This killer idea was shared with us by Dianne Guastella — Annette’s best friend from grade-school days. It takes some planning but works like a charm.
We got a Great Deal on a Mattress
We recently were given a new queen-sized mattress. You know, one of those super thick ones that look like you’re re-enacting The Princess and the Pea? As a result, none of our other queen-sized sheets would fit and we needed to buy some new, deep pocket sheets.
Shopping for Deep Pocket Sheets
It was late on a Wednesday night when we wandered into the Bed Bath & Beyond store. Even though Dianne had given us very detailed instructions, we were unsure if this deal was going to work. So, wanting to be proactive, we walked up to the manager and asked some questions:
1) Could we use one coupon per item? (They usually distribute two different kinds of coupons: $5 off of a $15 purchase and 20 percent off a single item).
2) Would they accept expired coupons as well as competitor coupons? (Such as Linens & Things)
3) We also asked if coupons could be used on clearance items.
We were ready for her to say, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” But to our surprise, she confirmed Dianne’s assertions and answered yes to all of our questions.
Finding A Killer Deal on Sheets
Armed with this assurance, we went to the sheet section in the store. We were shocked by the prices! Wow, $50 to $150 for a set of sheets and pillowcases. It was outrageous! But we knew that they usually put clearance items in the back aisle of the store. So after the initial shock wore off, we went to the clearance section and found some steeply discounted items. There was a set of light blue, queen-sized, 600 thread-count, deep-pocket sheets for $24.98 (original price $99.99). It was a broken package — someone had taken the pillowcases, but we could tell that the sheets had never been removed.
We also purchased a separate set of pillowcases, on clearance; two beach towels, to be part of a wedding gift for a friend; a hot pink pillow, on clearance for Abbey’s bedroom; and one container of Tic Tacs (we needed the Tic Tacs so that we could use an additional $5 off coupon). The six items totaled $56.29 before coupons (remember several items were steeply discounted from the clearance section).
We had three “$5 off a $15 purchase” coupons that we could use because the total order was more than $45. We then used a 20 percent off coupon, which the computer automatically deducted from our most expensive item (in our case the sheets) that netted us another $5 off. Then we used two more 20 percent off coupons; one for the pillowcases and another for one of the beach towels.
Our total after the coupons and tax came to $35.27 — a savings of $21.02.
We heard that Bed Bath and Beyond will no longer be accepting expired coupons after December 2008. We called our local store and the manager said that the corporate office hadn’t yet made that determination, but most likely it would be rolled out regionally if they did. So call the store in your area and ask about their coupon policy before you go shopping. Remember, after Christmas, when holiday things are discounted, it’s a great time to use coupons to jump-start your 2009 Christmas shopping.