Coupon Question and Answer: Ask I Heart Publix 3/21
March 21, 2012
It is time for our weekly Coupon Question and Answer session! Keep sending in those questions – we love to answer them! Just remember if we didn’t get to your question this week…we will do our best to cover it another week!! As always a big thanks to my buddy Christy over at Winn Dixie on a Dime who gives me so much help to get the questions answered.
Remember–there is a tab at the top of the site called “Q & A” where you can find the questions and answers from past weeks!
Here are this week’s questions:
- Can you freeze the new Kraft Fresh Take?
- How do I get my hands on $5/$50 coupons?
- Is the Yellow Advantage flyer available in Publix stores? If not, where can I get it?
- Where can I find high dollar coupons & coupons for free items?
- My family is moving in the next month or two…when do I stop stocking up?
And here are the answers!
1.Odika wants to know: Can you freeze the new Kraft First Take?
Christy: I’m not sure about this one – I haven’t tried the First Take yet so I haven’t yet tried to freeze it! I would assume it would freeze ok – it’s basically just cheese and bread crumbs. I know cheese freezes just fine but I might worry a bit about the bread crumbs getting too “wet” as they defrost. Commenters, have you tried this? How does Fresh Take hold up in the freezer?
Michelle: I have not frozen it to see how it comes out but I would assume it should be OK. Mine has a pretty long expiration date so I will probably use it before I need to worry about popping it in the freezer. If anyone has anything to add…share it in the comments.
2. Adam wants to know: How do I get my hands on the famous $5 off $50 purchase coupon? My mother gets them in the mail from time to time, but I do not. What gives?
Christy: $X/$XX purchase coupons (especially the ones that show up in your mailbox) are pretty hit and miss – it all depends on your area. From time to time there will be $5/$30 or $5/$50 coupons in a particular area paper – if enough areas report getting that coupon, Michelle will post so you will know to be on the lookout. Otherwise…it seems to be luck!
If your store accepts Winn Dixie as a competitor, I can tell you that there have been a lot of opportunities to get $5/$30 Winn Dixie coupons lately…so you might want to keep your eye out for $X/$XX competitor coupons too as they can sometimes be easier to find.
Michelle: There is really no way to predict who will get Publix mailers so your best bet is keeping your fingers crossed – tee hee. You can look for trading buddies who may have access to coupons you might not be able to get your hands on. I think of them as nice little surprises that pop up occasionally – you may not be able to count on them all the time but they are nice when they come around.
3. Kristian wants to know: Is the Yellow Advantage flyer available in Publix stores? If not, where can I get it?
Michelle: Yes, they are typically found in the carousel at the front of the store with the weekly ad. Some stores may keep them at customer service to prevent folks from taking a huge stack at once. Definitely talk to your store if you are unable to locate the booklets. They should be able to help you get your hands on a copy or two.
Christy: You should be able to find the Yellow (and Green) Advantage Buy flyers in your store on the Saturday that it begins (and hopefully for all three weeks that it is valid). However, I know there are a few stores where the flyers either disappear quickly or never show up at all (this should be the exception rather than the rule). Ask at your Customer Service desk to see what their procedure is for putting out the flyers. If nothing else, you can probably find a buddy over on the I Heart Publix Forum that would be willing to send you a flyer or two each cycle in exchange for postage or other coupons.
4. Quan wants to know: I noticed the other night while watching extreme couponing all-stars, that some of the couponers had high dollar coupons and for a free item. I believe one of the ladies had a coupon for $13.99 off of toilet tissue. Where can I find high dollar coupons & coupons for free items?
Christy: Like most couponers, I am VERY skeptical about the ‘realism’ of Extreme Couponing. Most likely people are saving, trading for, or even buying their very best coupons in order to compete on a show like that….and I can tell you from experience that you’re VERY unlikely to find extreme high-value coupons like that on a regular basis. Most times when there is a good high-value or free coupon offer available, Michelle will post about it, so my best advice is just to watch the posts here on the site and grab those coupons when you can…just know that they will not be all that frequent.
Michelle: Companies will occasionally send out high value coupons for complaints/compliments. These coupons are rare and one person will rarely have multiples without some help. As Christy said, most likely these coupons were bought or perhaps traded. There will be the occasional promotion or coupon giveaway where you might be able to snag a free product coupon. They are fun to get your hands on but not as readily available as that junk show make it seem.
5. Carly wants to know: My family is moving in the next month or two across town; we are not moving terribly far but I’m still dreading it. I don’t have huge stockpiles but we do have about 4-6 extra of most things, like paper towel rolls, shampoo, detergent, dish soap, body wash, boxes of diapers, boxes of cereal, boxes of granola bars, bags of frozen veggies… I don’t want to move lots of extra stuff but I don’t know how to shop now without buying multiple of things to get the better deal! I’d love to hear from fellow couponers who have moved recently. When did you stop “stocking up”? Any tips?
Christy: This will really depend on how quickly your family runs through its stockpile. If you are moving in less than 6 weeks, I would say the time has probably come to stop stocking up and to start eating down as much of the stockpile as possible (of course, you should adjust this based on your family’s needs). If you end up paying full price for a few last-minute items that you run out of, that cost will likely be outweighed by having to pack and move fewer items!
