Dual Drugstore Deals: $128 for a $3 profit, April spending, and back from a short break

I took a major step back from shopping overall for the month of April - you'll see just how much with the monthly numbers at the end of the post! 

There were two major reasons I pulled back. 
1.  As I mentioned a couple times, we're really very well stocked on the items we use.  There have been some good sales over the past couple weeks, but I've been weighing just how good they are a lot more carefully than before.  If it's not something that we use frequently, I only want to chase a deal if it's profitable.  Have you seen gas prices lately?  Ugh. 
2.  The Extreme Couponing show is having an affect in many areas, mine included.  Stock has been an issue and it's getting worse; combined with isolated reports of new couponers trying to use coupons improperly, it was (still is, really) time to lay low a bit. 

That said, there were some deals that got me moving this weekend!  Let's take a look.

Walgreens - shelf price $70.88
6 Right Guard body wash $4.49ea, BOGO sale, $13.47
6 4pk Noxema disposable razors $3.99ea, $23.94
1 8pk Tuf paper towels $3.99
Subtotal $41.40, less three BOGO Right Guard, less six $2 off Noxema razors
Total $15.93, received back $18 in RRs ($3 for each Noxema razor)

$2.07 profit!!

This was a quick, painless trip.  I would have liked some more of the razors at a $1 profit each, but stock wasn't great so I didn't overdo it.  We'll be stopping back later in the week as Wags has milk cheaper than the grocery store; if they get more razors on this week's truck I'll grab a few more packs.
Some of the razors have a $2 coupon inside the package.  I'd like to touch briefly on the proper protocol for this sort of thing.  The coupon is inside the package, so only open that package if you're buying the product - I'm hearing of some stores that now can't sell any of their razors because people went before the sale started and tore open the packages to take the coupon.  DO NOT DO THIS!!  I took the razors up to the counter with everything intact, and before anything happened I explained that I was going to buy one package and then cut it open to get the coupon right there.  This way everything is on the proverbial up and up; no one is destroying packages before they're purchased, no one looks "shady" cutting or tearing things up in a corner of the store, and everyone is happy. 

Rite Aid - shelf price $57.16
2 Gillette Fusion Proglide razors $9.99ea, $19.98 (LIMIT TWO)
1 Dove for Men deodorant $3.99 (LIMIT ONE)
5 Revlon emery boards $1.49ea, $7.45
3 Revlon tweezers $1.37ea, $4.11
2 16oz bags Red Vines licorice $1.50ea, $3
1 package Easter eggs $.49 (clearance)
Subtotal $39.02, less $5 off Proglide, less $4 off Proglide
Total $30.02, received back $31 in +UPs ($5 for each Proglide, $3 for Dove, $4 for each pair of Revlon (LIMIT FOUR), $1 for each Red Vines)

$.98 profit!!

Revlon beauty tools are on sale for 40% off and you get a $4 +UP back for each two (limit of $16 in +UPs total).  If you can find items in stock which are around $3 or less regular price, you wind up with free or profitable beauty tools - the trouble is finding the items in stock, of course!  I mostly lucked out, though I had wanted a different type of emery board (the type I actually use).  Those had been cleared out before we got to the store by one shopper who, according to the cashier, kept coming back into the store over & over to buy more Revlon.  Holy extra Wellness cards.....

Today's trip

Shelf price $128.04
Total $45.95
Rewards earned $49

$3.05 profit!!

For the month of April

Shelf price $277.44
Total $115.54
Rewards earned $62.98
Out of pocket $52.56

See?  We barely shopped in April!  The biggest expenditures were the perishables - milk, meat & produce. 

I'd really like to see some great grocery deals start cropping up soon.  That may be wishful thinking, what with prices everywhere going up, but a girl can dream.

Dual Drugstore Deals: $666 for a $45 profit!

This is me being exhausted and overwhelmed.

Three stores today to get everything.

First, Rite Aid coffee that my mom found at 2 stores for me.

Shelf price $74.85 for 15
After raincheck, sale & coupon it was $3.
Yes, $3.
Nine were on raincheck for $1.99 with a $2 coupon (adjusted to $1.99)
Six more were on sale this week for $2.50ea with a $2 coupon.

But Walgreens is where the insanity was.  Now I was able to get all my Walgreens done at one store which was stocked to the gills.  It was insane.  My mom and sister, on the other hand, hit 3 or 4 stores today .  Almay makeup is free at the very least, profitable if you have the right coupons.  They both prefer the Almay brand so they went on a big ol' hunt to stock up.

Just my items alone have a shelf price of $591.24

There's no way I can break this down into detailed transactions (I'll show you why in a minute) so here's a rundown of the deals.

Tena pads - $9.99ea with a $10 reward back, I had coupons for $2.50 off each.
Celadrin joint health 60ct is $10 with a $10 reward back.
Method hand soap is $2.99 with a $2 reward back.
I started by buying a Celadrin for $10 and using a $10 reward from last week's Excedrin deal to pay.
Then I got a Tena and a Method for $12.98, used a $2.50 Tena coupon, paid with the $10 reward from Celadrin for a total of $.48, and received another $10 reward back for the Tena and a $2 reward for the Method.
Then I bought another Celadrin with the Tena $10 reward.
Rinse and repeat.

Then there was the Almay.  All Almay is 30% off, and you receive a $5 reward back for each item.  There are also $2 Almay coupons available, and there's a $2 Almay store coupon in the new Spring Beauty book.  Remember, at Walgreens you can use a manufacturer's coupon (from the newspaper) and a store coupon on the same item.
If an item is normally $7.99, it's $5.59 with the 30% off sale.  Use a $2 manufacturer's coupon and a $2 store coupon and your total is $1.59, and you get a $5 reward back.  Even if you run out of manufacturer's coupons (which I did), you still turn profit using just the store coupon.
I got an ungodly amount of makeup.  Depending on the product, I used either the Plackers 90ct flossers ($2 with a $2 reward back) or various candy and one pair of socks as fillers.

In the end, my overall total was $296.96 (paid in RRs) and I received back $345 in rewards for a profit of $48.04.

Remember, at Walgreens you can only get one Register Reward per item per transaction.  All that Almay had to be purchased one individual item at a time.

See?  Those are my receipts from today.  There's no way I'm gonna type all that up into individual transactions, sorry!

