Your2Cents: Reader Question on “Stacking” Coupons.

We just received this question from reader Anne last night. And thought it might be helpful for you all to see:

OK, coupon ladies: question. Say I have a manufacturer’s coupon for Yoplait yogurt, and I also have a Kroger coupon for the same product (one that prints at the register), can I use them at the same time? I wasn’t sure if “One coupon per purchase” meant I can’t use this coupon in conjunction with another, or simply that I can’t use two of the same coupon.

Here is our response:

Great question. The answer really comes from what type of coupons you have to determine if they will “stack” (be able to use together on one item). You can use one store coupon and one Manufacturers coupon on each item. The Kroger Catalina coupons (the ones that print at the register) are almost always Manufacturers coupons as well. So in this case, you will not be able to use both on one item. You can tell whether a coupon is a Manufacturers or a Store coupon by looking at the box next to the expiration date. If it said “Kroger Coupon” then yes you could use it with the other M coupon. This is the case with the Target printables and some Target coupons that print at the register. They say store coupon and therefore can be used with another manufacturers coupon.

A few more thoughts on this question. The “one coupon per purchase” language on a coupon means that you cannot use more than one Manufacturers coupon on that item (for instance if you had a $0.50 and a $0.25 for one item, you cannot use them both on the one item). Some coupons do limit how many like coupons can be used per transaction. For instance if a coupon says no more than 2 like coupons in a transaction, you cannot use 4 of that same coupon on 4 items. Many stores are also putting restrictions on how many like coupons can be used in one transaction (like Kroger’s policy of only 4 like in one transaction).This is when you would have to do a second transaction to use the other coupons (this is something the show Extreme Couponing is bending the rules on and why it is unrealistic in our opinion).

We hope this has provided some clarification (and not more confusion). We always welcome your questions! If you don’t know how to do it, you won’t be saving all you should. And we can’t have that!

E-mail us your questions at 4our2cents @ 4our2cents.com.