An Explanation of Matchups!

Hey, guys! I've had several people ask me recently about the matchups I post and how they work, so I thought I'd make a little tutorial. This makes sense in my head, but if something isn't clear please let me know, and I'll update it. This is going to get a little lengthy, so without further ado, here are the instructions...

- A coupon matchup is simply matching an item that is on sale with a coupon so you get the best possible price.


- Let's use a Kroger post as an example. Different stores offer different incentives and sales, so let me know if you have questions about a particular store.
- On each post you'll see the option to pick your store. Click on which store you want, and that store's info should load.

- Next you'll see a list of the items that are on sale that week at that particular store. Please note that prices can vary by store. It seems like this is particularly true on dairy items. That's ok. The matchups will still help, it just means your final price may be different.
- Some items won't have coupons listed. Like the pork tenderloin pictured here.

- Now look at the coupons listed on these Bounty paper towels.

The first coupon is part of the sale that Kroger had during that week ($5 off when you buy 5 of the items included in the sale).

The next coupon ($0.20/1 P&G 12/28) is a coupon from a newspaper insert, and it means that you can get $0.20 off of 1, and it was from the 12/28/14 issue of the paper. P&G is the insert it was in within the newspaper. You'll also see RP and SS which are other inserts in the paper. DON'T FORGET - YOU CAN USE MORE THAN ONE OF THESE COUPONS (but you can only use one per item, so you'll need to buy more items). For example, this coupon said Limit 4. That means if you happen to have 4 of these coupons, you can buy 4 of these items.

The final price listed assumes you use the coupons and sale price to the fullest potential. Since this one included the $5 when you buy 5 (wyb5) it assumes that you bought 5 of this item and used the coupon to get the final price. Don't worry. If you don't buy 5 of this item you can still use the matchup. You just won't get as good of a final price.


- Now look at the coupons for these Larabars.

The first coupon listed is $0.75/3 savingstar.com.

 If you click on this coupon it will take you to a page that looks like the image below.

Once you create a log-in for this site, you can add coupons to your account by clicking on them from my blog posts. However, these coupons work a little differently than normal coupons. Instead of getting the money off of your total at the store, it adds up in your SavingStar account. Eventually when you get enough money in your account you can choose to cash out, and they'll send the money to you. If you see coupons that say ibotta, those work the same way. It's just a different website. Yes, this really works. Yes, I have received actual money.

Next on this item, you'll see several printable coupons. Just click on the link, and print the coupons that you want to use. Easy peasy.

The kroger.com coupons can be added to your Kroger card if you have an account.

- Another important thing to remember is that just because I post a coupon on a Kroger matchup doesn't mean that you can't use the coupon at a different store. Therefore, it may benefit you to look at all of the matchups, even if a certain store isn't in your area.

That's the basic idea behind all of these matchups. Please let me know if you need help with any of this. I'm trying to figure out the best possible way to explain this. 

I usually try to post matchups on Sunday evenings and Monday mornings. Kroger & Publix matchups are usually posted on Wednesdays because that's how their sales work.