We have went over how to use the Buy Price List and weekly Ads on Southern Savers. I know that some of you really like holding and looking at a paper grocery ad.  If you that person, here are the best ways to filter out the items that are actually deals.

Only Look At The Math

When you are flipping through your ad, only look at the math. This is generally the bottom line underneath the products.  Don’t look at the product or the price, just the math.   If you see buy 10 and save 70¢, there is no way that the product is 40% off!  That’s a sale of 7¢ off an item.  When you see “good math” then look up and see what is on sale.  If it something that you will use, circle the product.  Once you have circled everything you want, then come and back and match coupons with the circled items.

Buy One Gets Ones Are Great Deals

On Southern Savers, we include almost all buy one get one deals. It is like getting the item for half off, which is a great price! So, go ahead and circle buy one get ones to your heart’s content.

There are two things to look out for though. The first is things that are B1G1 every week. For example, if shrimp is listed as B1G1 every single week, it’s not actually a sale. Other items to skip are buy one get one deals where the full price is raised significantly over what it normally is.  Most stores in the South East don’t do this, so we are generally safe.  If a price looks way off to you though pause before jumping on it.

Ignore “Surprisingly Low Price” or No Math Items

One of our go-to grocery stores loves to say “Surprisingly Low Price” when it actually isn’t a good sale. They don’t have anything nice to say, so they say basically say nothing at all. No matter how great that juicy steak or perfectly decorated cupcakes look, if it says this key phrase, it’s almost always not a deal. Skip it.

If you see an item that has no math listed in other ads, they are following the same “say nothing” rule.  Just keep on going to the next item as you skim the ad.

Only Shop One or Two Store Ads

When you get a big stack of store ads in the mail it can tempting to look through them all for the best deals. You will quickly tire of couponing if you try to get every deal though. The best thing to do is to pick one or two stores to shop at. You can then look at the ads for those stores.

If you can’t handle it, go ahead and look at additional store ads. Circle the deals, but then only shop at one or two stores that have the most deals. This way you can ensure you are making the most of your time.

Be sure to check back tomorrow.
We are going to go over stocking up and learning sale cycles!
If you can’t wait until then, you can go here to learn more about getting started couponing.