Sunday Gameplan for 11/21

I know we've all heard of Black Friday.  Did you know drugstores do it too?  I was shocked when I discovered that.  I've never gone out shopping the day after Thanksgiving once - not ever!

I won't this year, either.
But I will be going out on Thanksgiving.  Before dinner, I promise.  While all the other crazy people go to Best Buy or Target or wherever they go, I'll be snug at home having already taken my deals at Walgreens.  And Rite Aid.  And CVS.  I may have some sort of mental condition.


(image hat-tip xkcd)

Anyway, there are two sales to worry about at each store this week.  Sunday I'll only be worrying about CVS and Rite Aid; Walgreens doesn't have anything great that I particularly want until Thursday.  I actually was going to skip CVS as well, but I did find one pretty great deal and since it's on the way to Rite Aid, it's totally worth a stop.

CVS
4 Playtex Gentle Glide - $5.29ea
Subtotal $21.16
Less two $2/1 coupons, less two $1/1 coupons, less $4 off $20 purchase
Total $11.16, receive back $10 ECB (spend $20 on any Schick, Edge, Skintimate, Playtex products)
$1.16 for four boxes of Playtex.  That's a damn good deal!

Then, on to Rite Aid
For my first trick, I will attempt to locate a very expensive item, use coupons, and receive a rebate to make this expensive item FREE.  Since my effort to locate a different, but similar, undisclosed expensive item last week did not pan out, I'm going to see if I can find a (better) substitute at Rite Aid.  Please have it in stock, Rite Aid.  I want to get my mom a nice Christmas present.

Then I'll get a little nutty.
7 Planters NUTrition - $3.99ea
Subtotal $27.93
Less seven $1/1 coupons, less $5 off $25 purchase
Total $15.93, receive back seven $2 +UPs and a one time $5 bonus +UP for spending $25 on Planters

Repeat the above transaction once more exactly as above, but I'll "only" get $14 in +UP back.
For 14 cans of nuts - many are Christmas gifts for my Grandpa (it's what he asked for!!) - I'll turn a profit of $1.14.  The total will be $31.86 (paid in +UPs), and I'll get $33 in +UPs back.  Nice.


Then the sales later in the week.  Oh boy.

I haven't even started to figure out what I'm gonna get at CVS on Thursday.  There are quite a few "free after ECB" items and some have coupons you can use on top of it.  This is where having some ECBs to start out with comes in handy.  Say I walk in with a $10 ECB and I use that to pay for some Herbal Essence and some Listerine Pocket Packs.  I use coupons to bring my total down to $9.97, and I'd receive back $10.97 in ECBs.  Hey, I've got a dollar more in store credit than I walked in with, and I've got items that I only paid the tax for in cash!
So, I need to figure out exactly what I'm going to get.  There's the above items, there's some lotion, deodorant, lip balm, and candy bars.  The list isn't huge, but I'm going to play with my numbers to bring the cash I'm paying out of my pocket as close to tax-only as I can.  Unfortunately most items have a limit of 1 so it won't be a big haul.

Walgreens is going to be another big math puzzle.  As I've mentioned, Wags is soooo freakin' restrictive with their Register Rewards and the way they operate the program requires many transactions if you want to get more than one shampoo at a time.  The deals are so worth it, though; they're just a pain in the ass to figure out.  On top of it, you've got to be careful about manufacturer restrictions and coupon counts and all sorts of crap.
My initial plan so far is:
1 Colgate Total
1 package Scunci elastics
1 bottle Herbal Essence (this stuff is on sale everywhere!!)
1 4pk Bic Soleil razors
Subtotal $10.46, coupon it down to $5.46, get back $8.50 in RRs

Then,
1 Secret body splash
1 Crest 3D Whitening
1 Oral B Indicator toothbrush
1 Olay body wash
Subtotal $12.22, coupon it down to $6.22, get back $11.25 in RRs

And there are still other items I want to add in, but basically I'm going to start with that first transaction and just go back and forth between the two - using RRs from the previous transaction to pay - until I run out of time, coupons, or the store's patience.

Rite Aid, fortunately, can all be handled in what looks like one transaction.  I'm still finalizing my plan there as well, but for now it looks like:
5 Diet Coke
3 fleece blankets
4 boxes corn flakes
3 or 6 Nivea creams
2 Colgate Total
1 Got2B hair product
10 candy bars
Subtotal $29.43-30.42, coupon down to $19.43-20.42, get back $19.99 in +UPs and rebates

We'll see how things go, but if all goes well Thursday I should wind up with some nice items for me and lots of gifts at an overall profit!