I would have to buy at least a $10 package of lamb for him to accept the coupon.

I asked him to show me where the coupon had a minimum purchase requirement (it didn't), or to show me the store coupon policy that allowed them to put new restrictions on coupons. He told me that each store and manager could use its own discretion when it came to honoring coupons. Keep in mind, this was after the cashier scanned the coupon, and the computer accepted and took the money off for the coupon!

You would think that a store would want us to use as many coupons as we can, especially on their high profit items like meat, but nooooooooooo! The manager photocopied the coupons, demanded my name and phone number (I have a voicemail-only number to give, so it didn't bother me) and then said he was going to call the company to clarify the use of the coupons. Well knock me over with a feather, but I never heard from him again - so I called and left several unreturned messages.

I couldn't believe that the cashiers would make such a fuss about coupons even after the computer had accepted them. I think their systems are coded to beep for the higher value coupons or coupons with a certain number in their barcode (that I won't mention), and this is why they kept questioning them. I can understand trying to cut out coupon fraud, but no way was this fraud, misuse, or even a gray area. Buying a $2 package of ham with a $2 coupon isn't a

I really don't get it sometimes. Why allow cashiers and managers to pick on the coupon shopper when the chain is trying to attract them? They use double coupons to get us in and even co-op advertisements with the manufacturers to combine their sales and coupon deals. Over and over when I combine coupons so well that the item is free, I've been told that it isn't "fair" to get items for free - that's not what coupons are for. My comeback is that their own store ads sometimes have deals with rebates that make the items free, so how is that any different?

It comes down to human nature I guess. I'm getting a better deal than them, so it isn't fair in their minds. But you and I both know that they could be doing the same thing, if only they would take the time and effort needed to collect coupons, and the patience and discipline to shop carefully and well.

Ok - I'd get off my soapbox, but I didn't have any soapbox coupons, so I didn't buy one!

~Gary

[verwon]

LOL! Love the soapbox comment. I do apologize again for the editing.

Yes, I have noticed the same thing with the cashiers, I like to go to our local grocery late at night, when they almost always have young, bored men working. They just don't care, they will scan any coupon, and if it doesn't scan they will take it off manually and throw it in the pile. One night, one of them even said to me he didn't care if something was screwed up, it was the stores fault for making him work those hours when he should be home in bed. LOL! He was a trip and I love it when he is working.

But yes, I have gotten that attitude before, especially from elderly cashiers who are female. They seem to resent someone getting such good deals with coupons.

[DINGBAT5800]

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[TTMommy]

Thanks so much for this post!! (I always miss out on the Swiffer ones because they're gone so quickly! )

[foxor]

Great! thanks

[LesliM4]

Thank you!!

[coffeebeaned]

Thank you!