This past weekend was the Dollar General Clearance Event, and I got a great haul! I shopped all three days of the event: Friday, to get everything I wanted before it disappeared; Saturday, to use the $5/off $25 coupon, and Sunday to use some new coupons that came out that day. Now, I’m not going to sit here and detail every single one of the 176 (!) items I got over the weekend – that wouldn’t be particularly interesting, and I don’t have the energy for that after a four-day clearance marathon.😂 Instead, I’m going to give you an overview of what I got and the most noteworthy deals I found. Even with me skimming over a lot of the boring details, this post is still insanely long, so here’s a quick menu you can use to navigate so your eyes don’t glaze over immediately:
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Surprise Penny Info + UPCs
So let’s jump right in:
Day 1
I was super prepared for the Clearance Event – I spent Thursday familiarizing myself with all the items that were going to be 50-70% off by watching videos from Kristie’s Connections and Craz-E Coupons, and I did some reconnaissance at the store the night before. They had already set up tables and put out some of the items that were going to be on sale, so I memorized where the items I wanted were and figured out the most efficient route for walking through the store. On Friday morning, I got there at 7:45AM expecting a line of people to be waiting outside; but I was the only customer there! I heard so many stories this weekend from fellow coupon bloggers who encountered huge lines and packed stores, so I really lucked out, because I was the only customer there for a good 15 minutes after they opened – and since I had mapped out exactly where to go in the store, I was able to quickly pick up the main items on my list before anyone else even got there – and even after other customers arrived, there were maybe one or two at a time, and no one was paying much attention to the clearance; so this meant I had my pick of the litter! These were my priority items:
-Glade Air Fresheners: The Lavender & Aloe scent was on clearance for $1.01 and the Juniper & Teak was $1.24. There was a rebate for $1.50 in the DG app, so this was a .49 money maker for the Lavender and a .26 cent money maker on the Juniper! You could do this up to 5 times, so I got 5 and Jai also did a transaction and got 5 using his DG account as well. These were the first items I picked up!
–Next up was the Valentine’s Day & Football clearance items, priced at .15 cents each. I got everything from gift bags and cards to ornaments, paper cups and bibs. It’s really handy having some baby bibs in my gift box for the next time I’m putting together a baby shower gift!
–The third item I grabbed was coffee for $3.57 per bag. This was a great deal for me, so I got 6 bags, and I also bought two boxes of single serve Peppermint Mocha coffee. Single serve coffee is more expensive than regular grounds, and my machine has a reusable single serve cup that I can use to make my own, so I usually don’t buy pre-made K-cups; I just thought these sounded tasty and at $2.12 a box, it was worth picking up a couple. I was happy to be able to stock up on so much coffee – I drink a lot of coffee, and since coffee prices are expected to surge, stocking up now will save me money later.
-Next up: Axe Deodorant! There was a digital coupon for $5 off 2, and the ones I got on clearance were $2.42 and $2.57 respectively, so they were free plus one penny overage! Jai also got 2 Axe deodorants, but his coupon didn’t come off correctly so he ended up paying $2.42 for both deodorants. It’s a bummer that he didn’t get to use his coupon, but it’s still a good price for 2 deodorants, at least!
Other coupon deals of note:
-Finish Quantum Dishwasher Tabs: There was a $2 off coupon in the app, and I was able to find a small bag for $2.22 – meaning that I paid just .22 cents after coupon! That was the only bag in stock of that size, but I found the next smallest size, a 21 count bag priced at $3.85, so Jai got that one and paid $1.85 after coupon, which is still a great deal.
-Gain Fireworks: There was a store coupon in the app for $2 off, which stacked with a manufacturer’s coupon for $1.05 off, making this just .32 cents after coupon.
-Dove Soap: There was a coupon for $2 off in the app, and I found a package of bar soap on clearance for $3.60; so I paid $1.60 after coupon.
