$6 Trip

Sorry I have been a little slow posting my deals lately. I know some of you really like reading about them! I had a recent Target trip where I paid $11 for $50 worth of stuff that included two free packages of chicken drumsticks, almost free shaving gel, and enough 100 calorie packs to feed a small army. I didn't take pictures, though, because that was a long shopping day, and I came home and just put everything right away rather than setting it up to take a picture. That would have probably been a better post, but oh well, here are the details of my $6 Walgreen's trip.

I walked in with $6 in Register Rewards (RR) from purchases last week. Then, Ecotrin was on sale for $2, you received $2 in RR's after each purchase, plus I had 5 $2 coupons. So, I made an additional $10 in RR from the 5 Ecotrin purchases. That gave me a grand total of $16 in Register Rewards, which set me up to get some things for free that I really needed like face scrub and soap for Jason.

In the process I also got great deals on:

Bic Razors: On sale for $4.99
Used a $3 coupon
Plus got $1 RR

Chinet Plates: On sale 2/$3
Used 2 $1 coupons
Got them for $0.50 each

If you will notice I got a million packages of Walgreen's tissues (there was also an extra one not pictured that I found on the floorboard of my car that apparently fell out of the bag on the way home). This is because Walgreen's requires you to have as many items as you have coupons. These cheap $0.29 tissues are my "filler" items.

If you're confused by that, take a look at this example: Let's say I wanted to buy a package of razors, use a coupon, and use some RR's to pay for them. Because RR's count as a coupon, if I tried to buy the razors (1 item) with my coupon and RR's (2 coupons), the computer would beep and would not let me use both the coupon and the RR. Therefore, I add in a package of the $0.29 tissues so I have as many items as I do coupons. The trick is to find a CHEAP filler so as not to ruin the deal you are trying to get.

This is one of the reasons I don't like Walgreen's as much as CVS. You have to put too much thought into Walgreen's purchases. Another thing I don't like about Walgreen's is that your coupons and RR's can't be more than your purchase price. Another example: Let's say I want to purchase 2 toothbrushes that are priced at $1.99 each ($3.98 total), and I want to use a $4 RR to pay for it. Unfortunately, because my purchase price BEFORE TAX is $0.02 less than the RR I want to use, the computer will beep and not let me use the RR. Again, a filler is needed (tissues to the rescue!) to bump the pre-tax price above $4. You will always pay tax at Walgreen's. Now, if I also had some manufacturer's coupons for the toothbrushes that I wanted to throw in there I would have to do some real work to make sure the number of coupons I have aren't outweighing the number of items, all the while making sure the pre-tax total is more than the coupon total .... whew! It can get pretty hairy.

Using CVS's Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) is much less complicated. You could purchase an $0.89 candy bar at CVS and use $10 ECB's if you wanted to. The ECB's would cover the price of the candy bar and the tax. Now, that would be a pretty dumb move b/c you'd lose $9 of your ECB's (you do not get change back), but you see what I'm getting at. CVS just seems to have an easier system to navigate.

Well, I originally just wanted to fill you in on my $6 shopping trip, but you ended up with a Walgreen's primer! Even though Walgreen's is a little tough to learn, you do get used to it and can get some great deals (as evidenced above!). The Kerasel foot moisturizer alone that I purchased was priced at $7.99, and I got everything above for less than that! It just takes a little practice!