Michelle: Honestly, I would probably keep buying as normal. I know….I know…I may be one of the few to suggest this but I figure that with a move, there will likely be lots of unexpected expenses popping up left and right. Having what you need on hand may help keep your budget in check during a time where money is flying out the window! It will not be fun to move your stockpile…but is moving anything really any fun?
I hope our answers to these questions were helpful! Make sure you ‘tune in’ next week for even more Q&A with I Heart Publix. If you have a question you’d like to see answered, email me at contactiheartpublix@gmail.com.
You can freeze the cheese+breadcrumbs no problem! We actually had some defrosted mix last night for dinner (on chicken, yum!) and it was delicious!
So glad to hear it!! Cause I froze about 6 of them
Carly, I moved across town a couple of months ago. I did not stop stockpiling. I just kept my stockpile organized and on one trip I packed all of it up in my car and moved it together. I unpacked it as soon as I got to my new house so that it was put away immediately and I could reuse the boxes for other stuff. I knew that I would need my stockpile more than ever after moving because problems seem to pop up. Matter of fact, we had a water leak after moving in that ended up flooding our house
thank goodness for a stockpile 
it depends on how far you are moving & what your stockpile consists of……we moved from Florida to Maryland (out of Publix country, WAHHHHH!
) and while I didn’t move all of my stockpile, I certainly moved most of my personal care items and some of our dry goods stockpile. I moved some of our cleaning stockpile but long story short, not all that I needed which was frustrating after we arrived in our new place. We did have some unexpected expenses (deposits for heating, hotel costs, increased gas, etc….) that ate up some of our budget. Also, we moved over about a week roadtrip and our stuff did not arrive from the moving company for another 3 or 4 days after that, so having some peanut butter, crackers, toilet paper, cleaning wipes, etc…..were SOOOOO helpful in getting us through those days. We only had to pick up some bread, milk, and juice/soda for the time being. My suggestion is, depending on your usage, keep at least 2 of the items that your family uses the most. If your moving timeline and space allows, you will be so thankful to have those items on hand and have one less thing to shop for in your new place!
P.S. I loved sharing some of my stockpile with friends when we moved, but I had a hard time giving up some of the free items I got at Publix that I am sure I won’t get here in MD
Yes, you can freeze the Fresh Takes! I froze all the ones I got and so far both I’ve defrosted turned out great!
I’m with ashley, we just moved across town in February. Kroger had their mom’s best cereal like 10 for $10… Can’t pass up $1.00 cereal even as much as i hate kroger! So I bought lots near my new house & took it straight over to my new pantry. Empty boxes at a time & free them up for more stuff! That makes it easier (less boxes to unpack in the long run!). Dont stop looking for the deals, just be smart about it as you move!
In the moving case, I would continue to stockpile, but box up the excess instead of adding it to your pantry, so when you are ready to move, it is ready to go. I would be terrified to have to pay full price for something that was just on sale at a stock-up price. lol
Stop stockpiling !? thats crazy! lol. I moved about 2 months ago and I kept up with those deals. Too many other expenses comes up when you are moving. I would suggest that you take this time and look at some of the expiration dates. If they are near expiering or you have a lot of an iteam donate them to your local food drive.
Stop stockpiling?! Never underestimate what you can save by doing this. I agree with Ange. I put off large expenditures, such as medical or dental visits, for long periods at a time time, so that after stockpiling for a while, I can set money aside without the family starving. (Or going completely on dried beans and rice:)–my family won’t eat this.) Anytime you have a stockpile that you can live off, your grocery money is freed up for other things.
Expiration dates: Yes! I am one of those people who will throw away anything that is expired. To prevent this from happening, I label with masking tape, permanent marker, and large print all items with their expiration dates as soon as I get home from the grocery store. When I put groceries in the pantry, I take the time to line them up according to expiration date. I even have a special shelf set aside for items about to expire, and I make sure I funnel anything about to expire over to that area. That way, I can do menu plans that ensure these items get used before they expire.
I just moved 3 weeks ago, and it was kind of annoying cause I did stop stockpiling on some things, but only perishable food items. Moving my stockpile closet wasn’t too bad, I just padded the bottom of a box, put things in order by layers, and padding in between the layers.
First off I’d like to say I love when you post the Q&A!
Second, I bought about 20 of the freshtakes last week at kroger (not in one trip) and I’ve froze them. Two nights ago we used one for porkchops and it was perfectly fine! I didn’t find water in the breadcrumbs and the cheese was just fine. So I would say they’re ok to freeze!
Third and most important the high value coupons that they use on that lame excuse of a show are most likely fake. If I could share a link to a blog, a lady has pretty much pick apart every show and shows the coupon misuse AND coupon fraud with fake/altered coupons. TLC has been contacted many times about it, and yet they still show the show. This won’t change as long as people are still watching. But everyone is entitled to watch what they want, real or fake. But if you search about the topic you’ll find many blogs that have confronted both TLC and the shoppers about the coupons. Some do apologize while others perfer to not talk about it. The one I found most interesting is the underage boy that used free toliet paper coupons. Until I was reading about the coupon fraud, I had no idea that his coupons were fake and his mother paid the store $400 for the toilet paper after the fact. Search for this issue, you’ll see interviews with the stores these people are ripping off and how angry they are!
