I find that if the Catalina Deal gives you a choice of a lower or higher "reward"(IE-a choice between Spend $15/Get $5 or Spend $25/Get $10), it's usually better to shoot for the higher value Cat.
There are THREE Reasons why you save so much money on a Catalina Deal.
1--The purchases are usually calculated off of the regular shelf price of items, not the sale price.
If the items are on sale you don't have to actually "spend" $20 to buy $20 worth of products to get your reward. I hear there are Cat Deals that aren't calculated off of the shelf price, but I personally don't know a grocery store that runs them that way.
2--Add in using Internet Printed(IP Q) or Manufacturer's Coupons(Manu Q) on the items purchased, and your total goes even lower. Combining sale prices with coupon usage is a tried and true way to bring down the cost of purchasing your groceries. But when you factor in #3....
3--When you buy your products, you get a "reward" in the form of a $X Off Your Next Order(OYNO) Coupon. These OYNO Coupons are good for a set time frame(usually 2 weeks like a Wags RR)and are good only at that Store chain(though some stores do accept Cats generated at a different store).
So the first time you do a Catalina Deal, your OOP will be a bit higher, unless you already have a OYNO Cat Coupon in hand to use to pay(along with your coupons) and bring your OOP down to rock bottom.
After you do your 1st Cat Deal, you can then take that OYNO Cat and add it to the sale price & IP or Manu Qs you use to get the second & third & fourth & fifth, etc. sets of the same products for rock bottom prices. Or take your Cat and combine with Qs and sales prices to get other products that generate an OYNO Cat too.
It's always good to work out a scenario of what you intend to buy before you get to the store. You must know the regular Shelf Price however before you can calculate a scenario. Keeping a price book of your grocery stores' prices would be a big help when working out your scenarios. The point is to get as close to the dollar amount(shelf price total) you need to buy to generate the OYNO Cat. Sometimes scenarios fall apart due to changes in prices at the store or the store is out of a product and you have to substitute a different product, so you need to be able to think on your feet. Unless you are the Rainman, it would behoove you to BRING A CALCULATOR TO THE STORE when you shop! Once you get into the store, with the bad canned music and muzak ads blaring in your ears, the distraction of other shoppers, adding numbers up in your head is too much work. It's so easy to miss your target shelf price total and go through all that work and get NO Catalina. But if you have your scenarios and your calculator you can make the shopping much easier.
The 1st Catalina Deal I did involved Pillsbury/Crisco items. Buy $12/Get $3 OYNO Cat or Buy $20/Get $7 OYNO Cat.
So here is what I bought....
2 x Quick Bread Mix--Shelf price $2.29=$4.58 Sale price 3/$5=$3.34
Total--Shelf price $21.74 Sale price $15.34
You will notice that I have saved $6.40 right off the bat. That's the difference between the Shelf and Sale prices.
Then add on the coupons....
Coupons used
4 x Crisco Oil $1/1 ManuQ=$4.00
1 x Quick Bread Mix $1/2 ManuQ=$1.00
Coupon Total=$5.00
$15.34-$5.00=$10.34
I have now saved $11.40 on the shelf price.
I had a $7 OYNO Cat for a Cat Deal last week I used...
$10.34-$7.00=$3.34 OOP
I have now saved $18.40 off the original retail price on these products.
I paid $3.34 CASH for all 6 items(shelf value of $21.74) and received a new $7 OYNO Cat for buying them.
And now I can do this deal over and over again, as long as I have enough coupons, and pay $3.34 each time and get enough Oil and Bread Mix to fill a bathtub and bathe in it!
There was another Cat Deal involving Kellogg's/Keebler and Kashi--Buy $12/Get $3 or Buy $20/Get $7.
So I took that $7 CAT and bought this....(dealing with the Cat items only first)....
1 x Kashi Cereal--Shelf price=$3.89 Sale price=$3.00
2 x Crispix Cereal--Shelf price $3.99=$7.98 Sale price $2.00=$4.00
1 x Frosted Flakes--Shelf price=$3.79 Sale price=$2.00
1 x Keebler Crackers--Shelf price=$3.99 Sale price=$2.50
1 x RK Treats--Shelf price=$2.69 Sale price=$2.50
The Cat portion...