We could have kept going.  There was so much Almay it wasn't even funny, but we'd been checking out for quite a bit of time and we'd run out of manufacturer's coupons.  We were only breaking even on the Almay items when you factor in fillers & tax so we just called it a day. 

Our cashier was ecstatic at all the makeup.  They're getting a bonus commission at the beauty counter for each Almay they sell, so in addition to all the shit I got paid to take today, the cashier is taking home an extra $50 or so in commissions just from our haul.

Subtotal $.08.  Hell yeah.

Walgreens run: $82 for $5

This is the first week in 4 or 5 months that I didn't go to Rite Aid.  I feel a little empty today!  ;) 
My +UPs are good for another week and after the tuna debacle, there wasn't a damn thing on sale that I wanted to get.  Not every sale is great, so I skipped it. 

I did, however, have $18 in Walgreens RRs that expired today, so I had to use 'em or lose 'em.  Though I wasn't particularly excited about the deals at first, things actually wound up working better than I'd thought.

Don't forget - you have until Tuesday to enter the Green Giant giveaway!  I'll pick a winner late in the evening.

not pictured: 3 more Dove ice cream bars, 1 carton Walgreens rainbow sherbet

Walgreens - shelf price $82.13
4 Right Guard body wash/shampoo - $4.99ea, BOGO sale, $9.98
2 Purex Complete Crystals - $4.99ea, $9.98
2 Dial Nutriskin lotion - $4.99ea, $9.98
4 Excedrin PM - $5.99ea, BOGO50%, $17.98
4 Dove ice cream bars - $.50ea, $2 (clearance)
1 carton Walgreens rainbow sherbet $.82 (clearance)
Subtotal $50.74, less two BOGO Right Guard, less two $2 Purex, less two $1 Dial, less four $2.50 Excedrin PM
Total $24.76, received back $20 in RRs ($10 for spending $20 on Excedrin, $2 ea for Purex, $3ea for Dial)
Out of pocket $4.76

Check out the frozen foods case at your Walgreens.  Many random items are clearanced to 75% off which makes for some really nice deals.  My store hadn't tagged anything yet, but I'd not only read about the clearance on other blogs, but my mom had gone a bit earlier and had found her store tagged nicely.  I called her from the store and cross-checked what she'd found clearanced; the only things that matched between our respective stores were the Dove bars and the sherbet.  I price checked a couple items but, being frozen food, I didn't want to be hauling stuff in and out of the cases just for a price check.  I'll head back a little later in the week and see if they've put the clearance tags in their place.  Mom found a ton of stuff and picked me up some Hagen Daas mango sherbet ($1ish) and some Banquet pot pies ($.25ea) for Andy.

Another great deal at Walgreens this week is an in-ad coupon for $20 off the Entertainment Book.  These are $35 normal price here, so $15 after the coupon.  The books contain coupons for all sorts of local businesses as well as national companies like Wendy's, Burger King, car rental companies, hotels, and so on.  At $15, I can use the "buy one large pizza, get one free" coupon at a local pizza shop we love and the book has paid for itself!  These are very much worth the money, especially at the sale price this week.  My store was (gasp!) out of the damned things, of course.  Mom is going to grab me one while she's running some errands later

More free Right Guard wash/shampoo!  My older nephew loves this stuff so those are for him.  The Dial lotion is for my mom; $.99ea after coupon & RR is a great price for these huge bottles, and it's a dang effective lotion that she happens to really like.  The new Purex stuff has been on sale everywhere and I've been hearing good things about it, so I figured I'd pick some up while it's $.99ea after coupon & RR.

And the Excedrin...this is a hit or miss deal.  If you buy $20 worth, you get a $10 reward back.  I have a stack of $2.50 off coupons.  The price on the 24ct bottles seems to vary from $4.79-5.99 from store to store, and in some stores they're included in the "buy one, get one 50% off sale."  At my store it was $5.99 and it was indeed ringing up BOGO50%.  Four of the bottles came to $17.98 ($23.96 before sale), I used $10 in coupons to make them $7.98, and I got the $10 reward back - $2.02 profit.  The prices and the inclusion in the sale may be different at your store, so have a backup plan.  Yes, two of my Excedrin boxes are torn open; I had started to combine them so they take up less space before realizing I hadn't taken a photo yet!

Dual Drugstore Deals: $303 for a $5 profit!

Sorry for the delay in posting!  We had a family get-together all afternoon & evening so it's been a hectic day. 

We did our drugstore shopping in the morning and didn't even have time to unpack the car - we had to head straight to the party.  I actually had to cut the Walgreens trip short because we were starting to run late.

Also, reminder!  The Pillsbury giveaway will end on Tuesday, 3/1, so if you haven't entered please leave a comment on that post to get your entry in!  I have another giveaway coming right after the Pillsbury one, so keep an eye on the blog.

Not pictured: 5 bottles Baby Magic baby wash, 6 more packs of BodiHeat heat patches, 1 more cherry cordial candy, 1 box Sambucol 30ct tablets

Walgreens - shelf price $73.85
1 Baby Magic wash, $3
2 20ct Motrin PM - $3ea, $6
Subtotal $9, used $6 off two Motrin
Total $3, received back two $3 RRs ($3 for Baby Magic, $3 for Motrin PM)

$3 profit!!

I did the above transaction 5 times for a total of 5 Baby Magic, 10 Motrins, and an overall profit of $15!
Now this was a little odd for Walgreens.  I had a stack of coupons for Motrin - five for $6 off two items, and a bunch more for $1 off.  The 20ct Motrin PM is on sale for $3 and you get a $3 reward back; since you only get one reward per transaction, at first it seems like I missed out on $3 per transaction.  However, with the $6 off coupon, both Motrins were free and I still received a $3 reward - $1.50 profit per bottle.  If I'd used the $1 coupons it would have been a $1 profit each, so overall this was the most profit for us.
I had planned to do the above transactions, then after using my $6 coupons I was going to switch back & forth between the Baby Magic and a single Motrin, using the $3 reward from the prior transaction to pay for the next.  Unfortunately we were out of time and had to leave right away to make the party, so I called it a day and gave some of the $1 coupons to our fantastic cashier so she could get herself some Motrin.

