Publix: One coupon per person / purchase / transaction

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I had a lot of coupons to use today at Publix, and while going through them, I noticed some different wording on them. Some said, "One coupon per person." Another said, "One coupon per purchase." And still another said "Limit of 2 coupons per transaction."

What do these phrases mean?

One coupon per person (or customer, or guest) means that you can use one coupon per store visit. That's it. If you use more than one of these coupons in a single store visit, you are not using the coupons the way that the manufacturer or store intended. It's also possible that the register will not scan more than one copy of the same coupon. If you want to use more than one coupon, you'll have to leave the store and come back at a different time. However, if you have more than one shopper in your party, each one of you can purchase the same item and use one coupon before having to leave.

One coupon per purchase refers to buying the product. If you have a coupon for $1 off 1 product, and you buy one product, that is a purchase. If you have a coupon for $1 off 2 products, and you buy two products, then that is one purchase. It just means you can't use two $1/2 coupons when you only have bought 2 products. You can use as many of these coupons as you want in at one time, as long as you buy the right number of products.

A transaction is buying a set of items, concluded by you paying the cashier and receiving a receipt. If there is a limit per transaction, you can only buy as many as the limit states. However, you can then immediately start another transaction without having to leave the store.

That's the way I understand it, anyway! If I've made a mistake in my interpretations, please let me know!

As for my Publix shopping, it was a great week! So great, I think I went a little overboard.

I was only able to get limited quantities of items I wanted to stockpile because of the coupon restrictions. So I'll be sure to go back another time (or two, or three) this shopping week to get more!

Here's what I got this week:

4 Barilla pasta sauce @ BOGO $2.59 = $5.18
- 4 $0.75/1 Barilla pasta sauce coupon (zip 30187)
= $2.18 for four, or 55¢ each

2 Surf laundry detergent, 100 oz @ BOGO $7.99
- 2 $1.00 OFF any ONE (1) Surf® Laundry Detergent
= $5.99 for two, or $3.00 each
(These are twice the size of the detergent that I generally pay around $2.00 for, so it's a good deal.)

6 Mueller's pasta @ BOGO $1.59 = $4.77
- $1/2 Mueller's, Luxury or Ronco Pasta printable
- $1/2 Mueller's Pasta Product, exp. 6/8/13 (SS 05/12/13 R)
= $2.77 for six, or 47¢ each
(I wanted to buy more, but both coupons had restrictions. I had also brought a coupon for $1/2 Mueller's, Pennsylvania Dutch or Ronco Noodles printable but the scanner would not take it. Perhaps it was only for egg noodles, not for regular pasta?)

2 Sea Cuisine Tilapia @ $4.99 = $9.98
- 2 $1/1 High Liner Sea Cuisine Product printable
= $7.98 for two, or $3.99 each
(I love this product, so even though it's fairly expensive even on sale and with coupons, I bought it.)

1 Philadelphia cream cheese @ $1.50
- $0.50/1 Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spread, exp. 6/8/13 (SS 05/05/13 R)
= $1.00

8 StarKist tuna pouches, 2.6 oz @ $1.00 = $8.00
- 4 $1/2 StarKist Single Serve Pouch Products printable
= $4.00 for eight, or 50¢ each

4 Birds Eye Steamfresh vegetables @ $2.59, 50% off = $5.18
- 2 $1/2 Birds Eye Steamfresh Items printable
= $3.18 for four, or 90¢ each

4 Red Gold tomatoes, 14.5 oz @ 69¢ = $2.76
- 2 $0.50/2 Red Gold Tomato Product printable
= $1.76 for four, or 44¢ each

2 Dial body wash @ BOGO $3.83
- $1/1 Dial Body Wash Target printable (coupon limited to 1 per person)
- $2/2 Dial, Dial For Men or Tone Body Wash, exp. 6/8/13 (RP 05/12/13)
= 83¢ for two, or 41¢ each
(The manufacturer's coupon here is the one I talked out in my Is this ethical? post. Here, I'm using it the right way!)

2 Finish Quantum Powerball dishwashing detergent @ BOGO $6.99
- $1/1 Finish Quantum Powerball Automatic Dishwasher Detergent Target printable (again, a restriction)
- 2 $0.75/1 Finish Detergent printable
= $4.49 for two, or $2.25 each

4 Tampax Pearl Lites @ $3.99 = $15.96
- 4 $1.50/1 Tampax Radiant, Pearl Active or Pearl Liners, exp. 6/30/13 (P&G 06/02/13) (limit 4 per transaction)
= $9.96 for four, or $2.49 each

2 Tampax Pearl @ $3.99 = $7.98
- 2 $1/1 Tampax Pearl, Pearl Compak or Pearl Active, exp. 6/30/13 (P&G 06/02/13)
= $5.98 for two, or $2.99 each

2 Pantene shampoo/conditioner @ $2.99 = $5.98
- 2 FREE Pantene when you buy 3 participating products (including Tampax) Publix store flyer deal
- $3/2 Pantene Product, exp. 6/30/13 (P&G 06/02/13)
= $3.00 moneymaker

Tax: $2.45
Total spent: $49.57
Total saved compared to Publix full prices: $83.43