Coupon shopping doesn’t take much more time than it usually takes to plan a weekly menu. I’ve gotten it down to where I only spend about an hour a week between planning my shopping trip and cutting coupons – well worth the time considering what I save as a result of that. The one place where there’s no denying that coupon shopping takes added time though is in the checkout line. I often break up shopping trips into several smaller trips to take advantage of the best sales from several stores (and to avoid losing my mind if I’m shopping with kids) but when I make a large grocery shopping trip I try and warn people in the line behind me so they won’t be annoyed.

I took a trip to Von’s today and filled an entire cart with all of their back-to-school deals. I probably have enough snacks to get through 6 months of school lunches now but the people standing behind me in line were less than thrilled. They stood in line and grumbled about every coupon as it was scanned and made what I’m sure they thought were witty remarks about people who use coupons. Since they were standing less than 2 feet away from me I have to assume they knew I could hear them. I do think they stopped grumbling a bit when the cashier said, “Thank you. You saved $170.00 today.”

I generally go into the grocery store fairly prepared so I rarely run into more than the slightly irritated cashier. There are some things you can do to speed up your time in the checkout line when shopping with coupons and minimize the effect your thrifty habits have on other shoppers.

Know Your Store’s Coupon Policy

Ever store has a different coupon policy. Know what your store’s policy is before shopping. Von’s doubles coupons up to a value of $1.00 so I often try and shop there, but there coupon policy is stricter than most. For example, they only allow 3 duplicate coupons to be used in 1 transactions (although I have gotten away with 4 several times after getting a manager’s approval). Albertson’s, on the other hand, will allow as many coupons as you have, but will only double coupons if you have a doubler coupon (from the Sunday paper or in-store coupon book) and then they only allow you to use as many doubler coupons as came in that specific ad.

Knowing the store’s coupon policy before you shop can also help you increase your savings. I’ve run into several cashiers who haven’t understood what their store’s coupon policy was and didn’t want to allow me to get the savings I was planning on. If you know the store’s coupon policy, you can ask them to check with their manager, who is more likely to know what the policy really is, and allow you to save more money.

Cut and Stack Coupons Before Shopping

Grocery cashiers need to be able to fit your coupons into their register drawer. If you hand them a store ad with a coupon on the page, they have to take the time to cut out the coupon while you are in line. Some coupons may be connected to another coupon for a product of the same brand. It’s much easier to cut out one large coupon but it will save you time in the checkout line if you cut them apart while at home. Cut all coupons, including store ad coupons, before shopping and try and stack them nicely so it’s easier for the cashier to scan them one at a time.

Pay Attention to Prices

Nothing drives grocery cashiers crazier than buy one get one free coupons. The cashier has to manually enter the price of the item in order for you to get the discount, which requires knowing what the price of the item is. If you have a cart full of groceries, it can be time consuming for the cashier to scan your full receipt or dig through your already reloaded grocery cart to find the product to determine the price. Pay attention to the price of BOGO coupons, write it down if you need to, and give that price to the cashier when he gets to your coupon. This will allow them to quickly scan the receipt to confirm the price and get back to checking you out.

Go to The Line Furthest from the Door

The checkout line closest to the door is usually the busiest. Take the time to go to a less crowded line further away from the door to avoid holding up as many people. This isn’t just a service to other shoppers. A cashier who feels rushed is more likely to skip over savings you should have in an effort to move the line along faster. Going for a slower checkout line gives you the chance to watch as your shopping cart is checked out, make sure everything rings up correctly, and sometimes get some great tips from the cashier. I’ve had cashier’s give me additional coupons when they’ve had the time to do it.

How do you speed up the process when shopping with coupons?

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