I handed off the 5 bottles of Baby Magic to my sister (along with all of last week's Johnson & Johnson) at the party.  At this point my nephew should be stocked up in wash & shampoo 'til he's 10.

We also had a massive haul at Rite Aid - shelf price $228.52:

Dual Drugstore Deals: $169 for $11, plus updated loot stack

I've finally got things in order 'round here.

We hit 2 Rite Aids and a Walgreens today before carrying on with our other errands.  In hindsight, this is one bizarre mix of items we semi-purchased.

Walgreens - shelf price $30.94
4 RePHresh tampons $5.99ea, $23.96
2 packages hair clips $.75ea, $1.50 (clearance, filler)
2 Skittles $.22ea, $.44 (clearance, filler)
Subtotal $25.90, less four $1 off RePHresh
Total $21.90, received back $20 ($5 for each RePHresh)
Out of pocket $1.90

Did the above in 4 transactions with one box of RePHresh and one of the clearance items per transaction.


Rite Aid - shelf price $137.93
12 Lays Stax $1, $12 (raincheck)
5 Rite Aid coffee $1.99ea, $9.95
3 Care Bears baby wipes $.90ea, $2.70
4 Oreo Double Stuf $3ea, $12
4 Right Guard 5 in 1 bodywash/shampoo $3.99ea, $15.96 (LIMIT TWO per card)
10 Johnson & Johnson baby wash & shampoo $2.99ea, $29.90
1 Snickers $.50
Subtotal $83.01, less five $2 off RA coffee, less four $1 off Right Guard, less ten $1 off J&J
Total $59.01, received back $50 in +UPs ($1 for each Lays, $1 for each Oreo, $1 bonus for each 2 Oreo, $3 for each Right Guard, $2 for each J&J)
Out of pocket $9.01

I also got rainchecks for more RA coffee ($1.99ea), Desitin diaper cream ($2.99ea with $2 +UP), and Johnson cotton swabs ($2.99ea with $2 +UP).  We went to two stores looking for Desitin & cotton swabs and they were cleared out.  There's been a sudden upswing in coupon shoppers in my area it seems and that's translating to a lot more rainchecks & empty shelves.  That's not a problem most of the time; I'll just hang on to my coupons and pick up the items as they come in stock.

In case you're wondering, all the baby stuff isn't for me.  That's for my little nephew.  Since the J&J and Desitin are free after coupon and +UP, I got as much as I could.  The baby wipes may or may not be a great deal; I'm not sure, but for $.90 per pack of 80 wipes I figured it didn't hurt to grab a few.

The Oreos are a decent "hidden" deal this week - they're 2 for $6, and you get a $1 +UP back per pair.  You also get a monthly $1 +UP per package, which makes these $1.50ea with no coupon needed.  No, they're not free, but I'm a sucker for Oreos.


After we got all our drugstore shopping taken care of, we made one final stop at K-Mart to look for a shelving unit.  As I mentioned in my last post, it got a bit out of control when I attempted to reorganize all our stuff.  We officially needed more storage space, so with a K-Mart gift card just sitting around, we went to look for shelves and found just what we needed.  They had a nice 6' tall, very sturdy shelving unit for just $39.  It now holds most of our nonperishable food.

Dual Drugstore Deals: $179 for $17

We had a busy day today.  After rushing off to Walgreens & Rite Aid, we came home so I could finish making my mom's birthday cake and then headed off to a combo Super Bowl party/birthday party.  I always love family get-togethers!

Walgreens - shelf price $83.88
3 Garner Herbashine hair color $5 ea, $15
1 Right Guard body wash $3.99
Subtotal $18.99, less $1 Right Guard (peelie on bottles), three $3 Herbashine
Total $8.99, received back $8 RR ($5 for spending $15 on Garnier, $3 for Right Guard)
Out of pocket $.99

I did the above transaction three times for a total cost of $2.97 for NINE boxes of hair dye (!!!) and three body washes!

Rite Aid - shelf price $95.27
4 Finesse conditioners $3ea, $12
9 boxes cereal $1.99ea, $17.91
5 Mentos $.50ea, $2.50
2 Ritz crackers $1.99ea, $3.98
3 Scotch paper/coupon cutters $.79ea, $2.37 (clearance)
Subtotal $38.67, less five $.50 Mentos, less $1 off 2 Ritz
Total $35.26, received $21 in +UPs ($5 for each pair of Finesse, $1 for each cereal, $1 for each Ritz)
Out of pocket $14.26

Today was raincheck city at my Rite Aid.  The Excedrin PM 20ct ($1.99ea, I have a bunch of $2.50 coupons) were wiped out, the Betty Crocker items ($2ea, get $2 WYB 2 plus an additional $1 monthly +UP for each, plus various coupons available) were wiped out, and there were only 4 Finesse conditioners on the shelf.  I don't need any shampoo right now, but we go through conditioner so quickly that I'd wanted to get several more bottles. Rainchecks all around!

The cereal deals have been really slim lately.  I mean, really slim.  With various Kellogg's cereals $1.99ea with a $1 +UP back, I figured we should grab a few boxes.  Andy grabbed 9.  The prices at the stores aren't getting any lower and I've started to rethink my stock-up prices.  Cereal used to be $.49-.75 per box for my stock-up price; now it's looking like $.99 is the point where I need to grab a bunch.  Kellogg's recently announced that their cereal prices would go up even more in the coming year, so may as well get it now.  *sigh*

Today's totals

Shelf price $179.15
Total $62.23
Rewards earned $43
Out of pocket $17.23

We had a great time at the party this evening.  As is the norm with my family gatherings, there was tons of great food and lots of laughter.  I brought three of the Herbashine hair color and traded those to my mom for 5 jars of Jif and some Lays Stax from last week's sales and some Betty Crocker from this week's.  She's had good luck finding abundant stock of the various freebie/super cheap food deals at her stores, so she picks us up extras.

Now it's time to go sleep off all the pizza & cake from tonight's festivities....!

Dual Drugstore Deals: $172 for $10 - you light up my life

Christmas clearance, snacks, light bulbs, and Maalox.  What a combo!

