Now that I’m trying to purchase more organic “real” food, for my weight and for my family’s health in general, I’m even more careful when choosing and using my coupons. There are coupons out there for organic food, produce and meat. It requires a tad more effort to find them sometimes. (I found a really nice site that listed companies and instructions on how to get coupons: Organic Grocery Coupons)
My first trip to the grocery store, late last week, was a test run with the kids to see what my local Kroger had to offer. I had a couple internet coupons printed out for yogurt and milk. When I arrived at the register, the cashier informed me that my Kroger had once again changed their coupon policy. Only TWO internet coupons PER DAY would be allowed. I only had two anyway so I handed them over, paid for my groceries and sulked all the way home.
My in-laws bring me coupons when they come but that isn’t weekly. Many of the coupons I get to use are printed online straight from the manufacturer’s website. No way was I going to drive my kids all the way to Kroger every day to be able to use my coupons.
Today was our big grocery trip. I made a list, checked it twice against my coupons, and in the end I had at least three printed ones I wanted to use. The Mr. B was meeting me at the store, to help coral the kids, so I figured if I needed the third one and couldn’t use it then he could.
Walking into the store it dawned on me… yes I am that slow… that maybe, just maybe the cashier misunderstood the policy. Most printable coupon sites only allow you to print a coupon twice. Maybe the policy was a limit of two LIKE printed coupons. Maybe.
So I parked the kids with hubby and I went to customer service. I asked the manager if they had a copy of their coupon policy that I could keep. She grumbled a bit and said no, but they had one I could read. Then she read it to me off the bulletin board.
“No more than 5 like manufacturer’s coupon per day. No more than 2 internet ones per day.”
Apparently she was paraphrasing because when I asked her for clarification, then pulled out my three coupons and asked her a third time she went back and read it word for word.
“No more than 2 printed coupons from the same manufacturer per person per day.”
Well now, that is totally different. Maybe I can’t buy out all their Stoneyfield yogurts with my 9 coupons but I can pick up my Horizon milk, my Apple and Eve juice, and one big yogurt!
My total before my Kroger card and coupons was $398.
My total after discounts and coupons…. $302.
That’s almost 25% off!
Not the best grocery trip I’ve ever done, but considering I was buying organic stuff (and the stuff that was just “on sale” and not a Kroger card discount sale doesn’t show up as being a discount… the sale price is already in the beginning total 
).
Many of the items I picked up were new ingredients (like Rice Vinegar) that I won’t need to buy again for a while.
Now… who knows where I can find organic chocolate chips? I deserve a cookie.
