This is part of my Couponing 2016 Pinterest board
Recently I shared a post about how much the USDA estimates your grocery budget should be. It has me thinking about how much couponing has changed in the last couple years. How does couponing and saving money look as we head toward 2016? I feel like it’s time to go back to the basics – because the basics have changed so much. This is a series of posts we’ll be doing on Grocery Savings in 2016 – so that we can be ready to roll in the new year.
11 Easy Ways to Save at Safeway
Want to save money on your groceries at Safeway? Here’s a list of 11 easy ways to save on groceries at your local Safeway store.
1.) Safeway Club Card – To take advantage of the sale prices at Safeway, sign up for a free Safeway Club Card. At checkout, swipe your Safeway Club card or enter the phone number associated with your account. Your Club Card is KEY to keeping track of all your promotions – including gas rewards and Just for U Coupons
2.) Just for U program – Safeway’s Just for U program is connected to your Safeway Club Card. You login to your Safeway Just for U account through the Safeway website or thru the Safeway app on your phone. Through your Just for U account you’ll upload digital coupons to your Club Card that come off automatically at checkout.
It includes both store coupons (from the ad) and manufacturer coupons (they will be denoted as such, see image above). Some coupons will be unique to your account based on your past shopping habits. Safeway’s coupon policy allows you to stack one manufacturer coupon and one store coupon per item – if you have both kinds of coupons loaded to your card they will come off at checkout. You can also use a paper manufacturer coupon with a store Just For U coupon.
3.) Manufacturer printable and newspaper coupons – Manufacturer coupons are always a great way to save on groceries – you can find these in your Sunday paper or by printing your coupons directly from here. Safeway does reserve the right to refuse any coupons at their discretion. Safeway’s coupon policy here
4.) $5 Friday sale – Every Friday Safeway has a one-day $5 sale, with select items for $5 or less. You’ll find the same items tend to appear in this sale every few weeks. Some of the better items to watch for include organic meats, Luvs diapers, seasonal produce and deli offers. We like to highlight our favorite $5 Friday deals each week, but a full list can always be found in our list of weekly Safeway deals. If you prefer to shop for groceries online through Safeway, you’ll find most of these deals available when you place an order on Thursday or Friday.
5.) Grocery markdowns – One of the easiest ways to save on items that are traditionally not on sale is grocery markdowns. Safeway will mark down items for a few reasons – close to the sell by date, change in packaging, damaged packing or they are no longer carrying the product. Especially look for markdowns in the deli area – things like packaged cheeses, meats and dips. You’ll find that the days and times for markdowns vary by location. Sometimes meat markdowns are kept in three different spots in the meat department (seafood, chicken and beef/pork). The discounts range from 30% – 50% off depending on how many days off the sell-by date is. With close sell-by dates you can either freeze your meats or cook it up (and then freeze).
Also keep your eyes out for Safeway’s orange mark down stickers – these take an extra 50% off whatever the lowest marked price is. This means that if an item is already marked down 50% off and has the sticker – you’ll actually save 75% off the regular price. You can see a recent example of that here.
6.) Buy 4, Save $4 promos – Safeway frequently offers promotions for Buy 4, Save $4 or Buy X, get FREE Milk. These are an excellent way to save and are almost always listed in the weekly ad. With these sales you need to buy at least four items to get the promotion and you can use coupons on the items you’re purchasing. The additional discount comes off at checkout when your Safeway Club Card information is entered.
7.) Catalinas – A catalina is a coupon that prints out at the register on receipt-like paper after you complete a transaction at the store. These are triggered by items that you purchase! You can read more about what Catalinas are and how they work here. You can check for the current Safeway catalinas using our coupon database – just change the coupon type from “All Formats” to “Catalina” and “All Chains” to “Safeway”. This is an easy and fast way to check for additional savings when planning your trip.
8.) Safeway produce magazine – Keep your eyes peeled in the produce department for Safeway’s Fresh Ideas magazine. The free magazine often has high-value produce coupons inside! These aren’t always stocked in your store or they might be hard to find. Ask your local produce manager if they carry them and where they are displayed.
9.) Gift cards and gas rewards – Safeway has an extensive collection of gift cards available for purchase – restaurants, clothing stores, Amazon, Ticketmaster, iTunes and more. Stock up on gift cards when Safeway offers 4x gas reward points (sometimes as high as 5x gas rewards in your Just for U account). Buy gift cards for places you would be shopping anyway – like Lowe’s or Home Depot if you have home repairs to do. By purchasing gift cards you’ll earn gas rewards, up to $1 per gallon!
10.) iBotta for cashback rebates on items you purchase – Download the FREE iBotta app and if you purchase qualifying items from Safeway you can submit your receipt for cash back on your purchase! Withdraw your cash rebate directly through your Paypal account!
11.) Find the very best Safeway deals EVERY week here! That’s right, we make it easy for you! Every week we have the best in-ad Safeway deals here, complete with a printable list option and matched up with all the current coupons. But also make sure and follow our Safeway category here – we often post unadvertised deal round-ups and other printable coupon match-ups. The unadvertised deals are unique to our blog and are thanks to someone going into the store every week to find them! Find all Safeway deals here.
What are your favorite ways to save at Safeway? Leave a comment – we’d love to update the list with more suggestions!
Chrissy Jacobson says
I add every single coupon in the app which really adds up! I save $80-$100 a week!
Brenda says
Just thought I would add that the SavingStar rebate program now accepts Safeway receipts as well and it seems like they are constantly adding more offers. I also use the Checkout 51 rebate program at Safeway, but their weekly offers are pretty limited.
Laura S says
I love Safeway and I totally agree with what you are saying! The Just 4 U paperless coupons are great. I check their site or ap every time before I shop. I love that I can stock up and save so much on my favorite items. Thanks for a great article!
Vee says
I don’t think that the produce magazine is being printed any longer. Also, it is not showing up on line. Not sure if it was Safeway’s doing or Tony Tantillo who i think was the author of the articles.
Stacy says
The once a month $10 off $50 is another good coupon. And also the doubler for 4 coupons.
Just used my $10 off $50. Got $60 worth of groceries for $28.
Karen says
I always head to the meat section first at my Safeway. I know a couple of times a day that are better than others for finding marked down meat so we eat really well shopping that bin. We had a rainy Labor Day this year so a bunch of the BBQ friendly cuts we’re half off on that Monday. Most of the new coupons are loaded on Wednesday so I’ll load them while I wait for train for work. Paper couponing has become so frustrating. Our region often doesn’t have the coupons in the match ups or lower valued one. It’s a big time suck and frustration for a small amount of savings.
Melissa says
Do you think Safeway offers good deals for people who have to stay away from processed foods because of food intolerances? I see good sales at Safeway, but they always seem to be for shelf stable items. I’d welcome any advice you have.
Denise says
I’ve gotten away from heavy use of paper coupons. I found that collecting them from newspapers every week just gave me the same coupons for things I never used. A lot of time spent clipping and organizing for little benefit. I tend to follow the store sales, check the markdowns, and use the Safeway app to balance my time and savings. Doing this my grocery savings average 28-38% most trips.