Not pictured: eight 2 liters Diet Pepsi

Our first stop was Walgreens - shelf price $72.81
6 Maalox - $5.24ea, $31.44 ($6.99, on sale for 25% off)
5 Chex Mix - $1.33ea, $6.65
8 Diet Pepsi - $1.25ea, $10
Subtotal $48.09, less six $5 off Maalox, two $.50 off 2 Chex Mix, five $.33 off Chex Mix store coupon, eight $.25 off Pepsi store coupon
Total $13.44, received back $13.50 RR ($10 for spending $30 on Maalox, $3.50 for 5 Chex Mix)

$.06 profit!!

Then, on to Rite Aid - shelf price $98.69
6 GE Soft White light bulbs, 4pk - $1.99ea, $11.94 (LIMIT SIX)
2 Special K cereal bars - $2.50ea, $5
1 Animal Planet toy - $1.99 (90% clearance)
4 mini Christmas lights - $.39ea, $1.56 (90% clearance)
3 rolls ribbon $.24ea, $.72 (90% clearance)
1 box Christmas cards - $.99 (90% clearance)
1 snowman tin - $.59 (90% clearance)
1 medium gift bag - $.29 (90% clearance)
2 small gift bags - $.19ea, $.38 (90% clearance)
1 box shortbread cookies - $.10 (90% clearance)
Subtotal $23.56, less $1 off two Special K
Total $22.56, received back $11.94 +UPs ($1.99 for each box of light bulbs, LIMIT SIX)
Out of pocket $10.62!!


The Special K bars were a test.  Someone had heard that they might be producing a $1 +UP per box; they're not, and that's fine.  They make a fairly healthy snack and Andy likes to take one to work with him sometimes. 
With all the awesome monthly "hidden" +UPs for January ending yesterday, we're eagerly awaiting the discovery of the new ones.  This is usually how Rite Aid addicts discover the monthly bonus +UPs - by buying one or two items to see if something works and sharing the results.  The Special K bars don't work.  =D
My store had a small little section of leftover Christmas clearance at 90% off so I took a good amount of it off their hands.  The Animal Planet toy will be a great birthday gift for my baby nephew this summer, and the other seasonal items will get packed away for next year.


Today was a fairly small trip overall.  There wasn't much I particularly wanted beyond the Maalox, Chex Mix, and light bulbs so I'm happy that I was able to find everything I was looking for.

Next week, however.  Ohhhh next week is shaping up to be one hell of a trip!!


Aside: we also made a quick stop at Giant Eagle today for milk, produce, eggs, bagels, and some BOGO sirloin tip roasts to the tune of $23.53.

Dual Drugstore Deals: $185 for $11 - pass the toilet paper!

We are awash in toilet paper.

LATE EDIT:  As of Monday, 1/20/10, the TP & facial tissue at Rite Aid is now LIMIT ONE. Only one $1 +UP will print on your receipt.
LATER EDIT: As of late Monday, 1/20/10, the limit on this deal is THREE items.  You will only get three $1 +UPs no matter how many you buy.  Three total all week.   
As an aside, I understand a company not wanting to lose money.  I really do.  But, c'mon, you're offering free toilet paper and kleenex with absolutely zero hoops to jump through or work involved - in this economy, what do you think is going to happen??  It seems like this wasn't very well thought-out.  Yes, it drew tons of people into the stores and exposed customers to your product, but did no one stop and think that folks would load the hell up on one of life's necessities for free?

Not pictured: four 2 liters Diet Pepsi

Walgreens - shelf price $32.28
4 Thermacare Back & Neck $2.50ea, $10
4 Diet Pepsi $1.25ea, $5
4 Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese $1.67ea, $6.68
Subtotal $21.68, less four $1 off Kraft, less one $1 off 4 Pepsi store coupon, less four $.50 off Kraft store coupon
Total $14.68, received back $10 RR ($2.50ea for Thermacare)
Out of pocket $4.68



Rite Aid gets a little complicated so I'm going to break this down a little differently than normal.

Rite Aid - shelf price $153.21
13 single roll toilet paper $1ea, $13 - rec'd $13 in +UPs NOW LIMIT 3
6 4pk toilet paper $.90ea (with discount), $5.40 *see note - rec'd $6 in +UPs NOW LIMIT 3
1 box facial tissue $1 - rec'd $1 +UP NOW LIMIT 3
12 bags TGIFridays snacks $.97ea, $11.64 - rec'd $12 in +UPs
2 Toms of Maine products $3.99ea, $7.98 - rec'd $6 in +UPs
3 Hormel chili $1.25ea, $3.75 - rec'd $3 in +UPs
2 Ester-C $5.99 BOGO, raincheck, $3.99 total (used two $2 coupons - FREE)
2 Pilot pens $2.06ea (with discount), $4.12 - rec'd $4 +UP

Then there was the clearance stuff!
2 Physician's Formula mascara $2.43ea, $4.86 (used $5 coupon adjusted down - FREE)
1 Olay Complete moisturizer $2.24 (used $2 coupon)
3 rolls wrapping paper $.19ea, $.57
3 big rolls wrapping paper $.39ea, $1.17
3 boxes shortbread cookies $.10ea, $.30
2 chocolate marshmallow Santas $.08ea, $.16
1 massive box candy canes $.99
1 snowman tin $.59
1 holiday tin $.29

Subtotal for everything $62.05, less $10.86 in coupons
Total $51.19, received back $45 in +UPs
Out of pocket $6.19!!

This was a crazy insane trip:

Dual Drugstore Deals: $272 for $17!

We had an excellent trip to the drugstores today, though by looking at the photo you probably wouldn't think that's where we went.

LATE EDIT: the Bumble Bee tuna & Hormel Compleats deal as detailed in the Rite Aid section of this entry is no longer working as of 1/11/11.  Hormel is now giving a single $1 +UP per package, Bumble Bee is giving a $1 +UP per 4.

Look at all that food!  Not pictured: 2 ceramic plates shaped like cupcakes, 4 2 liters Diet Coke

Walgreens - shelf price $34.02
3 EOS lip balm $2.99ea, $8.97
3 Snickers bars, 3 for $2
2 L'Oreal lip gloss $2.29ea, $4.58 (clearance)
Subtotal $15.55
Less two $2 off L'Oreal, total $11.55, received back $6 RRs ($2 for each EOS)
Out of pocket $5.55

I really only wanted to get the EOS today because that is an amazing lip balm and I'm glad to pay $.99 after RR for one.  Seriously, I love this stuff.  A quick trip 'round the cosmetics area and I found some L'Oreal lip glosses clearanced down to $2.29ea.  I had some $2 off coupons for L'Oreal cosmetics; with these normally priced at $9.99, $.29ea is a steal.
The Snickers bars are the cashiers' suggestive sell item this month.  As I've mentioned, they get a small bonus for selling these items so I try to pick some up when I can.  It never hurts to help out your cashiers; they'll remember you for it and it makes life much easier in the long run!


