Albertsons Doubles 101

Since we have a lot of new readers here, we wanted to share the low down on Albertsons Doubles...

So what to do
with all those
DOUBLES??!?!

First a little
"Twice The Value"
(aka: Doublers/Doubles)
101

What are they?
You can use THREE "Doubles" per transaction. This will allow you to double three of your coupons. The coupons must be $1.00 in value or less.

Where can I find them?
When we have them (and it seems that we get them nearly every week), they will either come out with the Wednesday ad (in the newspaper and TMC), or more commonly, they are in the Sunday paper. Most often in a slick one page advertisement as shown above, but we have also seen them in the actual print section of the newspaper, and one time they were in with the coupon inserts!

You will also be able to go to customer service in your store and request an ad that contains the doublers. 99.9% of the time, they will only give you one ad (which contains three doubles). So if you want to do multiple transactions (the most effective way to build your stockpile), you'll need to make multiple shopping trips. This is why we strongly suggest getting a Newspaper Subscription where you receive multiple copies of the coupons and ads. In just one Sunday, you'll pay for your subscription with the value of all the sets of doubles you'll receive!

Sometimes the doubles come in the Wednesday ad and last the entire week. When this happens, we usually have some readers who have connections to the TMC and willingly share the extra doubles they end up with!

When Can I Use Them?
When they are in the Wednesday paper, they are valid for the entire sale week (Wed-Tues). When they are in the Sunday paper, they are valid for the last three days of the sale (Sun-Tues). Usually, when it is a fab sale, we will do three transactions in a row. We will use one set (a "set"contains 3 doubles) per transaction, and almost always do three transactions in a row! Many of the stores are "cracking down" and not letting you double the coupons that say "Do Not Double". So be aware of this as you are planning your shopping trip. (I'm not going to waste a whole paragraph explaining why I think this is silly, since it is ALBERTSONS that is paying for the value of the "double", not the manufacturer).

What is the best way to use them?
To get the most bang for your buck, double the ones valued at $1.00! But do be aware that there may be times the cashier will adjust the value of the double down. This would be the case if you were to purchase a box of crackers that was on sale for $1.75. If you doubled a $1/1 coupon, you would be "making" $.25 off the product. While you would always have other items that would absorb the cost, many cashiers will just adjust the coupon down to $.75 so you would get the crackers FREE (still not bad!) vs. getting paid to buy the crackers.

Sometimes I'll just get enough items to maximize my doubles. This is when I leave the store paying $2 or less for a number of items.

Other times, I'll use them in conjunction with a promo. When doing this, I'll just make sure I have three "$1.00 off" coupons to double and then I'll plan on my total out of pocket being an additional $3.00 less.

Are you excited to use some Albertsons Double Coupons?! You can always go to our label cloud and click on DOUBLE COUPONS to find the latest double coupon deals!

Coupon Tip Tuesday: A little Q&A

Q1. I like the idea of organizing coupons with the baseball cards slots in a binder, but how I'm not sure how to break them down into subjects.

A. Check out my how I organize my binder by clicking HERE. Later you can also find it under "organization" in the label cloud or table of contents, also in the Coupon Tip Tuesday series.

Q2. Can you use a coupon on an already "in store sale" item?

A. YES, that is the best strategy!

Q3. When it says do not double or triple this coupon what does it mean?

A. Some stores will have special days when they will give you twice or triple the value of your coupons. They will not be allowed to double or triple the ones that say do not double.

Q4. Where can you send your unused expired coupons?

A. Overseas Coupon Program HERE (next time find this under "overseas coupon program" in the label cloud or table of contents.)

Q5. I did the Grocery Smarts (PYP) list for Albertsons, but I wasn' t clear how to get the coupons that are shown on the list. If I click on the link, can I print them twice, or do I go back and start over?

A. Here is a tutorial for using the shopping list. You can print them twice on the web site or by clicking through again. It does not automatically print them twice. Any coupons on that sheet labeled Group A can be printed by clicking though our site at coupons.com. Group C can be printed using RedPlum on our site. Remember you can help support our site by clicking through to print. :) Both of those coupons can be accessed by clicking on the rectangular and square banners on the far right of the site.

Q6. I found coupons in the Sunday paper ads last week. Some were also the same coupons on Red Plum and Coupons.com from your site. Can I print and use them as well as the ads from the paper?

A. Yes you can use as many coupons as you have items. You could not combine an internet coupon with a newspaper coupon on the same item.

Q7. When should I do more than one transaction?

A. Multiple transactions are needed when you are shopping at Albertsons and using their twice the value coupons (more info HERE). You can only use a set of three double/twice the value coupons per transaction.

Also if you are doing a deal where they say spend $30 get $15 back you will want to get promotional items in groups to add up to $30 or a little more. Then do the same thing in a separate transaction if you need more. Remember only add up items from the promotion when getting to your $30.

Q8. How many transactions do you do from one cart before you feel you need to go back and start over?

