** I usually shop at Wal Mart, which allows price matching. Target also allows price matching. It's not the only way to coupon but I have had alot of success with price matching so I love it!**
When I am going through the store and getting the items on my list I like to put on the side by that item the Shelf Price and how many items I have. If I have time and it's not busy I'll go ahead and do the math right there in the store so I just have the total on my notes. Then when I get done with checking out and get my final price I load my car and then sit there and add up all of the totals from the Shelf Price column and then minus what I paid (less tax) against the total from the Shelf Price column and that is how I get my total savings! It takes only a couple of minutes but that way you get to see your hard work! Also most cashiers will hit the subtotal line before they start scanning coupons after they have price matched all your items. This is nice because you get to see how much you saved just by price matching! It's Great!
For me the key to a calm checkout is going either late in the evening or early in the morning. I'm a night owl so I prefer the late evening. Also knowing which days to go is key. New ads come out Sunday and Wednesday so Monday and Thursdays will be hard trying to find your sale items. If you shop Wal Mart then Tuesdays are crazy since they double coupons that day. If you like to double coupons feel free it's a great way to save, just know that Wal Mart will not price match AND double coupon. You have to pick one or the other. My preferred day to go is Friday night about 10pm. Most of the customers are gone and the only people you have to contend with in the aisles are the stockers. (Which most are pretty friendly) I find that if I can't find an item they will usually have it on there pallets and are very accommodating!
Another Key to Calm is to profile your checker. Now by the time I get done it's usually around midnight and there aren't many choices at hand. You just pick the best option you have and go with it. This is probably going to sound mean but it's the truth. Different people and different age groups can make or break your trip. I normally go for the girls who are soft spoken, or the ones with to much make up on. The first one is easy going and is not going to stand there and question you on every coupon you have and why you have it. The latter couldn't care less if your here, there, on the ceiling or walking out the door. While the older generation of checkers can be very nice they sometimes are not up to date on the policies and can be a little slow. Boys in there teens to late 20's can be slow and not understand the coupons. Or they can be the opposite and go TO fast and scan stuff that you wanted to price match or double.
Middle aged men can be the nicest and they can also be the worst. I have had both kinds. I obviously preferred the nice one because he was good at what he did and he was friendly. I've also been on the receiving end of one employee who thought I was a coupon nut and didn't know a thing and questioned me on every coupon I had. Check out with him took 2 hours :( All of that being said I love all of God's creatures and think they are wonderful but a Girl's gotta do what a Girl's gotta do.
When I get to the belt at checkout, I start by saying Hello to the checker and letting them know that I will be using coupons and price matching. I also ask if they can just give me a sec then I will organize everything on the belt so that check out can go smoothly. They are usually only to happy to agree. I then start organizing things on the belt in groups. Also if you have alot of an item but the flavors are different try to make sure the flavors are paired together so that they don't have to hunt and pec for them. Once you have everything you can fit on the belt you are ready to go! Now take a deep breath and try to relax, you are about to save like crazy!
Once the checker grabs an item quickly look on your list and tell them the sale price. That way they can scan it in and start bagging. It's really not that difficult at this stage just time consuming. When you are nearing the end start getting your coupons out of there little resting spots because it's almost show time for them!
If someone happens to get in line behind me I politely tell them that I will be awhile because not only do I have 2 carts of stuff but I'm also using coupons. They will appreciate the heads up so they aren't standing there for hours looking at you like they wanna choke you.
When the last of your items have scanned though you'll get your total. Now don't panic! Yes that number may be high but it's about to get low, low low! Hand over your coupons and watch your price drop and drop and drop till it's well below where you started. Now sometimes when scanning the computer will reject a coupon saying that not enough items were purchased or for some unknown reasons. Go through it with the checker and make sure it's ok and then set it aside. You can come back when the rest of them have scanned and they can manually put it in. If you use over 40 coupons a manager will have to be called over to override the computer, so don't be alarmed when that happens! It's all part of the game!
Now is the time when you can jump for joy, or do a little dance because you just couponed! Once you do it one time and see how much you can save it gets addicting! But remember don't burn yourself out. Sales and coupons come around every 3 to 6 months so pace yourself and enjoy!
If you are polite and helpful it goes smoothly for everyone, you walk out like you own the place and the checker isn't frazzled or upset! Everyone goes home happy!