Rite Aid - shelf price $238.11

Dual Drugstore Deals: $369 for $11

We had two pretty crazy trips today. Without unnecessary chit-chat (because I don't have much time to blog this evening!), let's get to the good stuff.

Not pictured: four 2 liters Diet Coke, four 14lb pails of Tidy Cats cat litter

Walgreens - shelf price $219.31
5 Salonpas arthritis pain relief patches, 5ct - $5.99ea, $29.95
4 20ct Advil - $3ea, $12
4 Pantene - $3.50ea, $14
4 Nivea for Men shave gel/moisturizer - $3.99ea, $15.96
4 14lb pails Tidy Cats - $5ea, $20
2 Theraflu - $4.99ea, $9.98
2 Breathe-Rite strips, 10ct - $6.79ea, $13.58
4 L'Oreal lipstick - $2.79ea (clearance), $11.16
2 L'Oreal lip gloss - $2.59ea (clearance), $5.18
2 L'Oreal eyeliner - $3.59ea (clearance), $7.18
Subtotal $138.99
Total after coupons $70.22, received back $59 in Register Rewards
Out of pocket $11.22

I'll be honest here; I don't remember quite how I did this.  There were 7 transactions involved and, fortunately, my cashier knew exactly what she was doing and why I was doing what I was doing.
Salonpas - $5.99ea, receive back $6 RR
Advil - $3ea, I had $2 off coupons, got back a $3 RR for spending $10, so $.25 per bottle
Pantene - This is a push item this month for the Cosmetics cashiers; they get a small commission for each bottle they sell, so I got 4 bottles.  It worked out to $1ea after coupon & RR.
Breathe-Rite - The Catalina machine spit out two coupons for free Breathe-Rite on my transactions with the Theraflu, so Andy ran to grab a couple boxes.  Can't beat free!
L'Oreal - you may notice I've never posted makeup deals before.  I don't really wear makeup save for a little lipstick & mascara, and eyeliner when I'm gettin' real gussied up - ergo I never buy the stuff unless I get paid to take it.  With all this stuff on super deep clearance combined with a stack of $5 off 2 coupons AND a $5 RR back when you buy $15...they paid me to take the makeup.

Then, on to Rite Aid - shelf price $149.43

Drugstore Trifecta: $353 for a profit of $24

Two and a half hours.  We shopped for two and a half hours today.
Let's just get to the good stuff.

Not pictured: five 2 liters Diet Coke

Walgreens - shelf price $31.16
4 Nyquil Sinex $5
Subtotal $20
Less four $4 off 1 coupons
Total $4, received back $10 RR

$6 profit!!

CVS - shelf price $54.92
1 Tone bodywash $3.88
5 Diet Coke $.88ea, $4.40
2 8x10 Kodak photo books $19.99ea, $39.98
Subtotal $48.26
Less $1 off Tone, less BOGO Kodak sale, less BOGO Kodak manufacturer's coupon
Total $7.28, received back $3 ECB (Tone)
Out of pocket $4.28

Rite Aid - shelf price $266.84
Transaction 1

Dual Drugstore Deals: $130 for $44 and we will never, ever get scurvy

Yes, my spending was VERY high today.  I'd like to say it was painfully high, but I'm actually very excited about the deals we got.  It's really not painful at all; that $44 includes a new-release movie and a gift card, both Christmas gifts for my niece & nephew.  They're worth it!

Not pictured: 2 gallons milk, 5 packages Goody Ouchless hair bands

CVS
3 Diet Pepsi $2.97
1 box Russell Stover chocolates $4.99
1 Kraft Easy Mac $1.19
2 trial-size Advil PM $1.98
1 pack of gum $.99
1 iTunes gift card $15
1 Despicable Me DVD $19.99
Shelf price $54.31, subtotal $47.11, less $1 off Russell Stover, less $1 off Kraft, less $2 off Advil, less $10 off Despicable Me
Total $33.11, received back $1 ECB (bag tag)
Out of pocket $32.11

When you buy $15 in iTunes gift cards at CVS (through 12/18), you get $10 off the movie Despicable Me.  I'd been asking my older nephew what sort of gift card he would like for Christmas and he finally told me the other day he'd decided on iTunes.  Perfect timing on his part!  He'll get the iTunes, and my niece will receive Despicable Me.  The $10 comes off instantly when you buy both items together, and you also get another $10 off coupon for a second DVD purchase on your receipt.  It's a great deal as it is, but with the bonus coupon it's even better if you'd like two inexpensive new release DVDs for the holiday season. 
The Russell Stover.  I make no apologies.  Andy wanted it, and the Magic Coupon Machine spit out a coupon for $1 off.  He's currently studying the box of chocolates intently and handing me the coconut ones.
The Magic Coupon Machine also spit out coupons for $1 off Kraft and $2 off Advil.  The little cup of mac & cheese was $1.19 and it'll be great for Andy to take to work for a $.19 lunch.  The Advil was $.99 per 4-pack so those gave me $.02 overage on the pair with the $2 Advil coupon.  You can't ever have too much painkiller product 'round these parts!
The soda should be self-explanatory by now.  The gum is my Grandpa's favorite kind so I got it to throw in his Christmas gift basket.

Then, on to Walgreens!
I had six $5 Register Rewards I wanted to spend tonight, two of which expire tomorrow.  We walked in with sort of a half-assed plan; it's late in the week, I had no idea what stock would be like, and after my last experience in this store I wasn't sure what I'd be facing at the register.

