Buyer Beware! (Catilina Marketing Insider Info)

So I had another botched trip to Walgreens yesterday. I read on MSM in the comments section that the belief that using coupons voids out RR (otherwise known as Catilinas) is false and that they will in fact work, so I decided to try an experiment. I was on my last day of one of my RR from the Robutussin deal and figured that I would add it to my $10 of other items and the Dimetapp deal and see what happens. Worst case I have 3 bottles of cough syrup for my kids (and who doesn't need that) for a whopping 9 bucks! Best case I have proven a theory and I can go on my merry shopping way with another piece of knowledge to use on the front line.

Well it didn't go so well. I went to a different Walgreens, because I didn't have time to hassle with the manager of my local one, who tends to be there whenever I go. The experience was much better and might be worth the extra few minutes. I bought exactly $10 worth of items plus 3 Dimetapp boxes, used my $10 RR, 3 of the printable Dimetapp $2/1 coupons, paid roughly $12 in cash and got...NO RR!! But I was prepared for this, as proven from countless other blogs and comments, arguing about a Catilina not printing out at the store is pointless, especially at Walgreens (more about why later) so I left without a word.

The next morning (because I missed the open hours for Catilina Marketing by 5 min!) I called and spoke to a very friendly guy in their customer service department. He checked my receipt information and to my surprise I was supposed to get the Catilina after all! But that information was not easy to come by for me or him. The reason? Walgreens has a "Weird" set of rules they use, different from any other store that uses these machines!

Turns out that Walgreens has what the guy called a "Buy none get none" there are no official specific over all rules but basically the guideline is this: "I want you to buy my product and I will pay you to do it, BUT I don't want you to use my coupons to do it". The problem with this policy is that it is inconsistent. For instance: You might think, for example that you can use a Kraft RR to buy a Kellogg's product that spits out another RR and vice versa, but in the case of my experiment it turns out that both Robitussin and Dimetapp are both Wyeth products and so (you'd think) should NOT spit out a RR using one to pay for the other, but as proven by my phone call, it does.

So what's a poor couponer to do? I talked to the customer service guy and he told me that not even they have a clear list of what RR items do and do not allow you to use a coupon, and BTW this is not limited to RR coupons, he gave me an example of the Crest Pro Health RR deal floating around out there. In their department they don't have an actual name or description of coupons allowed or not, but what they DO have is a UPC number and based on that they tell me that (if I understood correctly) while a RR should work, if you use the .75/1 Crest coupon it won't spit out a RR!

The following number (also in the MSM comments above) 1-888-322-3814 belongs to Catilina Marketing. Memorize this number people, put it in your contacts list, Rolodex whatever just make sure you don't lose it. This could be the most important piece of information you could ever have for running these Catalina deals at ANY store. While the guy was not able to tell me a base rule for knowing what things will and won't work with what coupons he did tell me that the best thing is to call the company ahead of time, tell them the deal you are looking at and they will tell you if it should work or not! How cool is that? No more botched Catilina deals, because there was a trick that nobody knew about.

I went ahead and asked the guy if he minded me passing along this information and he said there was no problem with it. So go ahead and call people...they've been forewarned.

Edit: Well I talked to MSM and she says that people have been getting the Crest deal to go through using the coupon...guess there still aren't any complete answers. I for one will still be calling ahead of time, at least that way I can still have an idea if I may run into some problems.

Saving money as an act of greed?

So I was talking with someone today about couponing and working hard to find the best deals. She had a conversation with a person who in their line of work has to help people who get themselves into trouble trying so hard to find the "better deal" and getting swindled or just making bad decisions over all. I guess that gives her a unique prespective on something we all strive to accomplish and since I am nothing if not interested in other points of view (even if I don't agree) I thought I would take a minute to look at this.

IS there something wrong with using coupons to try to save a buck? I know that a number of the stores I go to seem to be rather pertubed with the fact that I walk in with coupons walk out with free stuff. Stores like CVS seem to have modifed their outrageous deals because they were being abused according to the higher ups. Walgreens has even gone one step further and prevented us from taking advantage of their $/$$ deals by requiring the total after coupons. And lets take a look at the vernacular we all use. Most every "savings" blog I visit talks about taking advantage of a deal every change they get.

Personally I see nothing wrong with using what some people might consider to be a loophole to get a better deal. After all, how many of us aren't willing to pick up 2 items for the price of NONE curtosy of the BOGO sale combined with a BOGO coupon. Let's be honest though...how many store managers, cashiers etc that actually care about their job and have an emotional connection to it, dont watch us walk out with free stuff without being frustrated, annoyed or in my case I'm pretty sure the manager at my local walgreens has my picture on a dart board in the back.

