During this holiday weekend, we're re-running some of our most popular posts chock full of timeless information. Our goal is to bring you fun fashion tips, useful stories and of course, ways to save money! This post originally ran in February 2009 and answers a lot of the most common questions about instant rebates and Catalinas. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ever wonder what those coupons are that print out after you check out?  Those are Catalinas.  (Cats for short)  Catalinas are a huge savings opportunity that all couponers should pay attention to!  These are coupons and rewards based on items you’ve purchased.  They can be a number of things--an advertisement for an upcoming sale, a coupon for a similar item, or a coupon for money off your next order.  Catalinas can be nothing good, or exceptionally great!!  Catalinas often “roll” too--meaning you can use one Catalina on the next order and get another Catalina.  The best Catalinas give you deals that make items free.  Catalinas are usually prompted by something you buy.  Maybe you buy Huggies and get a Pampers Catalina.  Maybe you buy Planters and get a Planters Catalina.  Maybe your store shopper card tells them you frequently buy stuff for kids, so you get a coupon for kids’ admission to the zoo.  Often the Catalinas will tell you exactly what prompts the coupon to print.  So make sure to read the fine print so you can do it again!  Also pay attention to the type of Cat it is.  Is it a store coupon or a manufacturer coupon?  If it says store coupon, you can combine it with a manufacturer coupon.  But if it says Manufacturer Coupon, remember that you can only use one manufacturer coupon per item. 

Here are a few recent Catalina deals that have been very popular:

Catalina 1:  Buy any Planter nut products during purchase dates and save up to $6.50 with coupon off your next shopping order.

Buy any Planters nut products(excluding sunflower seeds, baking nuts and Trail Mix) between 6/20 & 7/13
Buy 3=$4.00 OYNO($1.33 each)
Buy 4=$5.00 OYNO($1.25 each)
Buy 5+=$6.50 OYNO($1.30 each)

Catalina 2:  Buy Dixie plates, get a Catalina for $3 off any 2 Dixie plates/bowls.

Catalina 3:  Get $3 off two kids’ admissions to the zoo

Catalina 4:  Free Mrs. T Pierogies when you buy 1 Rotisserie Chicken

Seem simple enough, doesn’t it?  Ah, but these deals get better.  Let’s look closer at each Cat.

1.  Buy x number of Planters products and get money OYNO.  Now, there is a $3 off Planters when you buy 3 participating products coupons on the internet.  One of the participating products is Kool-Aid, currently on sale for .20 a package.  Planters are $2.99-$5.89 in the store.  You need 3 Planters products to get the $4 OYNO.  So, you pick up 9 packages of Kool-Aid (3 coupons x 3 participating products needed) and 3 containers of peanuts for 2.99 each.  The peanuts are free and you pay $1.80 for the Kool-Aid.  You get a Catalina for $4 off your next order.  You spent $1.80 out of pocket, but received 9 Kool Aids, 3 Planters peanut mixes and $4 to spend on your next order.  That’s an excellent moneymaker!

The deal got sweeter for a few weeks when Country Time lemonade, a participating product, was on sale for .99 each.  Country Time had its own Catalina.  Buy 5 or more and get $4 off your next order.  So for $9 out of pocket you received 9 Country Time Lemonades, 3 Planters Peanuts, one $4 Catalina for Planters and a $4 Catalina for the Country Time Lemonade.  You spend $9 but come out with $8 in coupons in your pocket.  A very good deal if you drink Country Time at home!

Catalina 2:  Dixie plates were on sale at Walgreens for 2/3.59.  Now, there were $1 off each coupons available.  You paid $1.59 for your plates, and received a Cat for $3/2.  The Cat was a manufacturer coupon, so you could only use it with the deal.  I would get two more sets of plates, put down my Cat for $3 off and pay .59 out of pocket.  I’d get another Cat with my receipt, and go back and do it all over again! 

Catalina 4:  Rotisserie Chickens often get marked down mid-afternoon to evening.  Savvy shoppers know what time that is at their store.  They would wait for markdown time, snatch up the $3 Rotisserie Chicken, and the Mrs. T Pierogies.   They went home and stashed both in their freezer for dinner another night!