The Cashier

Hi Everyone,

I had a little spat recently with a cashier about redeeming $1 off a travel size Crest mouthwash and because I bought that, I had a coupon to get some free floss. Essentially, getting both items for free! I know several people who have taken part of this great deal and have redeemed both items no problem. But, unfortunately I was given a hard time and just couldn't win with the cashier that time and had to give up on this fabulous deal. I eventually worked my way around this conundrum at another Walmart and eventually cashed in on this great deal regardless of spending a bit of money. So, it has inspired me to write today's blog "The Cashier."

With all this couponing and organization the most important person after you is your cashier! How can you get your freebies and deals if the cashier themselves are preventing you from cashing them in? I find many cashiers just don't understand coupon rules and lingo. They think that if it says one coupon per purchase, then you can only use one coupon per transaction or shopping trip. It's really one coupon per product, so if you buy 3 products you can use 3 coupons unless it clearly states otherwise. And if a coupon says save $1 off ANY whatever brand product, that includes travel sizes!

To get my free mouthwash and floss my cashier insisted that she had to do them all individually!! The horror on my face as she started to go through each coupon and transaction one by one! Luckily, it was around 10pm and there wasn't many customers there. She also mention that she was new and in her training it didn't allow it, even though I tried to explain to her that I've purchased many items at that particular Walmart every week with no issues. She also said she didn't want to get in trouble with her boss, so I was fine with that and patiently waited for her to ring everything up one by one. I did have one lady line up behind me but I politely informed her that the cashier was insistent on ringing everything separately and that I might take some time. If you know you're going to be awhile with a cashier, it's just good karma to let the person behind you know what's up so they can decide whether to stay or move on to the next cash.

Look at all these insane receipts!

A lot does depend on your own store's policy. So, be sure to read all the find print of your coupon! I find that the Walmart's in Scarborough are much more reluctant to take coupons than my normal Walmart at Dufferin mall. Some store's don't even accept printable coupons or price matching without your competitor's flyer. Not on iPad or nothing! In this day and age who really wants to carry around 10 different flyers with them when they're shopping. A quick glance of an iPad is so much more convenient, but all I can say is you win some and you lose some. I just end up trying on another day or another store.

Here are some of the other things I managed to scoop up during this week's Walmart trip! 

 Charmin To Go Wipes $2 each and Charmin Seat Covers $1 each = $15 

I used 3 coupons of $4 off when you buy 3 Charmin Products. I paid a total of $3 for the lot! 

Now if I had not purchased the $2 wipes and stuck with the $1 seat covers I would be +$3 to use on any of my other Walmart purchases. Yes, folks! This does work in Toronto and not just the States! 

Kotex was on sale for $3.97 each - $1.50 each from coupons I clipped out. 

With all those receipts the payoff was well worth it! Five flosses worth about $4 each were all free! Mouthwashes I had to pay for five, which was $1 each. But, I had four $1 off coupons and got four mouthwashes free!

I could have chose not to redeem my four free mouthwashes and saved time on the extra transactions, but I was thinking of the overall cost per unit of each mouthwash. By only paying $5 for the five of them I would of paid $1 each. But redeeming the four free ones made the per unit mouthwashes to come up to about 55 cents each. I really didn't care about the wash, I just really wanted the floss since I was low on my stash at home.

Note: I usually never include the taxes in my prices to make explaining easier. I figure it's a given that we all have to pay taxes!