So, my last trip to Dillons was very informative. My store is now auto-adjusting coupons so that there is no longer any overage with coupons (my store is in Southwest Missouri). For example, before, if I bought lunchmeat on sale for $0.88 and had a $0.75 coupon, the coupon would automatically double to $1.00. Now, on this last trip, the coupons are adjusting so as not to allow the overage. Has anyone else noticed this in their recent Dillons trips? Here’s a breakdown of my transaction:

• 2 Kettle Chips 9 oz. (big bags), Marked down to $1.79 ea., Used $1.00/2 IP (no longer available, there’s also a $1.00/1 coupon from the 1/30 RP insert, but I didn’t have any of those)
• 2 Garden of Eatin’ Chips, Marked down to $1.19, Used 2 $1.00/1 coupons from HERE
• 2 Oscar Mayer Bologna $0.88 ea., Used 2 $0.75/1 tearpad coupons (see note below)
• 5 Colgate Toothpaste $0.98 ea., Used 5 $0.75/1 coupons from the 1/9 SS insert (see note below)
• McCormick Taco Seasoning $0.99, Used $0.75/1 coupon from the 1/2 RP insert (expired 2/6, my Dillons accepts expired coupons up to 2 weeks & see note below)
• Dillons Milk 2% Half Gallon, Marked down to $1.36
• 7Up 2 Liter $0.88
• Dillons Buns $1.00
• Final Cost $6.48

I took a picture of my receipt so that will hopefully demonstrate a bit better what I’m referring to. As the receipt shows, it didn’t auto-adjust each coupon, but it auto-adjusted at the end of the the receipt with the last few coupons. I know it looks crazy, I scratched my head over it for a few minutes, and I’m not sure how the register comes up with these totals in its computer brain, but the math ads up. It ended up not deducting $0.35 and that’s how much the overage would have been had all the coupons automatically doubled to $1.00. I hope that makes sense! 😕 Now, while I’m disappointed in this recent change, it certainly won’t prevent me from shopping at Dillons in the future. I mean, where else could I get all that for less than 7 bucks!? The Kettle Chips alone were $3.79 each before they were marked down! Dillons is still my favorite place to grocery shop, it still beats every store in my area hands down when it comes to their sales, markdowns & frequent mega event deals. It’s also the only grocery store in my area that has a shopper’s Card with eCoupons, that has catalina deals, that doubles coupons over $0.50 ($0.55 to $1.00 etc) & that also accepts expired coupons up to 2 weeks (I hope this stays the same & that they don’t make any further changes). I’m curious, where is everybody else’s favorite place to grocery shop? Feel free to leave a comment below, I’d love hear from my readers out there.

So I loaded up on groceries at Dillons a few days ago before the big snow storm hit us (we got at least 18 inches, dh is still shoveling us out). There have been tons of great deals at Dillons the last couple weeks & a lot of these deals I got below are still going on this week, so I’ll probably try to get in one more trip at the end of this week when the roads are a bit more clear. I had an issue with a couple coupons on this trip, the cashier wouldn’t accept them and you know what? That’s ok. One of the many things I’ve learned about couponing is that there is always be another deal to be had. Another thing is it’s never worth arguing about. Yes, I do state my case why I feel a coupon should be accepted and when cashier doesn’t feel the same way, I leave it at that. Personally, for me, it’s a golden rule kinda thing. I try my best to treat people the way I would want to be treated and I sure the heck wouldn’t want to be yelled at over coupons. There are simply bigger issues in life to get upset over and coupons are not one of those issues. 😉 Through quite a bit of trial & error (and oh yeah, lots of errors on my part, especially when I first started out couponing), I have found that I have the most luck with coupons when I stick to the cashiers I am familiar with. It has also worked much better in my favor when I have a good solid knowledge of how coupons work and how to use them properly. Anyway, enough about that, feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the subject.

My Transaction (all prices are after the Mega Event Discount is taken off):

• 20 Honest Tea $0.75 ea.*, Used 20 $0.50/1 tearpad coupons (doubles, I had traded for these coupons a couple months ago, first because I really, really love their tea & second, I hoping Mega Event sale would come up, boy, was I happy when it was a part of this sale!)
• Velveeta $4.49*
• 5 Rotel $0.49 ea.*, Used$1.00/3 coupon from HERE, B3GO Rotel coupon from All You Magazine, January issue AND $1.00 off wyb Velveeta & 1 Rotel coupon from booklet
• 3 Hunts Tomatoes $0.49 ea.*, Used $1.00/3 coupon form the 1/23 SS insert
• 4 Cans Hormel Chili with Beans $0.89 ea.*, Used 2 $0.55/2 coupons HERE (each doubled to $1.00)
• Hormel Chili Master $0.89 ea*., Used 2 $0.75/1 coupons HERE (each doubled to $1.00)
• Kroger Gallon Milk 1/2% $2.62
• Hiland Half Gallon Chocolate Milk $2.99, Used Buy Gallon Milk, Get Half Gallon Chocolate Milk Free up to $3.00 IP coupon (no longer available)
• Home Pride Bread $2.00
• 2 I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter $1.49 ea.*, Used Free Bread up to $2.00 wyb 2 ICBINB products (IP coupon no longer available). I also attempted to use 2 $0.60/1 coupons on the ICBINB, but the cashier wouldn’t accept them since I used the bread coupon. These should have been allowable since I was using the coupons on the butter, not trying to use another coupon on the bread, but it was a no go. Like I said above, it’s ok. Hey, I still got tons of great deals on this trip, so I sure can’t complain about 1 little mishap.
• 2 Fresh Mushrooms 8 oz., Marked down to $0.99 ea.
• 3 Bags Kettle Chips $1.29 ea.*, Used $1.00/1 IP coupon & $1.00/2 IP coupon (both no longer available)
• Kraft Salad Dressing 16 oz. $2.99, Used FREE coupon form home mailer
• Frank’s Hot Sauce 5 oz. $1.15, Used $0.50/1 coupon (doubled)
• Final Cost $8.99 and I was very happy with this total considering all the items I purchased, yay! 🙂

