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How to Save Money at Dollar General
Dollar General is one of my favorite stores to score deals at every week. They offer quite a few ways to be able to save money at Dollar General.
Use the Dollar General $5.00 off $25.00 Coupon
If you are looking for a way to save money on everyday items without having to jump through a lot of hoops, then Dollar General is the store for you.
I like to buy my household needs at Dollar General, like laundry detergent, dish soap, toilet paper, razors, shampoo & conditioner, soap, medicine, diapers, coffee, and more.
The trick is to wait until Saturday to shop.
Dollar General offers a digital $5.00 off $25.00 coupon practically every weekend. It is almost always only good on a Saturday. Very rarely, but sometimes, it is also offered on a Friday.
Dollar General has a great coupon policy. Their policy states that Dollar General coupons must be deducted before any manufacturer coupons, and that makes for some awesome deals.
At first glance, many people think it doesn’t matter which coupons come off first, but it really does matter.
Practically every Saturday Dollar General offers a $5.00 off $25.00 coupon. These can be found in their digital coupons, which can be accessed on either a regular computer or a SmartPhone. Many times you can find a $5/$25 paper coupon right on the bottom of last week’s receipts too.
I try to go in at least twice a month with the goal of getting my pre-coupon total up to $25.00. This is the total before any coupons are added into the deal, so if I’m purchasing $6.00 shampoo with a $3.00 off coupon, I add $6.00 towards the $25.00.
Typically, I buy things that are needed at home, like toilet paper, shampoo, medicine, dish detergent, laundry detergent, and clearance items.
I try to have a coupon for the majority of things I am buying. At least that is the goal. Try to have a coupon for every item being purchased.
Once I reach my $25.00 goal, I head to the register. When the clerk starts ringing my items through I go to the credit card machine and choose the DG button. I put in my phone number and all of my digital coupons are pulled up and deducted if I made that purchase.
The first coupon that comes off is the $5.00 off $25.00 coupon, then all of my other coupons are deducted. In theory, my total could go all the way down to just the tax if I have the right coupons.
For example:
- toilet paper $6.99 with a $1.00 coupon
- dish detergent $2.99 with a $1.00 coupon
- medicine $5.99 with a $3.00 coupon
- diapers $7.49 with a $3.00 coupon
- two candy bars $1.00 each with a BOGO coupon
Total before coupons = $25.46
- DG coupon $5.00 off
- toilet paper coupon $1.00 off
- dish detergent coupon $1.00 off
- medicine coupon $3.00 off
- diapers coupon $3.00 off
- candy bar coupon $1.00 off
Total after coupons = $11.46
Although the $5.00 off $25.00 coupon is almost always only good on Saturdays, Dollar General has been known to offer them on Fridays, so always, always check the date on your coupons.
The best thing about the $5.00 off $25.00 coupon is that you don’t have to use other coupons, but you can still save on your everyday items.
If you really need diapers one week, but can’t seem to find any coupons for the type your baby uses, then just do the $5.00 off $25.00 deal.
Don’t have time to clip a bunch of coupons?
Just buy the things you need this week at Dollar General and you will at least save the $5.00. I call this making my own deal!
Save with the Dollar General App
Dollar General has created an app for your SmartPhone, and it makes shopping at Dollar General so much easier!
I love this app because it lets me know if I have picked out the right item to match up to a digital coupon.
Open the app, find the scanner, then scan the UPC code on the product. If there are coupons that will attach to this particular product, then make sure you click on the coupon to add it to your purchase.
No more guesswork!
How many times in the past have you picked out the wrong item thinking your coupon was going to attach, but it didn’t?
It has happened to me too many times!
Stacking Coupons
Have you ever had a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon for the same product, but you were unsure if you could use them both on one product since the coupon specifically read, one coupon per item?
Well, if your store accepts stacking coupons, then you can use both on one item.
Stacking coupons is when you use one store coupon, plus one manufacturer coupon on just one item.
The manufacturer coupon is the manufacturer giving you a discount, and the store is the store giving you a discount.
The Dollar General coupon policy specifically says they accept stacking.
The coupon will say right on it whether it is a store coupon or a manufacturer coupon.
You cannot, however, use two store coupons on one item, or two manufacturer coupons on one item.
Stacking coupons is a great way to save money while shopping at Dollar General!
Present Your Coupons in the Proper Order
This might sound strange, but you really need to make sure that you present your coupons in the proper order. Always give your $5.00 off $25.00 coupon first.
This only applies if you have a paper $5.00 off $25.00 coupon. If it is digital, then it will come off first automatically.
Any other paper store coupons should be given next, and finally, any paper manufacturer coupons should be given last.
If you don’t present your paper $5.00 off $25.00 first, then your total will be too low to use it.
Coupon Overage
Dollar General does allow coupon overage, but not in the same way that Walmart pays their coupon overage.
What exactly is coupon overage?
If the product you are buying costs $1.50 and you have a $2.00 off coupon, then there is an overage of $0.50.
Dollar General will apply this overage to the rest of your order, so you will get the full $2.00 off.
Some stores will reduce the coupon down to the price of the product, not counting any sales tax.
Other stores will apply the overage to the rest of your order.
Walmart will apply the overage to the rest of your order, but if your total is negative, thanks to coupons, then they will pay you the cash!
Dollar General simply applies the overage to the rest of your order, so be sure and add in enough items to account for the overage.
