Maybe you heard about this site from a friend. Or you joined the facebook group because people were talking about it. Maybe you see the post of deals at Tops and you think “eh- I don’t know how. Tops is the most expensive store in our area.”
Or maybe you just think “To get a deal at Tops must be WAY to much work. My schedule is already full.”
I’m sorry to say that there is no excuse after reading this to NOT save a lot of money at Tops. If you are not following the tips below you are spending too much money at Tops.
You’re not using $0.99 or less coupons at Tops.
TOPS DOUBLES ALL MANUFACTURER COUPONS UP TO $0.99 EVERY DAY. What this means is that coupon you clipped for $0.75 off a box of cereal is worth a $1.50 off a box of cereal at Tops. That is awesome. Your savings is being doubled and all you had to do was use it at Tops. Not sure what a manufacturer coupon is? You can read an entire post dedicated to that here.
Take away- Use coupons that are $0.99 or less in value at Tops!
You didn’t realize the same snack you are buying at Aldi will give you gas points at Tops.
TOPS GIVES YOU GAS POINTS FOR EVERY PAPER COUPON YOU USE. What this means is that $0.75/1 coupon you have will earn you 10 gas points during a gas earning week. When you reach 100 gas points you receive $0.10/gallon of gas at Tops. For me if I am going to purchase a snack at Tops that is the same price as Walmart or Target I am going to buy it at Tops to earn the gas points. It is the second reason I shop at Tops with coupons. It’s another reason I weigh Tops or Aldi because Aldi doesn’t give gas points. Who doesn’t want to save money on food and gas together?! Now there are a few fine details with this. You will only earn 10 extra gas points per coupon up to 10 per transaction. That means if you use 12 coupons in a transaction you will only get 100 extra gas points.
You also earn gas points for every dollar you spend. You can read more about that here.
Takeaway- Get your gas at Tops
YOU’RE NOT USING TOPS ONLINE COUPONS
TOPS HAS ONLINE COUPONS. Say what?! Yes no excuse to say you don’t want to clip coupons. They have pretty much all the same coupons you see from coupons.com online here. But there are drawbacks to it.
- They don’t double any of those click to card coupons.
- You won’t earn gas points with those coupons.
- You won’t be supporting your favorite blogger- hehe
Then why did I mention them? Because there are times where you may have forgotten to grab a newspaper insert or you pretty much use printable coupons like me and you need to grab just one more of a HOT item to stock up on.
But the BIGGEST reason I mention them is because they have Store coupons on there. Every Thursday Tops offers 4 new store coupons that you can stack with manufacturer coupons. The best part the coupons are always for items on sale. You can view those here. And you have to admit it’s great to just click the coupon and it just comes off when you use your bonus card at checkout.
For my already pros- You can NOT and should NOT be using a Tops click to card manufacturer coupon with a paper manufacturer coupon.
Takeaway- Use Tops Click to card coupons every Thursday
You have no idea what the Tops Coupon matchups are and the power in using it.
Shop from the Tops Coupon Matchups list. If there is one thing I could shout to every person in the world- it would be to use a coupon matchup list. These lists are your guide to extreme savings every week. The lists are a sale item paired with a coupon. All you have to do is print or gather that coupon and head to the store buy it and then give you coupon to the cashier. If you were to buy things only on the matchup lists you would be saving 60% off your grocery list. Lucky for you I have LOTS of coupon matchups lists for you to use to shop in BATAVIA! ( if you are not local these lists apply to our whole state of new york !)
You can also click which item you want and it will store it on a printable list that pops up to your right. You can save the list or print it. So really you are doing two things at once. You don’t even have to write items down from my list. I encourage you to shop from those lists next week! You can learn how to seriously coupon here.
Takeaway- Only shop from this Tops Coupon Matchup list.
Meat with the Special Today Sticker Scares You.
Buy Meat with Yellow Stickers.Tops has a fair amount of clearance. They mark the meat down with yellow special today stickers. This is a great way to buy meat at a cheaper price and then store in your freezer! You will see markdowns starting Thursday nights at Batavia store. If the meat expires that day it is ok to put in the freezer when you get home. Your nose and eyes are the best to tell if it’s gone past it’s safe to eat mark. Still don’t pass up the chance for a real deal.
Takeaway- Buy meat with yellow stickers when available
You had no idea Tops has their own Organic Magazine with coupons
Shop for Organic Items with the Natural Zine Magazine. If you are buying Organic items at Tops you have to know about the coupon that is always found in the Organic Zine Magazine that is down the natural/organic aisle, up front by the Tops Ads, or online here. There is a $2 off a $10 Organic coupon. This is a store coupon. you can break up your transactions so that you can use it off every $10 you spend. They usually always add one more coupon to save on Organic. Pretty cool Tops!
You didn’t know Tops has a Dollar Section.
Head to Tops for $1 Items Before going to Dollar Tree.Yep. They have a everything’s a dollar aisle at Tops. Why not get the same $1 item at Tops and earn a gas point instead of at the Dollar Tree?! The selection is not as grand as the Dollar Tree but it’s worth checking out first.
Takeaway- Skip the Dollar Tree Check at Tops first.
You didn’t know there is a generic brand that is the same price as Aldi.
Buy the Valu Time Brand.If you are a off brand shopper you’ll love this. At Tops we have the Tops brand and then we have the Valu time brand. The Valu time is cheaper then the Tops brand. Why?! This is how Tops can boost its sale to get you to buy their brand. The stranger thing is many of the items are made at Topco. Same place the Tops Brand items are made! The Valu time items are within pennies of the prices at Aldi and this line has expanded so much in the past year. You may just want to think about buying your items at Tops instead of Aldi like I did on this shopping trip and saved more money at Tops!
Takeaway- Tops Brand and Valu time are the same.
You are not using Apps to save on Produce
You can use Money Savings Apps to save on produce at Tops. When the farmer’s market isn’t open you have to buy your produce at a grocery store. The best part is there are a couple apps to help you save even more. Checkout 51 has offers every Thursday to save on produce. Savingstar is another program that has a new weekly healthy offer to save on produce.
And my FAVORITE app to save is…. you guess it because I talk about it all the time. IBOTTA! They have new offers constantly and the best part is they have offers to use on ANY Brand! I love that. They also have savings on produce and MILK! Man we go through so much milk! If you are new to Ibotta you can get $10 in your account just for joining! This offer won’t last long. Even without the $10 bonus it’s so worth it!
Takeaway- Use Apps to stack savings on produce
You’re missing out on coupons Tops gives you at checkout
When you start couponing you look every where for coupons. It’s like your eyes spot them like never before when you realize their power! Tops gives out plenty of coupons when they hand over your receipt. Keep these coupons in your binder and use them on a sale item. It’s a free way to build up your collection and score some great savings.
Takeaway- Don’t toss your receipts they give you coupons when you check out!
If you follow these 10 tips I believe that you will be in a savings high. Your eyes will be opened in a way you didn’t know about Tops Markets. You can thank me by joining my facebook group here and posting your hauls or how taking steps to really save money has impacted your life! I would love to see you there 🙂 Or better yet- share this post!
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