Total--Shelf price $22.34 Sale price $14.00
Coupons used
1 x Kashi $1.50/1 home mailer ManuQ=$1.50
2 x Kellogg's Cereal $1/1 ManuQ=$2.00
1 x Frosted Flakes $1/1 Peelie ManuQ=$1.00
1 x Any Cracker $1.50/1 StoreQ=$1.50
Coupon Total=$6.00
$14.00-$6.00=$8.00
Use $7 OYNO Cat I received on last order...
$8.00-$7.00=$1 OOP
Add in the NON-CAT ITEMS...
2 x Fresh Pet Dog Food--Shelf price $2.19=$4.38 Sale price $1.85=$3.70
1 x Cheezits--Shelf price=$4.10 Sale price=$2.99
Total Shelf price=$8.48 Sale price=$6.69
Coupons Used
2 x Fresh Pet FREE Item ManuQ=$3.70
1 x Buy 2 Crispix/Get $2.50 off Cheezits PeelieQ on box of Crispix I bought=$2.50
Coupon total=$6.20
$6.69-$6.20=$.49
So the Dog Food was free and the $2.99 Cheezits cost me another $.49, bringing my OOP total to $1.49 & I received another $7 OYNO Cat.
But noooo. Seems someone who worked at the store did something to the computer system and changed the sale prices on the cereals back to regular shelf price 1 day before the sale ended. My total was something crazy like $7 something. I paid and stomped right over to the Customer Service Desk to get a price adjustment. Fortunately, Weis has a policy that if an item scans incorrect, you get the first one of the item FREE and the difference between shelf and sale price on each additional same item. She tried to give me 1 box FREE and the difference for the other 3 boxes but the way the policy is worded, I was eligible for 3 FREE boxes & 1 price difference adjustment because it was 3 different cereals.
So my 2nd Transaction, after getting $13.26 back, turned from $1.49 OOP into a $11.76 Profit!
The store PAID ME $11.76 for all 9 items and received a new $7 OYNO Cat for buying them.
8-))
Then I did Transaction #1 again...
Blah, blah, blah.
I paid $3.34 OOP for all 6 and received another $7 OYNO Cat Coupon.
To finish off my trip I decided to get some Hershey's Baking products. I paid ALOT but the Hershey's chips are so worth it. This Deal was Buy $12/Get $3 or Buy $20/Get $6....stingier than the $7 Cal Deals....
2 x Hershey's Cocoa--Shelf price $3.29=$6.58 Sale price $2.50=$5.00
4 x Hershey's Baking Chips--Shelf price $2.59=$10.36 Sale price $2.00=$8.00
1 x Hershey's XL Candy Bar--Shelf price $1.50 Sale price $1.25
Total--Shelf price $20.63 Sale price $16.04
Coupons Used
1 x Buy 4 Baking Chips/Get Syrup FREE Tearpad Q=$1.79
Coupon Total=$1.79
$16.04-$1.79=$14.25
Used the $7 OYNO Cat from the Pillsbury/Crisco transaction....
$14.25-$7.00=$7.25
I also had a $2.50 OYNO Cat left from the Cat Deal when the store paid me to buy all those Fruit Snacks 2 weeks ago that I used...
$7.25-$2.50=$4.75 OOP
I paid $4.75 CASH for all 8 items and received a new $6 OYNO Cat for buying them.
If the store hadn't screwed up and had to make good on their pricing policy, I would have paid $12.92 total for all 29 items(worth $91.54) and had a $6 Cat to roll into new Cat Deals within the next 2 weeks. This would have been a Savings of 86% before the $6 Cat Coupon.
But I was refunded $13.26 in Cash, so technically I was paid .33¢ OOP to take all this home and the Savings was 100%! lolol
And one more thing....
I found a Mail-In offer in the store for a Hershey's Baking Calendar. Buy 4 Baking Chips and send in the form and Hershey's sends you a Calendar with Recipes and Coupons for Hershey's products.
This may lead to more chocolate in my life down the road....and that, my friends, can never be a bad thing.
I hope this wasn't too confusing to follow for the readers who are new to 'extreme couponing' and helped to explain the process of doing Catalina Deals.
Sluggy
