Week 5, Lesson 1: Couponing at Walmart

I saved Walmart for later on in the lessons for a few reasons. The first is in my state Walmart doesn't issue weekly ads. Oklahoma has laws protecting small businesses that prevent big box stores from certain pricing policies. This is both good and bad, good for small businesses but really bad for deals in the state. For people near me, Walmart has to be walked aisle by aisle in a lot of cases. The second reason I saved Walmart for later is that their cashiers are often not well trained in their coupon policy, and it is a confusing policy. I wanted everyone to build a good coupon confidence and understanding before having to fight with a cashier about their own store policy.

The first thing anyone needs to know about Walmart is print the Walmart coupon policy. This policy needs to be with your coupons. Take it with you every single time you go. The one time you forget it, you will need it. It's Murphy's Law!! If you are having problems printing the coupon policy, and I have had many times, print it in landscape mode. I have also found it's not a bad idea to bookmark the policy in your phone if you have a smart phone. I have had cashiers tell me their policy has changed, and I have had to bring up their policy online at the register. Having the policy is your best friend.

Walmart, overall is actually really coupon friendly. I find that Walmart corporate and managers usually are very accommodating. I would say 99% of the attitude you will encounter will come from the cashier and the person behind you. Walmart takes nearly every coupon , including printables.

Walmart has some unique features that make them a great store to coupon at. The best part of shopping at Walmart is you can actually have them pay you. The register can go negative and the cashier will give YOU money to leave the store. This is not an everyday occurrence, but there is nothing better than having the cashier hand you money and leaving with products and extra cash. I have done this more than a dozen times and the high is better than any drug (not that I have ever tried any if my mom is reading this). You can do this by using a coupon valued higher than the item. For example if a pack of batteries is $0.90 and you have a $1 off coupon, you should make a few cents on each item even after tax. You can either buy just the batteries and pocket the cash or you can use the overage on other items. Personally if the store is not too crowded and the line is not too long, I always do a separate transaction so they pay me. It is silly, but it makes my day to have Walmart pay me. Some people may find it a bit immature to do, but sometimes couponing is a lot of work and you get burned out. Having the store pay you now and again is just the recharge I, and others, may need to realize it is saving money and worth all the work.

A picture from this past Fall. I was Christmas shopping with a friend and the cashier paid my friend $9.15 for well over $100 worth of stuff. 

Walmart not only will pay you, but they will match prices. Price matching is a great tool to minimize the amount of stores you shop at. If you have several grocery stores in the area who use a few items at very low prices to get customers in the door, but the overall prices of everything else is high, price matching could be your new best friend. Walmart will price match any competitor ad that clearly labels the price. You don't even need to bring the ad with you, Walmarts are supposed to have the ad's at the register for all the local stores. When you get to the register, just inform the cashier that XYZ store has it for this price and they should honor it. Price matching is also great for items that are sold out of the store that has them on sale. I find that sometimes ToysRus has amazing deals on toys, but they run out of them in hours. I often skip ToysRus totally and buy it at Walmart or Target who will price match. I rarely have trouble finding items in stock at these stores. There are a lot of restrictions on what Walmart will price match, but you can check out their policy here. Walmart will not honor gift card deals that other stores have, and they will not give you Extra Bucks or things like that.

Walmart registers have changed over the last few months and they now have different scanners which I would love to explain... if I could understand it!! It seems like the registers are prompting on some coupons to scan multiple barcodes. I have run into problems with cashiers not understanding the new system and wanting to tell me newspaper coupons are fraudulent, that did NOT go over well with me. The new system has been in place for a few months and it seems to be getting easier, however scanning more barcodes on each coupon means each transaction is taking longer. It is always a good practice to warn the people behind you if you have more than 3 or 4 coupons. Grumpy people can move on, people who become grumpy can get an 'I told you so' look. If you get static on coupons, especially newspaper coupons, ask for a manager. 

Printable coupons at Walmart are kinda a pain. The best thing you can do is ALWAYS use legitimate coupons. I am pretty sure that not only is coupon fraud illegal, but it is probably a Federal Crime given that it uses the internet and is essentially creating fake currency. I am not a big fan of the Secret Service knocking on my door, and orange is not my color, so I always use legit coupons. Legit coupons can be printed from Swagbucks, where you can earn gift cards for using coupons! Other web sites like coupons.com and redplum are legit coupon sites. Printing from those sites are safe. Even if you print from good sites, even if you buy the right item, even if your barcode is perfect... it might not scan. Walmart's policy clearly states if it doesn't scan they can't take it. Some cashiers will push them through, but they don't have to. Nothing sucks more than printing good coupons, finding the right product and then having your coupon denied. I get it. I have been there. Printable coupons can be a bit of a pain, but I think 95% of them go through with no issues. 

So far Walmart has not done things like Target and issued their own coupons or aps but I see that happening in the future. You can use coupons aps like Ibotta and Checkout51 at Walmart which can give you cash back on things you buy.