How much do you save on your shopping using coupons?

Felicity

WELSH-DRAGON wrote:

Hiya Felicity, I used to do the same as you but have found now that I am recognised in my local stores !! funny thing is I have NEVER seen anyone else using vouchers whilst I have waited at the till.

However, the one supervisor will confirm that I can use my vouchers and will sometimes check what I am handing over to see if I am giving them any duplicates, in which case she will reject them. Ages ago there was a lady on here who was banned from her local Tescos for using vouchers so I do try to be discreet and not hand over bundles at a time. What I do is sometimes stagger my shopping so I can use some at a time rather than all in one go.

What I save varies - usually between £10-25 depending on how many times I have been there etc. As you probably know as avid voucher hunters Ramblers newspaper thread is one to check daily as for example today the Daily Mail has a voucher for £1.30 off so that's 85p profit on each paper bought and you can use the voucher at tescos without buying the item.

welshy xxx

How did you realise you were being recognised in your local store? Did they confront you?

Sparky67

Felicity wrote:

It is a little hit and miss and depends on which till operator I go to and in which store.

I look for the young lads who generally are not too bothered (good tip I got from on here) and they generally just scan as many as I hand over and often chuckle as they do so. My best ever is over £50 off a £70 shop and that included over £40 of the Nice N Easy vouchers (scan at £2.15 each). I was gobsmacked at that!

I have been to a different operator in the same store and they said no to any at all. Hey ho, I just avoid them in future.

How do you come by £40 worth of vouchers for one product????

Felicity

Sparky67 wrote:

How do you come by £40 worth of vouchers for one product????

No, I picked up a stack of vouchers for the Nice n Easy product from Superdrug (tip from here again, so thanks). They are supposed to be used in Superdrug if you buy one product get one half price. However, they scan at Asda and Sainsburys for £2.15 each (and you don't have to buy the product). They are valid till mid August I think so grab some if you can. Apparently they wont scan at Tesco though, even on self scan.

I hand over a wedge of them in one transaction, hence the huge money saving.

calleyw

Handing over duplicate vouchers will bring you to the attention of the supervisors and even mangement.

As they can check to see what has been through what till and who was logged on.

By doing this it could mean a clamp down that lots of other people have been suffering. As well as using vouchers that are not suppose to be used from other shops.

I don't use vouchers for things I have not bought due to the fact that most of my local supermarkets don't accept them. It really does not worry me. It is just a fact of life. And one day the supermarkets will clamp down as they don't want to handle them. I have even had my shopping ferretted through to check that I had bought the items. So not worth the hassle.


Yours


Calley

pesky2

Thanks for letting me know that Sainsburys will accept the Nice n' easy coupons, may try my local one

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Felicity wrote:

How did you realise you were being recognised in your local store? Did they confront you?

Hello Felicity, what happened was that a male SA (young chap) called the supervisor over to check my vouchers, she said yes scan them all but now as she stands watching over all the checkouts she keeps an eye on me. She said too many people had been handing over duplicate vouchers so I tend to sort mine into different ones now. I have said to her that I have the voucher policy in email form from Tesco HO and she has said fine they will accept different vouchers even if I do not buy the items, but not duplicates.
So fair enough really she is obeying orders from above but I do feel I'm being watched sometimes.

Felicity

calleyw wrote:

Handing over duplicate vouchers will bring you to the attention of the supervisors and even mangement.

As they can check to see what has been through what till and who was logged on.

By doing this it could mean a clamp down that lots of other people have been suffering. As well as using vouchers that are not suppose to be used from other shops.

I don't use vouchers for things I have not bought due to the fact that most of my local supermarkets don't accept them. It really does not worry me. It is just a fact of life. And one day the supermarkets will clamp down as they don't want to handle them. I have even had my shopping ferretted through to check that I had bought the items. So not worth the hassle.


Yours


Calley

Gosh that sounds a little harsh (going through your shopping I mean). I know some people are bitter about others getting lots of vouchers through (I have seen it on other sites), but if you live in an area where vouchers are not commonly used then they go through easily and don't seem to cause any problems.

I accept that a till operator can say no, and not accept anything if they do then I just keep them until next time.

I should point out though that whenever I get huge discounts, I give the Big Issue Seller £3 for the paper and I chuck a couple of quid into the charity box on the way out. I wouldn't normally have the cash to do that and it makes me feel that the supermarkets are giving a little something back.

--Tony--

I don't worry about useing the same people infact I'm known well in my store and always get served by the same people.

I find if I get new staff who don't have a clue its a pain as they have to call the manager over to check they stock the item.

I used to use unlimited vouchers but the manager told me they had to bring in a rule of 1/3 of your bill and no duplicate vouchers (another person was brining in loads the same). When I come up to the till they get the calculator out to work out exactly what my 1/3 comes to.

So I save about £20-£30 a week, every week guaranteed.

calleyw

Felicity wrote:

Gosh that sounds a little harsh (going through your shopping I mean). I know some people are bitter about others getting lots of vouchers through (I have seen it on other sites), but if you live in an area where vouchers are not commonly used then they go through easily and don't seem to cause any problems.

I accept that a till operator can say no, and not accept anything if they do then I just keep them until next time.

I should point out though that whenever I get huge discounts, I give the Big Issue Seller £3 for the paper and I chuck a couple of quid into the charity box on the way out. I wouldn't normally have the cash to do that and it makes me feel that the supermarkets are giving a little something back.

I know but that is the way it is around here. I hope you did not think I was trying to be harsh towards you.

But supermarkets are funny things and managers even more so. I mean we have one 24 hour Tescos and an normal Asda about half a mile apart. And neither will take vouchers if not buying the products. And the fuss in Asda when I asked at customer services about using lucheon vouchers was amazing. You can only use them in cafes I am like what are you on about. It has a huge Asda sign on the back of the leaflet and I was going to be buying food anyway. And the same again when it went through the till. Any one would think I was stealing.

If you can get away with it well done I say. I wish I could. But just be careful as Tony in the post above me has said he is not allow to use duplicates. If they see a lot of the same ones going through the same tills at the same time they well do the same. Which just makes it harder for you in the end as they clamp down. I suppose as long as you divide your shopping up in to smaller amounts. Now there is an idea. Wonder how many times you could do before my card was declined :rotfl:

Keep on saving. All the best.


Yours


Calley

igloo

Felicity wrote:

Gosh, how odd that somebody would be banned for using coupons!

If they accept them from you and scan them and tell you the price minus the coupon voucher then they are accepting the transaction surely. How can they then ban you?

Maybe I should be a bit more careful.

Hi

I'm banned for using money off coupons.

For anyone who's interested, here is the thread - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=78328&pp=10.

I do still use coupons but I am now much more wary of how much and how many I use!