I noted that an excellent cashier was working at the front register, and, with relief, saw my favorite gal over at the Cosmetics register.  Crappy service wouldn't be an issue.
Next, we beelined for the Walgreens Energy Booster.  This is the store brand version of Emergen-C, the vitamin C supplement powder that you mix in with water.  Andy loves this stuff; he makes up a cup of it at the first sign of a sniffle in either of us.  It's normally $8.99 per box (!!!) but is on sale for $3 with a $3 RR back.  We grabbed five of those.
Various Goody hair products are on sale for $2 each with a $2 RR back.  We grabbed five packages of hair bands as well.
After that we picked up a few other items and headed for the line-free Cosmetics counter.  The cashier was in another aisle and called out that she'd be right over, so I took that opportunity to lay out one box of the Energy Boost, one package of Goody, and a $5 RR.  She came over after a moment and was quite amused to see my neat little line of products and RRs ready to go.  It was like an advancing army of rubber bands and vitamin C.

Transactions 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
1 Walgreens Energy Boost, 36ct box $3
1 Goody Ouchless hair bands $2
Shelf price $11.98, total $5, no coupons, paid with expiring $5 RR, received back $3 RR (Energy Boost) & $2 RR (Goody)
Out of pocket: ZERO!!  A big fat nothin' but tax!  I paid in loose change!

Transaction 6
2 gallons milk $4.58
2 bottles Coffee Mate Peppermint Mocha creamer $3
2 packages Silly Bandz $.99 BOGO
1 package steel wool scrubbies $2.49
2 candy bars $1
Shelf price $19.21, total $12.06, no coupons, paid in RRs, no rewards back
Out of pocket $12.06

The sixth transaction was just to get rid of some of these RRs (I'm still refusing to call them Jingle Cash!) and turn them into stuff we wanted/needed.  I don't know about you, but I certainly need that peppermint mocha coffee creamer.  YUM!  We spent under $2 in cash for everything at Walgreens - just the cost of tax. 
Silly Bandz: for the kids' Christmas baskets
Candy bars: the cashiers get a small bonus if they "upsell" certain items through the month.  The candy bars are one of those items this month and I'll periodically buy the push products for a good cashier.  We have so much candy it's obscene, so those will go in the kids' baskets as well.

Totals for the day

Shelf price $130.42
Total $70.17
Rewards earned $26
Out of pocket $44.17

I have $19 in Walgreens rewards left over from today that are good through the end of this month.  No rush to burn through them and next week's sales are pretty grim looking right now.  I'll hold on to those 'til after Christmas. 

Speaking of Christmas:

Another Walgreens run: $16 for a $4 profit - FREE Xmas wrapping paper!

LATE EDIT: wrapping & tissue paper is no longer producing Register Rewards as of late Saturday morning - proceed with caution

I spent the day with my mom and we made a stop at Walgreens because she wanted some free tissue paper.  I discovered late last night that certain Hallmark wrapping paper was also included in the insane Register Rewards deal, so I did two quick transactions while we were out & about.

Sorry for the lack of photo - Mom has the tissue paper and  I chucked the wrapping paper in what used to be our living room but is now serving as my Christmas staging area.  It's not fit for pictures right now.

4 Hallmark white tissue paper, 20ct - $3.96
2 rolls Hallmark Colour Studio (holiday) wrapping paper, 50 sq ft $3.98
Subtotal $7.94
Less BOGO paper (sale, no coupon needed), less in-ad coupon for tissue, less $.50 coupon for paper
note: the $.50 coupon will not automatically scan at the register because their registers suck.  I printed the whole page and brought it in so they could see I printed it from the Walgreens site and they entered it manually.  This is still a great deal even if you don't want to use the coupon!
Total $2.81, received back $5 Hallmark RR
$2.19 profit!!

Repeated the above two times:

Shelf price $15.88
Total $5.62
Earned rewards $10

$4.38 profit!!

This deal is only good through Saturday, 12/11 so if you want free wrapping paper, tissue paper, and/or scissors it'd be a good idea to get your stuff early in the day.
Remember: no more than 6 Hallmark items per transaction, and don't use the RRs you earn from one Hallmark transaction to pay for subsequent transaction!

Great, now I have $30 in register rewards, $10 of which MUST be spent next week.  I had been hoping to wind those down some but that didn't work too well.  Guess I'll be getting more free stuff!  My life is so difficult...

Walgreens run: $62 for a $4 profit

LATE EDIT:  tissue paper deal is no longer producing Register Rewards as of late Saturday morning, proceed with caution

My crankiness at missing out on the grocery deals has evaporated. 

6 packages Hallmark tissue paper $5.97
3 Scotch Precision scissors $24.87 (prices vary by store from $7.99-8.99, mine were $8.29)
Subtotal $30.84
Less three $1 Scotch coupons, less $3.94 tissue paper in-ad coupon, less $15.90 scissors in-ad coupon
Total $7.97, received back $5 Super Jingle Cash (for spending $25+ before coupon), $5 RR for buying six Hallmark products
$2.03 profit!!!

I did the above transaction two times.

Shelf price $61.62
Total $15.94 (paid in gift card & cash)
Rewards earned $20
$4.06 profit

On page 15 of this week's Walgreens ad circular are two coupons: one for tissue paper at three for $1, the other for the scissors at $2.99ea.
The tissue paper is likely in the aisle with all the rest of the Christmas wrapping paper and gift bags.  The scissors are likely in the school supplies aisle.  Buy the above items, hand over your $1 scissors coupons first, then have the cashier scan the in-ad coupons.  Repeat as often as you'd like and as often as your store allows.

Yes, I got six pair of scissors.  With several family members now couponing with me, this is a good time of year to grab a few extras.  At this (lack of!) price, even if you don't want to gift them it makes sense to grab a few pair to keep on hand.  Who doesn't use scissors??

And if you don't want tissue paper, you can just buy 3 pair of scissors for $2.99ea, less the $1 coupons for a total of $5.97 and get $5 in Super Jingle Cash back - $.97 for three pair!
Be sure to check the price of these at your store; if they're less than $8.49ea, you'll need to grab a couple candy bars or other fillers to get your pre-coupon total up to $25.

As always, if doing more than one transaction at Wags, don't use the rewards/"Jingle Cash" from the previous transaction to pay for the next one.

Drugstore Trifecta: $112 for $21

Apologies for being a day late on this.  With the holiday season upon us now, things get a little hectic 'round these parts.  Sunday kicked it off with an annual family Christmas tradition - but more on that later.

Sunday was also drugstore deals day.  We got going a little earlier than normal and things just weren't going my way once we got where we were going.  The trip went from frustration to success to disappointment, but in the end I did okay.  To complicate matters, I forgot to bring my camera with me yesterday so I wasn't able to get photos of everything before it was either distributed, used, or put away.  My sad, empty little loot stack photo is only part of an otherwise decent haul.