A. I limit myself to 3 transactions in a row, then go out to my car unload and come back in if I have time, or just come back another day if I am not done shopping. Read HERE for more info on multiple transactions. Also you will want to limit your number of transactions if the store is busy. Here is some info on when to shop.

Q9. The coupons printed in color. Can you change them to black and white or do they need to be in color? That is so expensive to print them all in color I was just wondering if there is a rule on that.

A. You can print them in black and white. They don't need to be in color, just change your printer settings. You can even print on scratch paper. Learn more about printing coupons HERE

Q10. One of your tips is to print the coupons at the beginning of the month. Are there new coupons every week or just ones I haven't printed from the first of the month that are still available to me?

A. New coupons come at the beginning of the month and sometimes part way through as well. Most coupons will remain available all month, but the good ones often go fast.

Lastly, here is some info on coupon shopping etiquette.

Question for our FAB Readers

My family just started our official "summer routine" today (We didn't start last week because of basketball camp for two of the kids). Many of the things we are doing are ideas I got from my sister and I'm excited about it!

I LOVE to get ideas from others as far as what they are doing with their kids and routines. It seems like we could always use fresh ideas - especially when the novelty wears off of what ever gizmo charty thing we're doing at the time.

So I'm going to share ONE of the things we are doing. Each morning we have, what I so lovingly call, HAPPY HOUR. Yes, the name is full of irony. You'll see why.

HAPPY HOUR is where the ENTIRE FAMILY comes together and we DECLUTTER and CLEAN one room or section of the house for ONE HOUR. ONE HOUR and ONE HOUR ONLY. If we finish earlier, then extra happiness for us! If we DON'T finish the task, it is OK! We will finish it tomorrow! The timer is set and for one full hour we expect hard, non goofing off, work (Can't you just see their happy sparkling faces now? Yes, they were thrilled with the idea of HAPPY HOUR!).

Now - we did this today while my 3 year old was napping (I'm sure tomorrow we'll be able to find ways for him to help out). We did bathrooms. Can you imagine all six of us in one bathroom? Me neither. That is why hubby and my oldest did the downstairs bathroom, and the other three kids and myself did the upstairs bathroom. We cleaned out the drawers and under the sink. Not only decluttered, but actually CLEANED. I had my 5 yo wiping baseboards and cleaning behind the toilet! I scrubbed the tub like no other, my girls were cleaning out the drawers, I grabbed the pumice stone for the toilet. And we cleaned! And it took us the whole hour. But man oh man does that bathroom sparkle! And since the kids helped get it that way, you can bet they love it to and are working hard at making it stay that way!

Tomorrow we shall tackle the kitchen - which may take the remainder of the week. We're going to clean out the pantry, clean the front of all the cabinet doors, clean out the fridge, wipe walls, detail clean the bar stools and so on. Yes, we'll need more than an hour to do all this stuff! BUT we're doing it together! and putting on fun music to keep the energy positive! (We told the kids that either way they were going to have to do this. They could decide to make it fun or miserable. Today 3 out 4 decided to make it fun (the 4th child shall remain nameless!) My positive spin - HAPPY HOUR).

So by the end of the summer, you can bet I'll have a much more organized and clean house than I do today!

I've also got great ideas for lunches, how to manage "electronic time", and cheap ways to vacation.

But NOW I want to hear from you!

I know YOU, our FAB readers, come in all sorts of family sizes of all sorts of age ranges. I want to hear what is working for YOU! Things such as:

• What things are you doing to motivate kids to do their jobs?
• What things are NOT working for you.
• What are you doing about summer bedtime? (same or later, and how to do it when the sun is still shining!)
• What are your daily/weekly routines?
• Do you plan daily/weekly activities with your kids and if so, what are they?
• What summer traditions do you have?

We'd love to hear all about it!

THEN, I'm going to share it with the rest of our readers! If you want to blog about it and then send me a link, please do! If you just want to email me your "TELL ALL" story, that would be fab! And it doesn't need to be a novel (ahem), but even a simple one line tip will do! Just do what works for you... the most important thing you can do is SHARE IT! You never know, you're idea/story just may help someone who is struggling!

Send me your links and Summer Routine Tips at fabulesslyfrugal at gmail dot com by Friday. I hope to get the post up by the end of the weekend (depending on response).

We call it, FABULESS READERS TELL ALL! We can learn a lot from each other - and it doesn't ALWAYS have to be about couponing does it!? :)

I can hardly wait to read what you have to say!!!

Q&A What do you do with a Catalina?

We got a question from one of our Fabuless readers!

Q: One quick question…I read about the Mac and cheese special and Catalina coupon that comes with it, I’m still not sure what to do with those?

A: The catalina is a check out coupon that can be used on your next transaction at Albertsons. It can be used like cash to pay for your groceries. There are a few exclusions like it must be redeemed after your manufactures coupons and store coupons. It can not be used toward money orders, gift cards, alcohol, lottery tickets, tobacco, prescriptions, stamps or fuel. Other than that just use it to pay for part of your next grocery order. Also it can not be used to pay for tax. If you have more questions about catalina's check out this post here.
Hope that helps!