*Mega Event item

Whew, I meant to post my Dillons trip a lot earlier, but this week got away from me! And is it just me, or does it seem like Dillons has had way more “Mega Event” Sales this year than in the past? Not that I’m complaining, these sales are really awesome! Anyway, onto my deals (all prices are after the Mega Event Discount):

• 22 Bumble Bee Albacore Tuna 2.5 oz. pouches $0.49*, Used 23 $0.55/1 from the 9/12 SS insert (doubled) Note: I purchased these coupons months ago hoping another Mega Event would come up (so happy when it did lol). I also want to say BRAVO to my Dillons for knowing in advance what a hot selling item this would be. When I went, they had Bumble Bee pouches everywhere! They had 2 big displays in front of where the tuna is normally stocked and they had an endcap packed with these pouches, Yay! 😀
• 2 cans Carnation Evaporated Milk $0.50*, Used $0.50/2 coupon from 11/14 RP insert (doubled)
• Mezzetta Hot Jalapenos on sale $1.89, Used $0.50/1 coupon from All You Magazine (doubled, And, yes ma’am, these suckers are truly hot, my dh LOVES these, for me, a bit too hot 😯 , I’ll take the “tamed” version tyvm)
• 2 Mezzetta Pepperoncini on sale $1.89 ea., Used 2 $0.50/1 coupons from All You Magazine (doubled, now these things are my very favorite, just hot enough, but not so hot that I burn out my taste buds for a week lol)
• Frank’s Red Hot Sauce small bottle $1.15, Used $0.50/1 coupon from HERE (doubled, can you tell we’re a “spicy” household? LOL)
• Dillons Gallon 2% Milk $2.69
• Horizon Half & Half Pint $1.79, Used $1.00/1 coupon from HERE (oh, this was sooooo good in my coffee this morning, LOVE Horizon Organics)
• 3 Dole Salad Blends, Marked down to $1.00 ea., Used 3 $1.00/1 coupon flyer sheet (on display with the Dole Salads at numerous grocery stores I shopped at earlier this year)
• Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese $2.29, Used 2 Free coupons from Home Mailer (cashier took off $2.99)
• Pringles Extreme Chips $0.99*, Used Free Coupon from Home Mailer (cashier took off $1.49)
• 2 Bags of Doritos $2.25 ea.*, Used $1.00/2 tearpad coupon
• Munchies Chips $2.99, Used Buy 2 bags of Doritos, Get bag of Munchies Free tearpad coupon (on display at my store in front of the Doritos, looks like the coupons got pretty much wiped out though, not a whole lot left)
• 2 Ragu Pasta Sauce $1.25 ea. (I had an eCoupon loaded onto my shopper’s card, but it didn’t take it off, has anyone else had trouble with their eCoupons coming off lately?)
• 1 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Spaghetti $1.00, Used Buy 2 Ragus, get Free Pasta coupon from the 11/14 RP insert (took off $1.00)
• Popeye Fresh Spinach, Marked down to $1.00
• Wolf Chili No Beans $0.75*, Used $0.50/1 coupon from 10/24 insert (doubled)
• Vitamin Water 20 oz. $0.75*, Used $0.50/1 tearpad coupon (doubled)
• Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat Bread $1.99, Used $0.55/1 coupon from booklet
• Maxwell House Master Blend Coffee 34.5 oz. $5.99*, Used $0.50/1 coupon from 11/14 RP insert (doubled)
• Final Cost $7.71

*Mega Event item

I made a quick trip to Dillons on Thursday while I was out running a few errands and boy, was it ever crowded! The stock was pretty wiped out, but I still managed to get quite a few great deals. 🙂 All prices below are after the Mega Event discount was taken off.

• 7-Up 2 liter $0.79*
• Dillons 2% Milk Gallon $2.66
• Dillons Half&Half Pt., Marked down to $0.80
• 12 cans Carnation Milk $0.49*, Used 6 $0.50/2 coupons from the 9/26 SS insert (doubled)
• 2 Honest Tea $0.75* ea., Used 2 $0.50/1 coupons from HERE (doubled)
• 2 Colgate Toothpaste $1.00*, Used 2 $0.75/1 Colgate Toothpaste, any 4.0 or larger coupon from the 10/31 SS insert (doubled to $1.00)
• 2 Joint Juice single bottles $0.99, Used 2 $1.00/1 coupons from the 10/3 SS insert
• 3 Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta $0.99*, Used 3 $1.00/1 coupons from the 10/10 SS insert & $1.00/2 Dillons E-coupon HERE
• Sinex, Marked down to $6.33, Used $4.00/1 coupon from the 10/10 P&G insert & $4.00/1 Dillons E-coupon HERE. Note: A coupon for a FREE bottle of Afrin Spray printed at the register for me!
• 2 Schick Disposable Razor $3.10 (on sale bogo), Used 2 $3.00/1 IPs (no longer available)
• Another coupon printed out for a Free package of Poise, I have no idea why, I can’t think of anything I’ve purchased recently that’s even remotely related to it, but not complaining, free is always awesome! 🙂
• Final Cost $1.96

*Mega Event item

Check out Dillons’ sales this week with coupon match-ups HERE