-Colgate & Hello toothpaste: There was a coupon for $2 off select varieties of toothpaste in the app. I picked up a tube of Hello toothpaste for $2.70 and Colgate for $2.57, so after coupon I paid around .63 cents per tube.
-Crest Kid’s Toothpaste: This was on sale for $1.50, and there was a $1 off coupon in the app, making it .50 cents after coupon. Jai got one of these also!
-Crest 3D Whitening Mouthwash: I got 2 bottles of this on clearance for $2.47 each, and after using a $2 off 2 coupon in the app, I paid just $1.47 per bottle.
That was the extent of my coupons on this transaction; the rest of my haul consists of things that were on a steep discount. I got some clothing items, like cozy pajama pants for $1.87 each, garbage cans for just .75 cents each, Tide Pods for $1.57, Cheetos-themed Post-its and erasers for .75 cents each, Suave Deodorants for .50 cents each, and things of that nature.
Day 2
On Saturday, Jai and I both went back to DG to see if there were any new clearance items that had been put out, and use the $5 off $25 Saturday coupon. However, there were a few snags: We both had $7.50 in DG cash in our accounts from the Glade transaction the previous day that we planned to use, however, it would not work at checkout. The cashier followed the instructions and scanned the barcode exactly, but it just would not work; she tried every which way, and was the *second* cashier who had attempted to do it. So, I’ll have to get in touch with DG customer service and see what the problem is – has anyone else experienced this? If you know what’s causing it, please drop me a comment and let me know!
The second snag was that when I was ringing up my transaction, I ended up under $25 even though I thought I had enough. I could have grabbed some candy or something to get to $25, but I didn’t want to cause the poor cashier any more hassle, and there were other people in line, so I just wrote it off. I feel like my success rate with the $5/25 is about 50-50 – there always seems to be some problem that stops it coming off.
Also, I bought cereal on clearance both days that said they attached to the Kelloggs $1 off coupon in the app, but neither variety of cereal worked even though they were listed as part of the offer…
At any rate, here are the coupons that DID work!
-Dawn Powerwash refills: I bought 2 refills at $4 each and used a digital $3.99 off coupon, and there’s a “Store Discount” listed on the receipt, which I guess reflects the price after the $5/25 coupon was deducted. After both discounts, this comes to about $1.47 per bottle. Great price, I love this stuff!
-Colgate toothpaste: Jai used the same coupon I had done the previous day for $4 off Colgate toothpaste. He bought 2 tubes priced at $2.57 each, which made each tube .51 cents after coupon and Store Discount for the $5 off.
Schick Razors: I had a $3 off digital coupon for these, which were on sale for $5.40; so after both this coupon and the $5 off, this came to $1.66. I see these same razors sold in stores for as much as $15, so that’s a pretty great savings!
There were also a few surprise deals on this day. The first actually came to me via an employee! So on the first day of the Clearance Event, one of the employees walked by and asked if I needed any help as I stood there with 2 carts, studiously pouring over my coupon lists in my notebook. 😂 She chuckled and said she couldn’t wait to see what kind of deals I ended up doing. So fast forward to the following day: While I was looking through one of the clearance boxes, I heard Psst! behind me. I turned around, and it was this same employee. She handed me a little Valentine’s Day stuffed bear and Febreze-scented wax melts. She said, “That [bear] is ringing up .30 cents, and this [wax melts] is $1.45.” Isn’t that awesome?! I was so appreciative of her kindness in bringing me these clearance items she had found!
Surprise Pennies!
