As a mom, I’m always looking for a way to save time and money. Of course, you expect to pay less at the dollar store. But, what if you could get even deeper discounts? With just a little planning you can pay half of what you’re paying for essentials at The Dollar General Store.
1 – Sign up for a Dollar General Store account. It just requires your name, email, and phone number. By signing up, you get access to manufacturer coupons, as well as, Dollar General coupons. You can digitally clip coupons to your Dollar General account on your phone. When you’re at the register, simply enter your phone number and your digital coupons will download.
2 – Shop Saturday. Every Saturday, Dollar General offers $5 off $25, pre-tax. This coupon appears at the end of your receipt. But, it’s also available in your account. So, if you haven’t shopped at Dollar General in the last week or you lost your coupon, you can always access one through your account. On special occasions, they may offer the coupon for use on Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday. But, it is always offered on Saturday. When there is a minimum purchase price, try to stay as close to the minimum as possible to get the biggest savings.
3 – Know the store deals. Dollar General frequently offers deals on essential items like cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, and toilet paper. For example, if you buy $10 worth of Lysol products, you get $2 off instantly. If the Lysol Cleanser is $2.50, I can buy 4 and get them for $8 after the $2 is taken off at the register.
They often offer $5 off when you buy $25 worth of Gain products. You can buy Gain laundry detergent, Gain Flings, Gain fabric softener, Swiffer refills with Gain scent, Gain dryer sheets, or Febreze with Gain scent. If it says Gain, it qualifies for the coupon. Beware – You usually can’t use the $5 off $25 store coupon with the $5 off. But, you can use other coupons with it. Always check the store’s coupon policy.
4 – Plan ahead. To save time, make your list prior to going to the store. Research the deals online or in the weekly ad. Have a plan of attack. Get your coupons together and try to match the to the deals being offered. Just know, some store deals, such as the $2 off Lysol products, may not be prominently advertised in the weekly ad. So, keep an eye out for deals in the store.
5 – Pair manufacturer and store coupons. To get your deepest discounts, pair manufacturer coupons with store coupons and/or store deals. You can get manufacturer coupons in the newspaper, print them out using sites like coupons.com, or clip them digitally in your Dollar General Store account. You should try to have a coupon for each item on your list. See below for two examples of how you would pair the coupons to get deeper discounts.
Example 2 – Using $5 off $25 purchase (pretax) Dollar General Store Coupon
| Store Item | Store Price | Store Coupon | Manufacturer Coupon | Discounted Price |
| Tide Pods | $3.95 | n/a | $2.00 | $1.95 |
| Gain Flings | $3.95 | n/a | $2.00 | $1.95 |
| Cottonelle Bath Tissue (12 roll) | $5.95 | See below | $1.00 | $4.95 |
| Cottonelle Bath Tissue (12 roll) | $5.95 | See below | $1.00 | $4.95 |
| Cottonelle Bath Tissue (12 roll) | $5.95 | See below | $1.00 | $4.95 |
| SUBTOTAL | $25.75 pretax
[STEP 1] |
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| $5.00 off $25.00 pretax =$20.75 before manufacturer coupons applied
[STEP 2] |
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| $3 off when you purchase $15 worth of Cottonelle Products = $17.75
[STEP 3] |
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| $7.00 worth of manufacturer coupons
[STEP 4] |
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| TOTAL (approximate purchase price) | $17.75 – $7.00 = $10.75
[STEP 5] |
$18.75 IF ONLY manufacturer coupons applied |
In the first example, I used items I would normally purchase. If you follow steps 1-5 in the chart, you can save 60%. I gave an approximation of the item price, including a sale price for Tide Pods and Gain Flings. Your savings can be even greater if additional items in the store are on sale.
Example 2 – Using $5 off when you purchase $25 worth of Gain products (pretax)
| Store Item | Store Price | Store Coupon | Manufacturer Coupon | Discounted Price |
| Gain Laundry Detergent | $5.00 | n/a | $2.00 | $3.00 |
| Gain Flings | $5.00 | n/a | $2.00 | $3.00 |
| Febreze w/Gain (small) | $3.00 | n/a | See below | See below |
| Febreze w/Gain (large) | $5.00 | n/a | $3.00 when you purchase 2 Febreze | $6.00 for 2 |
| Gain Dryer Sheets | $3.00 | n/a | $.75 | $2.25 |
| Swiffer Refills w/Gain | $4.00 | n/a | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| SUBTOTAL | $25.00 pretax
[STEP 1] |
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| $5.00 off $25.00 pretax =$20.00 before manufacturer coupons applied
[STEP 2] |
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| $9.75 worth of manufacturer coupons
[STEP 3] |
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| TOTAL (approximate purchase price) | $20.00 – $9.75 =$10.25
[STEP 4] |
$15.25 IF ONLY manufacturer coupons applied |
In the second example, I used items I would normally purchase. If you follow steps 1-4 in the chart, you can save almost 60%. I gave an approximation of the item price. But, your savings can be even greater if the items in the store are on sale.
Based on the examples, you can see the importance of pairing the manufacturer coupons with the store coupons. Why pay more when you can easily pay less for the essentials? Follow these simple steps to get deep discounts at Dollar General and continue to live your best life in balance!
