How to read your receipt... @ Harris Teeter

Several weeks ago, I got a suggestion from reader Jen. She wanted to know if I could do a post about how to read the receipts at Harris Teeter. I thought that was a really good idea, since receipts can be very confusing. So I'm hoping to make this the first of several "how to read your receipt" posts.

Like all my Coupons 101 postings, I will build a permanent section for these posts on the left-hand side of this page so that you can find them easily.

So thanks for the suggest, Jen! And click "Read More" to learn how to read a receipt at Harris Teeter!

First, let's start with the big picture. Here's a real receipt of mine from Harris Teeter recently. I know it's hard to read... I've numbered and color-coded the portions I am going to discuss below, and there are enlarged photos of those sections below:

THE TOP OF THE RECEIPT:

So, at the top of your receipt, you see the typical information: the HT store logo, the information about the specific store at which you were shopping, etc. This is also where your VIC card number will appear when you have the cashier scan your VIC card.

SECTION 1 (PINK):

When items are on sale at HT, this is how they appear on your receipt:

So, Hormel Chili is what I bought. The regular price is $1.89. But it was on sale for $1.50. The receipt first shows the regular price.

Then on the next line there's a notation for the SALE CODE (SC), which in this case is 6944. This line also shows the amount of the sale discount, in this case 39 cents. This is noted with a minus sign (-) after the amount because it is being deducted from the total.

And then to avoid any confusion, there's a third line that shows the final sale price: $1.50. So for each sale item, there will actually be three lines of text, with the final one showing the final price.

SECTION TWO (YELLOW):

When you buy something that is priced by the pound, such as deli meat or produce, there are extra notations. This is how it looks on the receipt:

So, in this case I bought Meunster cheese. The second line of this notation is the key. In this example, I was buying not only something that is priced by weight, but also something that was on sale.

So the first line shows that I bought Meunster cheese and that the regular price for the cheese I bought would have been $3.63. The second line shows how much I bought (.52 pounds) and also shows that the price I was charged was the sale price of $5.99 per pound. If this had been a regular-price purchase, this would have showed the regular price.

Then, because it was a sale item, I get a notation just like the one in section one that we have already discussed. I get SC 5089 for the sale code. Then the discount is listed (-.52 cents). And then the final line shows the final sale price.

SECTION THREE (GREEN):

This is the part of the receipt where all of our coupons are noted. There are several different types of notations. Here's what it looks like:

So on the left-hand side, there are two different notations: MC and SC.

MC stands for manufacturer's coupon, as in coupons issued by the manufacturer, likely in the Sunday paper. SC is a store coupon... either coupons issued on products in the store (sometimes meat or produce items will have these for items they are trying to clear out).

SC is also used for the double coupon value at Harris Teeter, since the store is doubling the value of your manufacturer's coupon. So in this case, the fifth line is a manufacturer's coupon (MC) for 55 cents. Then the very bottom line is a store coupon (SC) for the value of the doubled coupon.

SECTION FOUR (BLUE):

This is the area of the receipt where you see the sales tax you are charged, your total and your payment. In NC, different items are taxed at different rates, which means there are several different lines containing tax charges.

SECTION FIVE (ORANGE):

This is the part of the HT receipt that confuses people the most. This is where you can see how much you saved. Here's what it looks like:

So, in the first line, there's a notation for coupons tendered. This is the GRAND TOTAL of how much you saved using coupons PLUS your VIC card savings (ie, savings on sale items).

The third line shows how much in only VIC savings you had. So to calculate how much you saved using coupons, you should subtract line three from line one. Using this example, I had $15.71 in VIC savings and $27.31 in total savings. $27.31 minus $15.71 means I saved $11.60 using coupons.

The second line of this section contains information about the date, time and store where you made the transaction. And the fourth line tallies your total VIC savings for the year (again, not including coupon savings).

The very bottom of the receipt (below the orange section contains notices about special promotions and special offers.

And that's it! Now you know how to read your HT receipt!