So glad publix refuses to let this horrible show in their stores!
The Sun-Sentinel. had a $10 off a $50 purchase from Whole Foods and my Publix accepted that coupon last week
I have moved several times while couponing! Locally I moved four times and once I moved to a different state. All five times I moved the stockpile. There was not a point where I stopped my normal buying pattern. I just packed everything up which resulted in quite a few boxes and coolers full of food. With that said I normally do not have more than 6 of any one item with the exception of cereal and pasta.
You can freeze the Fresh Take. I freeze all my grated cheeses too. The sliced and chunk tend to crumbled after being frozen.
I get a copy of the green and yellow Publix fliers in my Sunday paper also…
The high value toilet paper coupons from the show was found to be fraudulent. The store did not get reimbursed and the kid that used it was asked to pay around $400…lol. So, I suggest to be cautious buying “free item” coupons on eBay cause you don’t know if it’s real or not.
This situation was covered by the tampa tribute. I sent the link to Michelle a while ago.
For some reason my boyfriend’s brother, ( who lives with us) has been receiving $5/$30 coupons for weeks now! I have been using them since I’m the one that goes out shopping, but I really have no idea how he keeps getting these coupons. I usually get one of the coupons each week, or every other week. I’m not complaining though! LOL.
Recyclebank has $5/$30 coupons for Fresh Market for 50 points – the Publix on Peachtree Rd by Oglethorpe University in Atlanta takes them as a competitor. I’ve used them there several times.
For free product coupons, log in points with rewards systems some products offer. I just got a coupon for a free Huggies jumbo pack with my Huggies rewards points, and I also accumulate points with Nature Made vitamins to get a $7 off coupon every once in a while, which makes for free or super cheap vitamins at Walgreens and CVS with their recurring BOGO sales and stacking store coupons on those vitamins.
This response is in reply to Quan…As far as free product coupons go…if it looks and sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The toilet paper coupons that one of the featured couponers used on Extreme Couponing for free Quilted Northern have been proven to be fraudulent. The store where these coupons were used and the show was filmed was not reimbursed for those coupons. In fact, the mother of the boy who used them on the show has paid the grocery store the value of the coupons, but of course none of this is being brought up by TLC. On another of the shows, multiple Free Tide coupons were used and have also been proven to be fraudulent and confirmed by P&G that the store will not be reimbursed the value of these coupons. You can actually see the free Tide coupons on ebay, also and there are actually bids on them. It makes me sick. I wish everyone would stop buying coupons on ebay, then maybe some of the dishonesty would end.
I commented on the fraud a few areas above you, and have to agree with you 210%. The amount of fraud on that show is amazing. I don’t see how P&G or any brand that’s being shown are letting them continue on with the dishonesty. Only two or three families from that show have not abused coupons (according to the blog that bisects the show).
As someone said earlier, if the coupon sounds to good to be true, it probably is. The tide coupon for example was a real coupon. You can see a store logo on the coupon though, so the blogger contacted the company and they explained it was a promotion. If you bought a washing machine/dryer you received a tide coupon book. It’s such a shame that TLC hasn’t opened up about it yet. When people start asking questions about the coupons used here’s my tip:
If you follow coupon blogs and you’ve never seen it posted, it’s probably not true. For example that tide coupon which he used like 80 of? would’ve been posted on every coupon blog. That’s a GREAT coupon that alot of people want. The free toliet paper coupon would’ve been covered as well. Those are two things every family needs. If you don’t see blogs posting, it’s not real.
The Tide coupon was not real. It had the store name on it, but was a fake as confirmed by the store and P&G. Read Jill Cataldo’s blog…she has a statement from P&G confirming that the coupons were counterfeit. That store (Abt) gives each owner of a new washing machine bought from them a coupon book with FOUR free Tide coupons, this person on the TLC show had 200 of these coupons and none of them had the hologram security feature on them that Abt Tide coupons have. The Tide coupons that Abt gives are real, but contain security features that were absent on the 200 (fraudulent) coupons used on the show.
I said the tide coupon was a real coupon. That’s the blog I read, by the way. It was once real, and someone took advantage of it by altering/selling. But wasn’t sure if I could say another blog or post links so the person who asked the question could be better informed on what REALLY happens in the making of the show.
To 5, about moving. We moe awhile back ago (into our first house thanks to couponing lol) I would suggest getting boxes and putting your extra for your stockpile directly into boxes that are labeled with everything in them. I did this with canned goods, bottled juice, toiletries ect and it worked great. It was out of the way (I slid the boxes under beds) and just took them down the stairs when it was time to move. Because I kept “like” items together, I was able to unpack them right where I needed them. The key? LABEL LABEL LABEL. If you get a great deal 4 weeks before you move on mac n cheese and put it in a box, you’ll never find it if you don’t label it!
I freezed the fresh takes and they tasted just fine
Can you freeze the new Kraft First Take the company said you should not freeze it is not good