Smart use of circulars

Be sure to pull out the three coupon circulars from this past Sunday’s AJC from RedPlum, SmartSource and Procter & Gamble. The P&G circular has $134 worth of coupons this month, including high-value coupons such as $1 off Crest toothpaste, $3 off three bottles of Tide, $2 off one Cover Girl eye shadow and a coupon for a free Swiffer refill when you buy a Swiffer starter kit (value $6). 

Plus, the April 28 SmartSource circular has some coupons that are bound to result in good deals in future weeks. Find a coupon for 50 cents off one Colgate toothpaste, any variety (4 ounce or larger). When doubled at the grocery store, you may get sale-priced Colgate for pennies. In the same circular, find a 55-cent coupon for Gwaltney hot dogs or bologna, which are frequently on sale for $1. 

A savings strategy that can save you more money is to consider buying the Sunday AJC in your store on Saturday afternoon to be able to use new coupons for Saturday sales. You can preview the upcoming AJC coupons on Saturday at CouponMom.com in the Coupon Database to see if new coupons make your deals better. For example, last week Purex laundry detergent was “buy one, get one free” at Walgreens. Walgreens changes weekly sale prices on Sunday, but if I had bought the AJC on Saturday, I could have used the new $1 Purex coupon on the sale to save more. Plus, I’d have an extra set of coupons to be able to stock up on other items when they are good deals.

Help for allergies

Zyrtec: CVS and Rite Aid have Zyrtec tablets (five count) on sale for $6. Family Dollar has the item on sale for $5.50. Use the $6 coupon from the April 28 SmartSource to get it free at any of the three stores. 

Rite Aid

Gift card rewards: Rite Aid has a promotion that gives you a $10 +UP Reward when you buy $50 worth of gift cards for Old Navy, Gap and/or Banana Republic. You can use store coupons along with gift cards, and you also can buy sale-priced items with gift cards. You’ll be netting a 20 percent savings by getting the gift cards right off the bat.

Crest: Rite Aid has a sale on Crest 3D Whitestrips Kits ($10 off any size). You also will get a $5 +UP Reward on one. Assuming the 10-count kit is regularly priced at $31.99 (from RiteAid.com), the sale price would be $21.99. Use the $7 coupon from the April 28 P&G circular to pay $14.99 at the register. You will get the $5 +UP Reward, so your net cost would be $9.99, a savings of 69 percent.

Speed Stick: Rite Aid has Speed Stick varieties on sale for $1.99 and the Walgreens price is $2. Use the “buy one, get one free” coupon from the April 28 SmartSource to pay $1 each when you buy two.

The full Coupon Mom column appears Thursdays in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Deal Spotter section. It’s full of great local deals and exclusive offers. Visit the Coupon Mom website for more great finds.

– Follow Atlanta Bargain Hunter Nedra Rhone on Facebook | Twitter | Email