So what does that say about us? The couponers from far and wide robbing stores legally and bragging about it to the webverse? I have only been doing this for a little over 6 months and I am far from what I would call an expert, but I plan on getting better and every week I find another chance to "rob" another store. So I guess my question is...

How much is too much? IS going out of my way to get something for nothing (and in some cases making money) actually being greedy? Where is the line? Does anyone know?

I need your help fellow couponers! As someone who is a virtual toddler in the world of coupon mavens, what do you think? Is saving money akin to a form of greed? And if so, when is saving money a good thing?

There's no crying in couponing!

Or guilt either for that matter.

I have been debating on writing this post after my not so overly successful last two trips to my local Walgreens. I think I will file this under the "What I have learned" section even though it is not in the same format.

I am far from a veteran couponer, having only done this for the last 6 months. I have, however had the benefit of coupons in two different states and many different locations of quite a few different stores, so I think I have seen just about everything at this point with the exception of the fantasy land store that takes expired coupons , and I can tell you one thing...

We are at war people!!!

Well not really, because honestly I have run into more coupon friendly cashiers than I have encountered the non coupon friendly ones. Sometimes, though you will walk into a store with a smile on your face and walk out with a frown, or maybe even on a really bad day you might just walk out close to tears. There are many places I have found that have tips on how to address a "bad" cashier on the technical aspects, what order to run your coupons to get the most out of them (because it really does matter in some places). I will provide a list of some of those places below.

I'm here today to talk to you about the emotional side of couponing. Most of the time you will walk into a store with your coupons and walk out with way more items than the cashier or fellow shoppers would ever expect. You will do this without a hassle from the cashier or at least (if need be) the manager will be accepting. Other times, however you will find yourself with that unenlightened frustrated poor soul who considers a loss for the store a personal attack. They are the same ones who will run after and tackle a shoplifter risking their safety when the store would rather keep their employee alive than a .75 cent pack of gum. I have encountered strong opposition at Target when I started in California and recently I am pretty sure I have become public enemy #1 at my local Walgreens. I even got some of the dreaded "These coupons are getting really out of control" This statement by the way after I tried to use their register rewards in a fairly straightforward deal with none of the usual extreme savings we're all used to.

But I digress...couponing is not for the faint of heart. You get looks, huffs, sighs, comments, and even the occasional refusal, often with the explanation that there is no way you can expect to get something for nothing, or even really really cheap. Stores get emotional, so you can't afford to join them! Steel yourself to expect the worst hassles on your shopping trip, but walk in with a smile, acknowledge the people who are eyeing you as soon as you set foot inside and even sometimes a little humility and self deprecating humor can smooth the way. They know you are planning to walk in with as little money as possible and to walk out with as much as you can, and so do you, so why hide it? No sense in looking suspicious.

But no matter what don't let them get to you. There's no crying in couponing unless you want to cry over that deal you botched and there shouldn't be any guilt either. The next time you get hassled for trying to save a few cents (and we all know those cents add up) remember that those pennies that people get so frustrated with you trying to keep are just as important to a big store or corporation as they are to you. Probably more so. Most of us take some of our abundance and donate it to others and those change jars aren't filled by cashiers, but almost no grocery store is going to let you walk out a few cents short so why shouldn't you protect those few cents when it's your money saved? Don't let anyone make you feel guilty, sad or ashamed for wanting to use the money you have to its best possible benefit to you.

Ok I'm stepping off my soap box now.

Here are some great places if you want help with Combating Cashier Confusion:

Walgreens 101
CVS 101
Making CVS Work
curtosy of Money Saving Mom

And before you decide that maybe it's not worth the aggravation, maybe you can get by without using coupons and "working" the stores...MKTK reminds us why stockpiling saves more than money.

Now it's your turn...does anyone have any venting stories or bad experiences they had that they handled with class and grace? Or not...Surely I can't be the only one with overly protective store employees. How did you handle a legitimate deal being rejected?

Silk Savings

I have been asked by a reader to keep track of the Silk Soy Milk sales and deals, so here's what I have found so far...

Apparently on occasion there is a coupon from the Silk site that has pretty good coupons. Get there quick though because looks like there are a lot of Silk buyers and those coupons go fast! For those of you interested here is the link for setting up an email alert for yourself so that perhaps you can get the coupon before it runs out.

In the meantime TheCentsibleSawyer shared some good Walmart Deals, one of which is Silk Soy Milk for $2.98! Follow this link, scroll to the bottom and you can find a link for a $2/1 Silk Soy Milk coupon bringing a Silk purchase from Walmart down to .98 cents!

Of course if you don't want to go to Walmart, $2 off is a great deal wherever you go!

edit: King Soopers has Silk on sale for 2 for $5 at $2.50 each that's even better than the Walmart Price!

If you are one of those forced to pay a bunch for Silk, be sure to check in often. Whenever I find a deal on Silk I'll be sharing my discoveries with you!