HE @ Jewel – what works, what doesn’t

This week’s Osco deal is $2 HE shampoos and conditioners.  There are three potentially useful coupons in the 7/28 P&G insert – I played around with every possible combination as follows, but ymmv, depending on the number of inserts you have:

• Buy 3 HE shampoos and 3 HE conditioners.  Use the $5/3 and 3 BOGO coupons.  Scanning the $5 first (I tried it both ways) allows you to use two of BOGOs, although the amounts drop drastically, leaving you paying way more than you would without both coupons!

• Buy 3 HE shampoos and 1 HE conditioner.  Use the $5/3 and 1 BOGO coupon. You end up paying $2 and high tax.

• Using the $1 Clairol product on a HE shampoo and then the BOGO for the conditioner results in $1 plus high tax for two products.

• Buying 3 HE products and paying with the $5/3 Clairol coupon gives you 3 bottles for $1 plus high tax, so one bottle better than the preceding transaction.

So the last coupon is the only one I’d recommend – use the shampoo in your liquid hand soap dispensers – – is there really a difference?