Minor venting

[VirginiaMom]

I'm in Northern Virginia. Is anyone else noticing errors more and more often on the weekly CouponMom grocery deals list for Giant? It's disappointing, because I really count on that list to save our family time and money... Often the coupons listed don't match up with what really comes in the Washington Post - there are slightly better coupons offered further away from our region, and those are the ones listed, which I get excited about and then go to my binder to find that isn't the coupon we got. (But, thanks to trading, I've managed to score more of those.) But also, I've found several times that there are coupons for things in my binder from the Post that are not listed next to the item on the weekly sale list. The deal is actually better than what is listed because the associated coupon wasn't matched up with the listed sale price. It feels like an added bonus when I happen to find these, but I'm also afraid I'm missing great deals if I'm not super careful about crosschecking the list, store ad, and my binder. And I get it...this is a free site, and I should only be grateful. I just wish Giant got the same attention that some of the other stores seem to be getting. Maybe I'm off base about this. I do love CouponMom as a whole! We have saved A LOT of money in the last several months by using coupon strategies and weekly deals lists!

[Bear]

All the lists are off slightly. For example, Kroger in Ohio has at least two regions, Great Lakes and Cincinnati but there is only one list. Sometimes the sale prices vary be region. There are also multiple doubling policies depending on which area of the state you live in. I have doubles to $0.99, but the matchups only do doubles to $0.50. I just know to be aware of it. Extra coupons not listed? That is just a super bonus.

The lists are a guide not a guarantee. There is no way to have a 100% accurate list unless you had someone doing matchups at every store in the nation. Coupons vary from paper to paper, store price vary even more from one side of town to another. I am grateful to have a free site do all the matchups they do for me. The Couponmom matchups are the best out there, IMO.

[VirginiaMom]

I read your posts often, and trust your advice, so thanks for the feedback on it! I'll get better at it the more I learn. ) On another note, I noticed you posted on a Giant Eagle run that your IP was doubled. I haven't tried to do that at our Giant as I read on here somewhere that many stores don't double IP's. Glad to hear GE does! Maybe that means our Giant will too. I'll try it! I've just stuck with newspaper Q's at the grocery store, and saved the IP's for CVS, which doesn't double anyway.

[Bear]

Both my Kroger and Giant Eagle will double all coupons that double automatically (basically if the barcode starts with a 5) even if they say DND. I am afraid this may be coming to an end soon with the new format barcodes that started in July. It is my understading if they say DND, they will not automatically double any longer. I have not had any, with a value less than $1.00, to test the system yet.

As far as I know Giant Eagle and Giant are not related. Good luck with your IPs.

[VirginiaMom]

Actually, I think they are related! I got a seasonal recipe/coupon magazine from Giant once that had several stores listed on the Q's inside - Giant, Giant Eagle, Stop and Shop (or something like that). Very often, the deals at GE are the same or at least similar to the ones at Giant. They may well not match up on Q policy, though. Anyway, thanks for the advice!

[Bear]

Actually, I think they are related! I got a seasonal recipe/coupon magazine from Giant once that had several stores listed on the Q's inside - Giant, Giant Eagle, Stop and Shop (or something like that). Very often, the deals at GE are the same or at least similar to the ones at Giant. They may well not match up on Q policy, though. Anyway, thanks for the advice!

Humm, who knew?

[VirginiaMom]

I just figured it out...none of the August Q's are included on the list yet. So they've missed all the match-ups for Q's that became available in the past week, and that's alot of Q's! The deals are much better than the ones listed on several items! Please post the ones you find, Giant shoppers! )

[Felix]

We have no grocery matching in Oklahoma so just get by with the forum, basically. Also, the qs listed are often quite different from what we get so its sorta interesting to see the regionality (just made that word up) of it all.

[Desert Debbi]

I use the match up here for what I can, and for what I CAN'T I googled and found a matching site for my area. Its not as good as coupon mom as it doesnt list percentages, nor can you get an email, or sort alpha to find deals easier but it helps =D Maybe you should look around for fellow N Virginians to see if they can point you in the right direction to supplement the services we get here at Mom's place =D

[mnm'z]

Hi... I just want to touch a bit on what Bear said regarding sales varying around the country. Several of the Indiana shoppers were reporting that Ground Beef was on sale at Meijer for $1.99# (a while ago) and it was $2.29 at my Meijer... same stores, same week, different prices. Oh, and the final prices for Meijer include double coupon values and I don't have that either. It's absolutely impossible for this site to be 100% accurate. However, that said... if it's a great deal in Indiana, it'll still be a great deal for me, just cost me a little more OOP. But that can't be helped, it's the region I'm in.