Strategic Shopping will Save you the Most Money at Dollar General
Strategic Shopping will save you the most money at Dollar General.
What exactly do I mean by Strategic Shopping?
Strategic Shopping is making a plan to buy something at the perfect time to save and/or earn the most money on that product.
Coupons don’t work so well when you use them just to use them.
Try and match your coupons to items that are on sale that week.
Take advantage of the Dollar General Rewards program.
This rewards program is different from the regular Dollar General coupons.
If you click on the coupons heading in the Dollar General app, you will see Rewards right next to the top of the coupons.
They offer different specials all of the time, like spend $15.00 on certain products, and get a coupon for $3.00 off your next $3.01 purchase on almost anything in the store.
These coupons show up at the bottom of your receipt once you check out.
You can turn around and use this coupon immediately in the store.
Then, use a digital rebate app in order to earn money back on your purchases.
Digital Rebate Apps
There are literally too many digital rebate apps to mention. The digital world has made getting rebates extremely easy.
I don’t try to use every single rebate app available. I just choose a few good ones and stick with them. Trying to use them all just becomes too overwhelming.
Are you interested in earning money back on the purchases you already plan on making?
Who wouldn’t be, right!?!
Just click on the links below to sign up for your FREE accounts.
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Fetch Rewards is by far my favorite digital rebate app!
Fetch makes it super easy to earn cashback! There are no hoops to jump through!
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Clearance Racks
Dollar General is a small store, so they are always trying to clear out merchandise to make room for the new stuff.
Their favorite way to do this is by offering all of this stuff at deep discounts on the clearance racks.
Clearance racks don’t have to equal old, spoiled, ripped, or outdated items.
It just means the store needs to make room for the new stuff.
This is especially true at the end of seasons and holidays.
I have found some pretty amazing things on the Dollar General clearance racks, including socks, underwear, utensils, hair dye, shampoo & conditioner, notebooks, crayons, markers, cups, household decor, laundry detergent, dish soap, medicine, vitamins, paper products, shoes, clothes, toys, jewelry, party supplies, diapers, baby supplies, bug repellant, dishes, and so much more.
None of this stuff was even close to its expiration dates. A lot of it didn’t even come with an expiration date! I mean when do socks and diapers expire?
It’s always fun to find great deals on the clearance racks, but it is downright exciting when you find coupons and digital rebates to match up to these clearance finds!
Don’t Forget the Dollar General Dollar Item Section
Dollar General has been expanding its Dollar Section a lot lately. Don’t forget to check it out.
These products work great if you need just a little more to get your total up to that $25.00 mark.
You can also use coupons on these $1.00 items if you have any.
Dollar General Dot Sales
Have you ever heard that Dollar General is having an amazing deal on something, let’s say shirts, so you head straight out to Dollar General to snag these deals, but when your stuff rings up it’s at full price?
Yup, Dollar General can be tricky to shop sometimes.
They have these Dollar General secret messages on their tags.
We simply call them Dollar General Dot sales.
Oddly enough, they are not always dots either.
Dollar General tends to put dots, squares, and stars on their products.
Not only that, but they color code these dots too.
You must pay close attention to the symbol and the color code in order to get the right deal.
If red dot shoes are on sale, you won’t get the deal if you pick up yellow star shoes.
The symbols and color code can be found right on the price tag.
Penny Shopping
Have you ever heard of Dollar General penny shopping?
Dollar General tends to keep marking their clearance items down until they finally hit 90% off.
Most people run to the stores once these clearance items hit 75% and 90% off.
I’m right there with you. I love a good 90% off sale!
I like to say if you see something you like marked down to 75% off, then you should probably buy it because it might be sold out before it hits 90% off.
When I see a 90% off sale, I consider that a stock-up price.
But, if any of these deals are still on the shelves even after the 90% off sale, then they will probably eventually be pennied out.
There are a lot of Strategic Shopping sites that get a head’s up on the penny list that will be coming out. New penny items usually get marked down on Tuesdays, but you can sour the store and find penny items any day of the week.
Here are a few things to remember when penny shopping:
- It’s a hunting type of deal. You will need to scour the store, and scan, scan, scan, to make sure you got the right item.
- You are not supposed to ask the store employees about the penny items because while you are looking for these itmes, they are supposed to be pulling them off the shelves. Once the items are in your cart, they are yours to buy, but if they are still on the shelves, then the employees can take them.
- If the item doesn’t ring up for a penny like you thought it would, then just simply tell the clerk you don’t want that item.
My all-time favorite penny shopping deal was the year I got a ton of socks. These were the regular, heavy-duty men’s and womens’ six-pack socks for only a penny! I think I got like 15 packages!
That was 90 pairs of socks for $0.15!
Dollar General Coupon Policy
Like I mentioned earlier, my favorite thing about the Dollar General coupon policy is that they must deduct their store coupons before deducting any manufacturer coupons. For example, when using their $5.00 off $25.00 coupon the $5.00 is deducted first, then all of the other coupons. This has the potential of bringing your total down to just taxes if you have the right coupons! Many other stores would deduct the $5.00 if your total was at $25.00 after all other coupons, so you would always pay at least $20.00.
My other favorite thing about the Dollar General coupon policy is that they will apply the overage to the rest of my order!
Go HERE to read more about the Dollar General coupon policy.
How to Save Money at Dollar General
These are a few ways that I save money at Dollar General.
Leave a comment and let me know how you save money when you are shopping at Dollar General?
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