Do you use fillers w/ freebies?

[texxie]

Take this week for instance, the tostino rolls are free. I'm going to have to do multiple transactions to use up all my q's. I literally don't need anything but those. When getting freebies, do you get fillers? Do they give you grief if your total is 0.00? lol

[chriscree]

Yes I use fillers because my Kroger is picky and I do not want to draw attention to my couponing ways...I can always use milk. Or I just buy a banana or an apple.

[texxie]

yeah, that's true. it's just so weird for me to literally not need one single thing LOL i guess i'm doing something right.:wink7: could always stock up on the chicken noodle..tis the season and all.

[cupcake85]

Nope, I'll go in daily to just pick up my freebies & they could care less

[texxie]

no there you go! pulling me in the other direction:giggle2:VERY cool that you can do that, no questions asked. I think in my store, it would depend on who's working the self check.

speaking of fillers though....what are everyone's faves?

[daniela6968]

I used to try to have at least a $1 oop but could care less anymore if they look at me funny. I went to Tom Thumb with my 20 Snapple $1/1 q's I received in a trade. It was all I got and the cashier was scanning the last one shaking his head when he realized it was going to be $0.00. Then he gave me my receipt and said "Good job!" I did get nervous a bit but didn't make myself get a filler. :)

[gmrtnz29]

I love to go in for just freebies. The looks and comments from cashiers and other customers are priceless.

[Cynthiabutterfly]

I go get freebies only at Albies or Tom Thumb all the time, but only because they have higher regular prices so if it's not a great deal I already need, then it's a waste of money. It seems that I've only had a zero at kroger once by accident, but only because I was using an oyno so it seemed ok?

Anyway, I always need something, and krogers has the best prices for non-sale stuff so I'm always getting regular stuff too, or cheap stuff like the barilla pasta.

[nessy]

NOOOOOOPEEEE....unless I was gonna buy something else anyway. I don't care, I will grab in multiples of 3 and go to the self-checkout. I could care less if they give me the stick eye!!! I am not doing anything wrong!!!

You shouldn't have that type of mentality. As long as you are using coupons correctly then it shouldn't be a problem and you have nothing to worry about. If by any chance they give you any problems, come back at a later time. Usually, there will be some evil cashiers but that's rare at least for me.

My mom was just telling me how she went to Walgreens got 7 RR and the lady said she couldn't use it til tomorrow! I wish I would've been there I would have given her a piece of my mind!!!! I'm usually very shy/reserved around people I don't know but if someone messes w/ my freebies or money you better believe the gloves are coming off!!!

*end of semi-rant*:hectic1:

[zoeys_mom]

I don't mind having 0 transactions but sometimes I have to tell the cashier how to complete the transaction to print my receipt. They just don't know what to do when you don't owe anything :hysterical:

A good filler that really costs you NOTHING in the end is gift cards. You are eventually going to use that money anyway, so why not just prepay if you think you MUST have a balance.

[jaws1]

YES, even if the filler is a BOGO or a 2lb sugar with triple, or a bag of veggie/fruit, and I'm only paying $1 oop ... (course, I've always had other things, so my oop always more than $1).

Customers going in and getting ONLY freebies is one reason the local store went to only 1-like Q per transaction, because so many people were doing that and the store was oop for the d/t amount ... manager noticed MANY customers doing it and went from 3 d/t to ONE d/t (and was doing that PER DAY, although I understand that's changed now). And, in a small town store, they notice the customers ... when you only have ONE Kroger, they really notice. ... and, because of the ONE d/t, I get to drive an additional 20 miles one way, just to shop at a Kroger that does 3 d/t ...

So, guess you have to ask yourself how many Kroger stores you have around, how much attention you want to draw to the fact that d/t Qs = free, and how much you enjoy getting 3 d/t ... and, how lucky do you feel? ... I'm not saying it's "wrong" to walk out with only freebies, just that our (and others') actions can have consequences down the road.

[texxie]

thx for everyone's input. everyone has made excellent points. I know i'm not doing anything wrong but don't want to rock the boat at the same time. given i have literally ONE kroger that i'll shop at. sigh.

ZM, EXCELLENT suggestion in regards to the giftcards, i had'nt thought of that. do you know the least amount you can load? TIA

[zoeys_mom]

thx for everyone's input. everyone has made excellent points. I know i'm not doing anything wrong but don't want to rock the boat at the same time. given i have literally ONE kroger that i'll shop at. sigh.

