That is not a coupon, it is an ad.

You come up to my line with two boxes of cereal. You hand me a piece of paper cut or torn from the advertising section of the Sunday paper. The piece of paper shows a picture of two boxes of cereal and the large words, BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE!
Okay, this in an ad. It has a picture of the product, which may or may not be featured at my store. It has words on it. What it lacks is a bar code.
Believe it or not, most coupons have a thing on it called a bar code. You may have seen them. They are on most of the products you normally purchase at the grocery store. If you ever look closely at store coupons they also have a bar code on them. This is how the computer figures out how to take off a discount when you present everything to the checker.
Here are some things to remember when you are planning to use coupons at the grocery store-

1. Make sure it is a coupon. Sometimes stores print pictures on their advertisements with special store prices. A picture plus a price do not automatically equal a coupon. Check for the bar code!

2. Make sure that the coupon is for a product you are actually purchasing. Duh!

3. There are two kinds of coupons- STORE COUPONS and MANUFACTURERS COUPONS.
Store coupons give you additional savings at the store which is having the sale and printed these coupons with their store name on them. Make sure that you are using store coupons at the correct store. Again- Duh!
Manufacturers coupons can be used for discounts on the product at any store. They say MANUFACTURERS COUPON on the top of them.

4. This is one for all the people waiting in line behind you- HAVE YOUR COUPONS READY. At least have them in your purse or in your hand. If you don't have it and think you lost it somewhere in the store or you want to search all your pockets because you know you have it, please, please, please just step aside and let other customers come through while you look for it.
I know, it was a big 55 cents off on corn or something, but if you made it all the way up to where you are paying for the stuff, you should have had time to get it ready.
Or just pay for your groceries and find the coupon later. Your checker will be happy to give you the savings later as long as you HANG ON TO YOUR RECEIPT. Especially if you come in a day or two later and expect someone to hand over free money for something that you bought a week ago.
Hey, that gives me an idea for a future rant.
Anyway, keep clipping those coupons and I will see you in line!
Peace.