Not pictured: four 2 liters Diet Coke, 2 more picture frames, 5 newspapers, 2 bags cat litter, 8 bottles Pantene shampoo & conditioner.

Wags
5 newspapers $10
2 gift card holder cards $1.98
2 bags cat litter $6
1 box trash bags $9.49
2 Hershey bars $1
Total: $28.47 - shelf price $39.61, no coupons, paid with expiring RRs
Received back $5 RR, $2 RR
Out of pocket $21.47

This was an adventure.
First and foremost, I had $27.75 in Register Rewards from the big Black Friday profit machine which were expiring this week.  Letting those expire is like throwing cash in the garbage can, but I wasn't interested in any RR deals this week save for one.  I had already figured I'd use these babies to buy something like trash bags so that's all good.  The circular for this week advertises "buy two greeting cards, get $2 RR" - I'd heard there were $.99 cards in many stores so I figured I'd add two of those in my transaction and roll at least $2 of my expiring stash.  In addition, this week and next Wags has a ridiculously-named program called Super Jingle Cash - for every $25 you spend in a transaction before coupons, you receive a bonus $5 RR good for the next week.  Even better!  I was spending over $25 regardless, so that's just an extra treat.
I found all the items I'd wanted without issue and checked out in cosmetics with the super-friendly gal who works that department.  She's always very nice and she's extremely knowledgeable about Wags' coupon policies.  Well, my items were bagged and I paid with my RRs and we both watched the Catalina machine expectantly for my $7 in rewards that were due.  Nothin'.  Crap.  She sighed, I said "Umm," and before I could get the rest of my thought out she said the same thing had happened already this morning and she'd get the manager to fix it.
Long story short, the manager gave me a $7 gift card to make up for the non-printing RRs.  At first he tried to say I didn't get the rewards because I'd used coupons (managers ALWAYS say this at Wags, and besides I didn't use coupons); then he said it was because I'd paid in RRs (they always say this as well, and I informed him the last 20 times I'd paid with RRs at his store I'd had no issues getting what was advertised).  So I got the $7 back which is just fine because gift cards don't expire.  I later did some investigation and discovered the problems:
1. The greeting card promotion is supposedly a misprint; it's get $2 when you buy THREE cards.
2. The "Super Jingle Cash" (I cringe typing it...) has some printed exclusions including tobacco, alcohol, dairy.  It apparently has an UNPRINTED exclusion of newspapers as well.  That's perfectly fine; if I'd known newspapers were excluded I would have just bought $10 more in trash bags or something.  If they don't print their marketing materials correctly, though, I can't help that.  I follow the rules exactly as written.  Fortunately the store made everything right and it wasn't too much of a hassle.

CVS
8 bottles Pantene shampoo & conditioner $29.92
1 bottle Gain $.99
1 bag Planters Flavor Grove almonds $2.50
Subtotal $33.41, shelf $43.41
Less $5 off $30 purchase, less $2.50 Planters, less $.50 Gain, less four buy one get one free Pantene, less $1 off 2 Pantene, less $2 off 2 Pantene
Total $7.45, paid in ECBs, received back $10 ECB

$2.55 profit!!

This was the only store Sunday where everything went right.  There's a deal where if you spend $30 on selected P&G products, you get a $10 ECB back.  The Pantene is on sale for $3.74 and I had a slew of BOGO coupons.  When I got a $5 off $30 coupon in my email last week, I knew this would turn out to be a great deal.  I have another family member doing the $20 P&G rebate who needed about $25 more in spending to hit the $50 threshold, so I grabbed all this Pantene at a profit to me and traded it and the receipt for 4 boxes of the cereal Rite Aid had for $.99 on Black Friday.  Now she'll be able to get her $20 rebate as well!
The Gain was solely to make sure my P&G purchase was over $30.  Sometimes the ECB triggers a few cents short of the advertised price point, but after the hassle at Wags I didn't feel like messing around.  As a bonus, I discovered that the Gain dish detergent (others as well, I'm sure, but I have about 38 million bottles of Gain) can also be used as laundry detergent!  I did a test run on a comforter that had been stored away for the summer and it came out clean and fresh.  This is gonna be a great money saver!! 
The magic coupon machine at CVS spit out a coupon for $2.50 off Planters Flavor Grove products; they're on sale for $2.50 this week.  More free nuts!  We got a bag of the Chili Lime flavor to try which I really like; unfortunately Andy thinks it's just okay.

Next, on to Rite Aid:

Dual Drugstore Deals: $144 for $19

I was a little relieved that the sales weren't great this week.  After an exhausting two days for the Black Friday deals, I'm ready for a break; thank you for giving me one, drugstores.  I barely got anything and I didn't obsess over coupons (too much!) today.

But!  But!  Undisclosed item!  I got one and Mom won't get a raincheck for Xmas this year!

Not pictured: undisclosed item, 6 newspapers

Wags
6 Dawn
6 newspapers
$25.14 shelf, $17.94 after coupons
Paid in RRs
Out of pocket $17.94 

This trip was solely to burn through some of the $47 in Register Rewards I had left from the Black Friday sale.  They expire 2 weeks from issue and, looking over the upcoming circulars, I knew I wouldn't be able to "roll" them into new deals in time.  Dawn was $.99 with a store coupon and I had six otherwise fairly useless $.99 RRs left from the soda & Advil deals.  I turned those into dish soap.  I also turned five of the $2.25 RRs into six newspapers to get at the great P&G coupon insert this week, paying $.75 cash in the end for everything.
$17.19 in RRs down, $29.50 left to play with. 

Rite Aid
Transaction 1
2 Gilette Pro Glide power razors $18
2 bags holiday Hershey Kisses $5
1 Lindt candy bar, 1 Ghirardelli candy bar - $4.98
Subtotal $27.98; less $5 off $25, less two $4 Gillette, less $1 off two Kisses
Total $13.98, paid $12 in +UPs, received back $12 +UPs (two $5 Gillette, one $2 Kisses)
Out of pocket $1.98

Transaction 2
1 Undisclosed Item $79.99
Less $35 (raincheck), less $5 off $25, less $10 coupon, less $1 store coupon
Total $28.99, will receive back $30 rebate

$1.01 profit!

