Cracking the Catalina Couponing Code at Kroger!

Say that ten times fast! Anyway, I started couponing a while back, but ever since the baby came, I haven't been able to dedicate much time to it. I still cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and will hunt down baby coupons when I have time, but I don't have the time to hunt down and print a coupon for almost every item we use! I was fortunate enough to get a visit from the Enfamil Coupon Fairy at Kroger back in December, but my luck started to run dry shortly after. As some of you may know, I made a late night run to Kroger to get some Enfamil formula (as a supplement) for Ryne. Adam's mom had given me a catalina coupon (the ones that print at the register) for $5 off Enfamil powder to use at Kroger, hence my late night run to Kroger and not Walmart. While at Kroger I noticed that a very nice person left a handful of Enfamil catalina coupons stuck between two cans of ready to feed formula. I couldn't resist, and was very grateful! So I bought a can of powder with Jo Ann's coupon and two cans of Ready to Feed (per coupon restrictions) with one of the new-found coupons! Then at check out, another powder formula coupon printed! So I went in with one coupon and walked out with 6 new ones (Yatzee!)! Then the next day I got 2 Enfamil coupons from the company in the mail! Like I said, the Enfamil Coupon Fairy visited!

So, obviously I've been buying formula at Kroger for the past month, and not receiving any new coupons. It just didn't make sense. I had decided that I was going to use all the coupons and then start going back to Walmart until Kroger got their act together! I figure since we live so close to both, I can play them off each other! A few days ago, Jo Ann brought us 2 more Enfamil powder catalina coupons for Kroger and I still wondered why I wasn't getting any. Jo Ann said she hadn't been buying formula there, so that struck me as odd. When I used the last of my Kroger catalina coupons, a Gerber 1st foods catalina coupon printed, which I was glad to have because the baby is now eating veggies. I used the first Gerber coupon and did not receive another one. So the next time I went to Kroger I bought a different brand of baby food, and lo and behold, a Gerber coupon printed!

So today I went back to Kroger because I needed more baby food and wipes. We typically use Gerber brand food products and we use Pampers wipes because they work better in the wipes warmer than Huggies. I took the Gerber coupon and a Huggies coupon because I didn't have a Pampers coupons and put my theory to the test! I bought 3 Gerber foods (per coupon restrictions), 1 jar of the competitor's brand (we are testing out bananas in the morning!), and I bought a pack of Huggies wipes. So guess what printed out at the register - 2 Gerber food coupons printed and 1 pampers wipes coupon printed! From what I can deduce, if you buy the most expensive/popular brand (i.e. Gerber, Pampers, Enfamil) they will occasionally give you a coupon for that brand. If you buy the competitor's/less expensive brand, they will print you a coupon for the most expensive/popular brand! I bet if I had bought Similac formula, an Enfamil coupon would have printed! So now I know how to get what I want at Kroger, even if it takes sacrificing my favorite brand from time to time!

As you can see, I enjoy celebrating the small victories, and one day, when Ryne is through with formula and baby food I will pay it forward and leave my coupons for another parent!