It would be wonderful if everyone had access to great coupons. It would be even better if we all had the time and patience to clip them from papers, organize them, and compare them against sales prices at various local stores. It would be icing on the cake if the stores had all the items in stock, we could match the right coupon to the exact time, remember to had them to the cashier, and the coupons all scanned. What an amazing day that would be!
In real life, we all don’t have the time, patience or even the best coupons to get great savings at grocery stores. Even so, there are some “clip-free” alternatives that provide reasonably good savings:
PGeSavers. Proctor & Gamble has initiated a program, PGeSavers, that allows consumers to load coupons for their P&G products directly onto a store’s shopper/discount checkout card. Once applied to the card, the savings are typically valid for up to three months. You can opt to receive email reminders when the coupons are about to expire and/or new coupons are available. Items with coupon savings can also be added directly to your electronic shopping list. When the product is purchased using the store card, the coupon savings are automatically deducted at the register. If other family members use the card when shopping, they receive the same coupon savings. Additionally, family members can assist elderly parents or disabled relatives by going online and loading the appropriate savings onto their store shopping card, thereby eliminating the need for these relatives to haul around and handle paper coupons.
PGeSaver also provides exclusive access to a monthly email newsletter, free samples, sweepstakes, coupons, and product updates.
Shortcuts.com AOL has introduced a paper-free service, shortcuts.com, which allows shoppers to load manufacturer’s coupons directly onto store shopping cards. Simply click through the list of coupons online to select those you want to use, and they will be automatically redeemed at checkout when you use your shopping card.
Stores currently participating in this new program include:
- Baker’s
- City Market
- Dillon’s
- Fry’s
- Fry’s Marketplace
- Gerbes
- Hilander
- JayC
- King Soopers
- Kroger
- Kroger Marketplace
- Owen’s
- Pay Less
- QFC
- Ralph’s
- Randalls
- Smith’s
- Smith’s Marketplace
- Tom Thumb
New stores are being added regularly, so even if your local store isn’t currently using this service, you can review a list of stores that are considering this service here, and request an email notifying you if they sign up to participate.
CellFire.com Another clipfree source is CellFire.com, a free service allowing members to access and use grocery coupons from a PC or mobile phone. Coupons can be selected and loaded directly onto your store card. Stores currently featured include
- Safeway
- Kroger
- Ralphs
- Vons
- King Soopers
- Fry’s
- Baker’s
- Dillons
- City Market
- QFC
- JayC
- Smith’s
upromise ecoupons. Upromise has also added a new feature of clipfree coupons, upromise ecoupons, which are added directly from your computer to your grocery card, and redeemed when your grocery card is scanned. Over 22,000 stores participate in this service, which also allows members to earn college savings with your everyday spending — when you buy groceries, fill the gas tank, shop online, book travel, eat out, you name it. You’ll automatically get a percentage of your purchases back as college savings.
You can redeem up to $30 in upromise ecoupons each month! Stores currently participating include:
- A&P, A&P Super Foodmart, ACME Markets, Albertsons’s
- Balls Food, Bakers, Bashas, Bel Air, bigg’s, Big Y, BiLo, Brookshire, Buehler’s
- Cala’Bell, Carrs, City Market, Copps, Country Mart, CVS/pharmacy
- D&W Foods, Dicks, Dillons, Dominick’s, Dorothy Lane
- Family Fare, Farm Fresh, Festival Foods, Food City, Food Emporium, Food Lion, Food Town, Food 4 Less, Fry’s
- Genuardi’s, Gerbes, Gerland’s Food Fair, Glen’s Markets, Giant Eagle Giant (PA), GIANT
- Hannaford, Harris Teeter, Harter House, Hilander, Homeland, Hy-Vee
- Ingle’s
- Jewel-Osco
- Kash ‘n Karry. Key Foods. Kennies. King Kullen. Kings Super Markets. King Soopers. Kroger
- Lofino’s, Lowe’s
- Marsh, Martin’s Food Markets, Meijer, Metro Food Market
- Nob Hill Foods
- O’Malia, Owens
- P&C Foods, Pathmark, Pavillions, Payless, Pick n Save, Park n Save, Piggly Wiggly, Price Chopper, Publix
- QFC, Quality Markets
- Raley’s, Ralph’s, Randalls, Redner’s Warehouse Markets, Riverside Markets, Roche Bros.
- Safeway, Sav-a-Center, Savon, Scots, Shaw’s, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, ShopRite, Shurfine, Shursave, Smith’s, Star Market, Stater Bros., Stop & Shop, Super Fresh, Super G, SuperValu Foods, Sweetbay
- Thriftway/Shop N Bag, Tom’s, Tom Thumb, Tops Markets
- Ukrop’s
- Village Market, Von’s
- Waldbaums, Wegmans, Weis Markets, Winn-Dixie
Zavers.com. Zavers.com, a leader in providing paperless coupons, has recently launched a clip-free grocery coupon service. The Zavers program allows you to link coupons directly from your PC and/or your mobile phone on to your grocery store shopping card; however, unlike some paperless coupon sites, Zavers does not require you to sign up for both services (internet and text/mobile). Zavers.com also uniquely provides store coupons, in addition to the manufacturer coupons.
To access and use the coupons, you simply sign up for Zavers with your store card, and click through the list of coupons online to select those you want to use. Once the coupons have been linked to your store shopping card, the discounts will be automatically redeemed at checkout when you use your shopping card.
You can store and use up to 40 clipfree coupons through Zavers. Paperless coupons are not doubled or tripled. Some manufacturers allow the use of a paperless coupon and a paper coupon for the same item, while others do not.
Stores currently participating in this new program include:
- A&P
- Waldbaum’s
- Superfresh
- The Food Emporium
- Pathmark
Online shopping with Sunday newspaper inserts. Several internet shopping sites, like and Riteaidonline.com, have the same Sunday insert coupons available for your online shopping items, and these can be combined with sales prices, rebates and special offers to achieve convenient savings. Coupons are typically high value, such as the $7 off Claritin coupon from a recent Sunday newspaper. You must remember to click through the when adding the item to your cart. Only one coupon per item can be applied per order, i.e. one Claritin coupon, one Natural Instincts coupon, one Swiffer coupon, etc. One other factor to keep track of is the minimum order value required to get free shipping.
Personalized Shopper Card Savings. Most major stores provide “clip-free coupons” or additional savings for customers who routinely use their Store shopping checkout card. While some savings are advertised, many are not. There is a new trend for stores to provide frequent shoppers additional unadvertised discounts on items they personally use the most, including food, household cleaning products, beauty and hygiene products, etc. Check you receipts to see if there are “bonus savings” identified.
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