ZM, EXCELLENT suggestion in regards to the giftcards, i had'nt thought of that. do you know the least amount you can load? TIA

I don't think there is a min. but I have never tested it below $1:wavehi:

[nessy]

YES, even if the filler is a BOGO or a 2lb sugar with triple, or a bag of veggie/fruit, and I'm only paying $1 oop ... (course, I've always had other things, so my oop always more than $1).

Customers going in and getting ONLY freebies is one reason the local store went to only 1-like Q per transaction, because so many people were doing that and the store was oop for the d/t amount ... manager noticed MANY customers doing it and went from 3 d/t to ONE d/t (and was doing that PER DAY, although I understand that's changed now). And, in a small town store, they notice the customers ... when you only have ONE Kroger, they really notice. ... and, because of the ONE d/t, I get to drive an additional 20 miles one way, just to shop at a Kroger that does 3 d/t ...

So, guess you have to ask yourself how many Kroger stores you have around, how much attention you want to draw to the fact that d/t Qs = free, and how much you enjoy getting 3 d/t ... and, how lucky do you feel? ... I'm not saying it's "wrong" to walk out with only freebies, just that our (and others') actions can have consequences down the road.

I see your point. I hadn't thought about that given the fact that I live in N. Dallas and I have 3 Krogers 5 mins or less around me. I usually do cheap/freebies in 1 transaction n leave then come back another day or just go to a different one since I always have limited time w/ other deals going on. Personally, I have never had problems doing only freebies or cheap stuff. I do want to clarify that I am not one of those people who clears shelves. I usually have 5ish coupons for an item. I could see where it is a problem where one person is getting a crapload of free stuff and not leaving any. That is a pet peeve of mine and I want to be courteous and leave some for others.

[texxie]

thx zm! reps:wavehi:

also want to note that i'm not looking to clear any shelves either. they have a ton of these!:biggrin:

[cupcake85]

YES, even if the filler is a BOGO or a 2lb sugar with triple, or a bag of veggie/fruit, and I'm only paying $1 oop ... (course, I've always had other things, so my oop always more than $1).

Customers going in and getting ONLY freebies is one reason the local store went to only 1-like Q per transaction, because so many people were doing that and the store was oop for the d/t amount ... manager noticed MANY customers doing it and went from 3 d/t to ONE d/t (and was doing that PER DAY, although I understand that's changed now). And, in a small town store, they notice the customers ... when you only have ONE Kroger, they really notice. ... and, because of the ONE d/t, I get to drive an additional 20 miles one way, just to shop at a Kroger that does 3 d/t ...

So, guess you have to ask yourself how many Kroger stores you have around, how much attention you want to draw to the fact that d/t Qs = free, and how much you enjoy getting 3 d/t ... and, how lucky do you feel? ... I'm not saying it's "wrong" to walk out with only freebies, just that our (and others') actions can have consequences down the road.

I see where you are coming from, I'm sure once I move to the 'burbs in a month I'll be cutting back on my dailies. But luckily living in the city I have a bunch of stores around me so I'll alternate my stores depending on my errands for the day.

[jaws1]

I guess I always assume that NO ONE on this site clears shelves! ... Don't really see how ONE couponer could do that, anyway, with limit of 3 d/t! ... which is one of the reasons I get so irritated when SMs blame couponers for cleared shelves -- I would venture to say that 99.9% of us a responsible, sharing shoppers ... if we weren't, would we be telling each other "good deals"???!!

True ... we might go to 5 different stores in one day and get a total of 15 like items, using 3 like Qs at each, but I don't consider that "shelf clearing" ... we drive/walk to different stores to get the allotted number of items!
And, I feel pretty confident in saying that if a store only had 6 of a like item, some of us would get 3 at that store ... or, (if we had the option) go on to a different store that was better stocked and leave those 6 for other customers.

And if couponers are the "only ones that clear shelves," how come all the (was it Kroger brand or Kraft bars) cheese was wiped out the second day of the sale ... and NO coupons on it????? WE sure didn't do THAT!, yet, we get blamed cuz "only couponers clear shelves" is the philosophy of some folks.:shrug7:

When SMs (at any brand store) gripe about couponers, I always feel like they're talking about the "amateur couponers," not us ... we're "informed, seasoned couponers"!! (dare I say, "professional couponers"?!) ... and, whether I agree with them or not, I gotta respect a "professional!" (I'd much rather get robbed by a "professional" thief than an amateur that tears up more than they take, and injures me in the process.)

[climbing down off of soapbox now!]

[zoeys_mom]

I take my 3 at a time, one day at a time. The cashiers at Sweetwater know my face and know me as I am in there just about everyday to get my 3 like items and move on. I share the wealth by sharing coupons with them as well! No sense in letting them see me get freebies every week and they can't do the same