[Akari_32]

I’ll have to go up there and do that. Free and cheap dog food sounds good to me!

I get emails from PetSmart, Petco and Pet Supermarket, who send me various coupons and deal alerts. I’m always on the look out, even when I don’t need any dog food lol

The key to couponing is to match up sales with coupons, and buy as cheaply as possible. Like you just learned, buy small bags. It’s cheaper to buy crap-tons of small bags with multiple coupons than it is to buy a large bag with one coupon. Usually, anyways. Sometimes it comes out the same (in which case, mix and match flavors :p) and rarely will it come out to be more expensive. I tend to use dollars off an order, as well as manufacturer coupons and competitor coupons on each item. Petsmart is the easiest place to do this, IME.

For instance:

Petsmart has their 4 pound bags of Wellness Core on sale for $13.99
Wellness ALWAYS has $5 off coupons on their website, reset monthly so you can print them out every time you need pet food. These are good on any size bag of dog or cat food.
PetCo usually had wellness coupons out as well, we’ll say its $3, since they don’t have at the moment. Usually it’s $5 off any bag of Core, though.
Pet Supermarket has monthly $4 off $20 orders.

Buy two bags of the wellness. Total with tax before coupons is $29.94. Apply the $4 off $20, and it’s $25.94. Apply the two $5 off any bag of wellness, and it’s $15.94. Then the two petco $3 off, and the total comes out to $9.94 for what was originally two $18 bags of dog food. There are some weird taxes applied and not applied to certain coupons, so this is an estimate, but it gives you the general idea 🙂

This all mainly depends on the store and the cashiers working at the time. I’ve Learned who I can and can’t get away with certain things with. Some stores have a strict coupon policy. Your best bet is to go in there like you own the place and know exactly what you’re doing, and do a test run. And always have a couple back up plans. I tend to have 2-3 couponing scenarios when I go out. It takes time to plan, but it’s worth it!