Step 1: Understanding Publix Match Ups

As promised I will walk you through planning a Publix trip this week.  Usually on Monday a Sneak Peek Publix ad is posted.  Michelle does an excellent job of matching up the sale items with the coupons available for those products. I like to get started right away.  Printing coupons on Monday or Tuesday is a good idea because later in the week coupon print limits can be reached leaving no coupons for you.

When the Sneak Peek comes out the first thing I check out are the Buy One, Get One Deals.  I then proceed to check out the meats, produce and other grocery items on sale. But first you must understand how to read match ups…

So here is what a match up looks like–
Juicy Juice All Natural 100% Juice, Assorted Varieties, 64 oz bot, BOGO $3.65
-$1/2 Nestle Juicy Juice All Natural 100% Juice Items, Any – Nestle School Days Made Simple (Valid from 8/1/09-7/31/10)
-$1/2 Juicy Juice PRINT (register/sign in)

The way this BOGO will ring up in Alabama is 1/2 and 1/2–or 1.83 each.  Since they ring up this way you do not have to buy 2 to get the deal. One alone would ring up $1.83. (FL will ring up $3.65 and $0 so you must buy 2.)

Two coupons are listed in RED, which means they are manufacturer coupons. You could pick either of those coupons to use(you may not have all the coupons listed because different areas have different coupons).  Remember it is one manufacturer coupon and one store coupon per one item. If a store coupon was listed you could use one of those as well.

So I would print the $1/2 manufacturer coupon. Now when you use a $1/2 coupon, it means you are getting $1 off two bottles of juice. So you MUST buy 2 bottles to use this coupon. $1/1 would be $1 off one bottle. Not the case here. If I buy 2 bottles of juice I could use one $1/2 coupon. If I bought 4 bottles of juice I could use two $1/2 coupons.

$3.65-$1 manufacturer coupon=$2.65 or you paid $1.34 after coupon.

Ocean Spray Juice Cocktail or Juice Drink, Assorted Varieties, 64 oz bot (Excluding 100% Cranberry Juice) BOGO $3.99
-$1/2 Ocean Spray Grapefruit Juice or Grapefruit Juice Drinks, Any 64 Oz. 02-14-10 RP
-$1/1 Ocean Spray Fruit & Veggie Juice Drink, Any 64 Oz. Varieties 03-21-10 RP

What does 03/21/10 RP mean?  That is the day that coupon was in the newspaper insert. March 21st, Red Plum insert.

Fresh Express Salad Blends, 4.5 to 12 oz bag, BOGO $3.99
-$1.50/2 Fresh Express Salad Blends, Any – 02-21-10 SS
-$1/1 Fresh Express Salad Blends or Complete Kits Tearpad
-Free John Morrell Ham Cuts wyb Fresh Express Salad Blend – valid up to $1.99
-$1/2 Fresh Express Publix Family Style Home Mailed version Summer 2010-thanks Sharelle

In this example we have manufacturer coupons AND store coupons.
Using the formula:
ONE Manufacturer Coupon + ONE Store Coupon = One Item
Let’s take a look at how we could match this up.

Buy 2 packs.
Use (1) $1/2 Manufacturer Coupon
Stacked with (1) $1/2 Store Coupon

OR

Buy 2 items.
Use (2) $1/1 Manufacturer coupons
Stacked with (1) $1/2 Store coupon

The store coupons that a Publix location will accept is decided by each store manager. Our local stores will accept local drugstore, local grocery store, Publix and Target coupons as store coupons. Our local stores would not take a Food Lion coupon(also called a FLIP) because we do not have those stores in our area.

Does this make sense? Or did I just muddy the waters some more?  I am trying to make this clear. Once you know how to read and understand match ups, you are well on your way. So right now I am picking which items we need, those I consider to be good deals, and I am pulling/printing the coupons.  Tomorrow I will show you all my coupons–they will be clipped/printed.