The 6 Most Common Couponing Mistakes BJ’s Club Members Make

As a couponer, I look back to those beginning times and laugh. I had no idea I was making such horrible couponing mistakes. I got a little stacking crazy and trying to use store coupons at other stores and it was a hot mess. I don’t want that for you. So let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

Let’s find out if you are guilty of at least one of these couponing mistakes at BJ’s.

BJ’s Wholesale club is the only club that allows the use of manufacturer coupons. What that means is the BJ’s coupons you get sent to your home monthly and the ones you pick up every two weeks in store, are in addition to any coupons from your local Sunday newspaper and online. 

This is one of the reasons I love shopping at BJ’s. It leads to great savings when you combine coupons. Sure it can take a bit of time but I have plenty of tips and tricks to maximize your membership without spending hours to do it.

So if you are new to couponing at the club be sure you are not making these common couponing mistakes at BJ’s. 

Only Using BJ’s Coupons

Like I said above so many people have no idea they can use manufacturer coupons with a BJ’s coupon. In the Coupon Matchup lists you will see items paired with coupons for a great price. Here is a scenario example.

Buy 1 Skintimate Skin Therapy Moisturizing Shave Gel, 3 pk./9.5 oz. $7.99
Use the $2.00/1 BJs coupon from the Front of Club Coupon Booklet expires 9/28 and
Use three $1.00/1 printable coupons here
Final Price: $2.99 or $0.99 each!

BJ’s coupon policy states that you can use one manufacturer coupon per barcode in a packaged item. Plus the addition of a BJ’s coupon. If you want to get into more detail about this be sure to download my  Ultimate Guide to Couponing at BJ’s!  Plus you can use BJ’s coupons, manufacturer coupons and a clipless coupon along with app offer all on one item. This is all explained in my Ultimate Guide to couponing.

DID YOU KNOW BJ’S IS NOW OFFERING DIGITAL COUPONS?! 

 Buying More Than You Need 

When you get started couponing and learning how to stack coupons you may be tempted to buy more than you really need. For example, the mustard has a great coupon stack and you are saving 50% off but do you really need 4 HUGE bottles of mustard from BJ’s?

Remember that many items at BJ’s come in sizes that are larger then what is found at your local grocery store. You don’t want to buy extra just to use the coupon and get a better deal. Of course, you can always donate items, but be sure you aren’t breaking your budget just to get the savings.

You Don’t Own a Printer

Today’s couponer must own a printer. Yes, we can still get some decent coupons in our Sunday newspaper to use at BJ’s but online coupons are where it is at. They change daily and it’s FREE to print. Be sure to change your settings to black and white to lower your printing costs. The best part about printing online is you can get 2 prints per device.

This helps in using the one manufacturer coupon per barcode at BJ’s. When you buy the Sunday newspaper you would have to buy multiple papers to use multiple coupons per product with more than one barcode.

BJ’s has great sales on printers and I highly highly recommend getting one to coupon at BJ’s and other retailers.  You can always find discounts on printers on Amazon as well.

Not Using Your Stockpile

Many couponers think in the beginning they have to grab every deal that comes around.  As a blogger I see many of the same deals come around every 4-8 weeks. Sure that sounds like a long time but when you grab a few of the items while they are at a stock up price they should last you until the next rock bottom price.

This gives you time to let some of the other deals that you don’t need go.  During out spending freeze. our pantry saved us.

We can get pasta for less than $0.80 a box frequently at BJ’s and many other retailers when it is on sale and paired with coupons.  It’s tempting to grab some even though I just looked in my pantry and I have 10 boxes of assorted varieties of pasta.

Don’t waste your time and funds to keep stocking up when you are already stocked up. You can easily get caught into the trap of “HOT DEALS NOW”. But you can also go broke grabbing every deal. Remember that we have sale cycles meaning every 4-8 weeks the same items will be on sale again.

Not Bringing The BJ’s Coupon Policy With You to Shop

We have all been there. Ready to use our coupons one per barcode and the coupons beep. The cashier says we can’t do that and we have to fight for a policy we didn’t come up with. BJ’s Wholesale club did. We get discouraged and then come and vent to our fellow savers in our awesome FB group for BJ’s Couponers.

Print out the BJ’s coupon policy or show it on your phone. So many cashiers do not know the policy and many of the supervisors as well. It’s not fair that BJ’s prides itself against other warehouse stores with accepting multiple coupons. They need to follow their policy and we do too.

Be firm in your knowledge of the policy and knowing if each item has an individual barcode. In my pricebook the number of barcodes are listed next to the item for your convenience.

You’re Not Following A Matchup List Every Week

“Not now Hunny. I’m still searching through this ad for the best deals.” Whoa whoa whoa. That my dear is a thing of the past. There is no more searching through the ad yourself then searching through your coupons, trying to match the items up. This is all done for you, by me and many other wonderful bloggers.

You can get all the BJ’s Coupon Matchup Lists Right Here.  

Each week you can easily scan through the items to find the best deal and add it to a printable shopping list. Multitasking at it’s finest! If you are not familiar with these lists- please do yourself a huge favor and check them out! Plus they are time-consuming and I appreciate all the clicks to those matchups 🙂

And there you have the most common couponing mistakes at BJ’s Wholesale Club!

What struggles do you have when it comes to couponing at BJs?

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