The second surprise was a slew of surprise pennies! When I was looking around for hidden clearance items, I decided to scan one of the Oregon Ducks t-shirts that were on display, because I *think* I heard Craz-E Coupons mention something about collegiate merchandise being included in some discounts during the event – apologies if that’s incorrect, but that’s the thought that motivated me to check, anyway! 😂 I casually scanned the first shirt in the pile to see if it was included in the clearance – then did a double-take when it showed up as 0.00! I went through all of the shirts in the display, and ended up finding 29 altogether – I completely cleared one of the shelves! Because these were pennies, I paid just .29 cents for all of these shirts, which originally cost $9 each – meaning I got $261 worth of shirts for .29 cents! These shirts are all in Youth sizes, so I’m giving a few to my nieces and nephew and will donate the rest. Now, I have no idea if these have just pennied, or if they’re old – I haven’t personally seen them on any lists. My gut instinct is that these are old pennies that have just been sitting here forever, because that display has been there for as long as I can remember. I’m also guessing this would be store specific, because my assumption is that each state would get the collegiate shirts for their state. But just in case these are new, or if any Oregonians want to check their store and see if they can find these, I’ve provided the UPCs below.
I then found a second surprise penny! There is a display of Oregon Ducks hats near the register, so of course I wanted to check those as well. The Ducks caps weren’t a penny, but when I pulled the first cap out to scan the barcode, there was another baseball cap in a different style that was tucked inside it so far that it was hidden from view. Just by looking at this lone hat that was mismatched to the rest of the hats on display, I could tell this had been here unnoticed for a really long time, and I thought to myself, “That’s probably a penny.” And I was right! Second surprise penny of the day! Once again, I don’t know for a fact whether this is a new or old penny, but I’m pretty certain this must be an old penny, because you could just tell it had been hidden from sight and forgotten for a very long time; it probably pennied ages ago, but since it was hidden from sight, it didn’t get pulled. But if anyone knows for sure when the hat and/or shirts pennied, I’d love to find out, so leave me a comment if you know!
I scanned my receipt with the UPC codes for the hat and the three different styles of shirts, and added my images of the items for reference:
Click here to view image full size
I also got some other bits of Valentine’s Day and Football items for .15 each that I had missed the previous day, 4 large bottles of Suave shampoo & conditioner at $1.87 each, which I thought was a decent stock-up price; I also found a hot pink hat that matches my purse perfectly and will also coordinate with my pink puffy winter coat that I just got, so I had to pick that one up for $1.87! I also found some blankets for $1.20 that will make great gifts, and two large body pillows that ended up being $1.66 each – I live with chronic pain and love body pillows as they really help me get more comfortable. Body pillows can be expensive, so I thought these would be handy to pick up, and I love that one of them is pink! I also got a few other bits and pieces – heat protectant because I just ran out, little items for gifts, etc.
Day 3
On Sunday, new coupons were loaded to the DG app, and I spotted another hot deal with the Gain Fireworks, and got further coupon matchup ideas from this Craz-E Coupons video. So Jai and I went back to DG one final time this weekend and got the following:
-Gain Fireworks: So in the app, there was a store coupon for $2 off one Gain Fireworks which stacked with a manufacturer coupon for $1.55 off. The 10oz Fresh Water Sparkle scent was on sale for $3.37, so I thought I would get overage, but the store discount adjusted down to $1.81 off instead of $2 off and I ended up paying one cent for the Gain. I guess you can get overage with manufacturer coupons if you’re at an “Old register” store, but not with store coupons? Meanwhile, Jai didn’t even have the $1.55 off coupon offer in his account, just the $2 store coupon; but $1.37 is still a stock-up price, so he went ahead and got a bottle as well.
-Suave Men’s Bodywash: This was a clearance item I didn’t see out on the tables until Sunday night. This bodywash was $1.12, and Jai and I both had a .50/1 coupon in each of our accounts, so we both got a bottle, paying .62 cents each.
-CoverGirl Foundation: This foundation was on sale for $3.82, and there was a $2/1 coupon in my DG account, so I paid $1.82 total, which is a good price; and I’m also looking forward to trying this, because I don’t have much experience with powder foundations, and I love to play with new kinds of makeup!
-Baskets: I realized these 2 baskets were part of the Football merch and just .15 cents each, which is an awesome price, and perfect timing – I was literally thinking to myself the night before, “I need to get a couple more storage baskets”!
And so there we are – phew! So tell me readers: Did you shop Dollar General during the Clearance Event, and if so, what did you get? Tell me in the comments below!