Today's totals

Shelf $143.97
Total $60.91
Rewards earned $12 + $30 rebates
Out of pocket $18.91

And, well, that's it.
I'm going to hit Giant Eagle in the next couple days to finish my $20 Proctor & Gamble rebate.  They have Olay body wash & lotion for $5ea with a $2 OYNO back, and today's P&G insert has a coupon for buy one Olay BW, get one Olay lotion free.  In addition, there are Giant Eagle eOffers (can be combined with paper coupons) for $1.50 off each.  I'll get those two items for $10 in spending to finish the rebate, less $5 for BOGO, less $3 in eOffers for a total of $2 cash paid, and I'll get a $3 OYNO making a $1 moneymaker. That'll be another $20 back in my pocket.  =D

Walgreens run: $66 for a $3 profit

I had five $1 Crest coupons and one $5 Secret/Olay coupon left once the shopping frenzy yesterday was done.  After lazing about and recovering from our Thanksgiving feast, I decided to make a quick run to Wags to use up the last of my coupons.  We also needed milk so I killed two birds with one stone.

Not pictured: 2 gallons milk

The store was shockingly dead, and there remained tons and tons of stock, even on the free after RR items.  I'm sure that they restocked the shelves at some point after my visit yesterday, but it looked like no one had really bought any of the sale items all day.  The only thing that even approached looking low was the Bic razors, and there were still 5 or 6 packs left after I bought one.

Trans 1
1 Secret body spray
1 Olay body wash
1 Crest
1 A&W root beer
Subtotal $10.96
Total after coupons $4.96, paid in RRs, received back $3.50, $2.50, $3, $.99

$5.03 profit

Trans 2, 3, 4
1 Crest
1 Thermacare
1 Advil PM
Subtotal $6.47
Total after coupons $5.47, paid in RRs, received back $3, $2.50, $.99

$1.02 profit ea, $3.06 total

Trans 5
1 Crest
1 Old Spice body spray
1 Bic Soleil razors
2 gallons milk
Subtotal $15.13
Total after coupons $14.13, paid in RRs, received back $3, $4, $2
Out of pocket $5.13

Total for the trip
Shelf price $66.32
Total $35.50
Rewards earned $38.46

$2.96 profit!!

Minus the milk, this would have been a profit of $8.12, but I'll take free milk!!

As a bonus, I've now spent $44.86 towards a $20 rebate (when you spend $50 on certain Proctor & Gamble products) just at Wags alone. 
This rebate requires the original receipts to redeem.  I have another $7.98 spent on Herbal Essence from my CVS trip yesterday, but I made a bit of a tactical error and purchased those on the same transaction as I did the Renpure items, which ALSO have a rebate.  I need to find out of I can send copies of the receipt for the Renpure rebate; if so, I'll have an additional $20 in profit for my Thanksgiving/Black Friday totals.  If the Renpure needs original receipts, I'll watch for a good deal on the eligible items over the next few weeks and spend another $5.13 pre-coupon to hit the $50 mark. 
Next week CVS has Pantene shampoo/conditioner for $3.33ea and there should be a BOGO coupon in Sunday's paper.  I think my best bet (if I need to buy more) will be to get 2 Pantenes using the coupon for $6.66 in spending, $3.33 my cost.

I counted up all my rewards on hand for the three stores after all this shopping and was pleasantly surprised.
CVS: $34.84
Rite Aid: $25
Wags: $46.69
That's $106.53 total in store credit to buy more stuff!

Drugstore Trifecta: $346 for a profit of...$81!!

My optimism paid off.  Not only did my gameplan work perfectly, it worked out better than I'd expected.

All three stores.  Stock: beyond abundant.  Customers: none in CVS, only a couple in Rite Aid, busy in Wags.  Cashiers: patient, efficient, pleasant.

Loot stack:

Not pictured: 9 bottles soda (5 Diet Coke - Rite Aid; 4 Canada Dry cranberry - Wags), 2 photo collages

Changes from original plan:
CVS - added 1 Gillette deodorant per transaction, free after ECB, used $2 coupon on each
Rite Aid - added 4 boxes of cereal on Andy's card; finished raincheck on Samy hair care (2 items); finished raincheck on Nivea for Men 3-in-1 body wash (1 item).  Undisclosed item did NOT arrive on truck yesterday.  The manager ordered in additional including one specifically for me for the next delivery.  I should be able to pick that up in about 10 days.  *fingers crossed*
Wags: added 4 bottles Canada Dry, 4 bottles Advil PM (both free after RR) - one of the two items to each of 8 transactions

Totals:

CVS

Shelf $57.10
Total $22.54 (paid in ECBs)
Rewards earned $47.82 plus $13.98 in rebates

$39.26 profit!

Rite Aid

Shelf $123.36
Total $30.05 (paid in +UPs)
Rewards earned $35 plus $4.99 in rebates

$9.94 profit!

Wags

Shelf $165.68
Total $65.86 (paid in RRs)
Rewards earned $97.76

$31.90 profit!

Today's totals
Shelf $346.40
Total $118.27
Rewards earned $180.58 plus $18.97 in rebates ($199.55)

$81.28 profit!!!

*ahem*
I GOT PAID $81 TO TAKE ALL THAT STUFF OUT OF THE STORES TODAY!

Pardon me for yelling.  I just now had time to sit down and run all the numbers so this is a bit of a shock.
I still have about $95+ in various reward dollars left and I'll be getting $18.97 in cash (well, check) back on the rebates.
That's a lot of reward dollars, at least for me.  I don't know that I'll be able to successfully roll them into new deals before they expire, so at this moment in time I'm figuring I'll use some towards future deals and use the remaining ones once they near expiration to purchase needed items that aren't often free/close to free such as toilet paper and trash bags.

Wow wow WOW!!!

Drugstore deals: My plans for Black Friday

I broke out the Excel spreadsheet to figure this out.  I am such a nerd.

Yup, getting up early on Thanksgiving morning to go couponing.  My rational mind is slightly horrified, but my cheapskate Id is frothing at the mouth.  The ads call it "Black Friday" but, as mentioned, I'm going on Thursday with a shred of hope that hordes of other crazy people will be too busy Thanksgiving-ing to be out couponing at the drugstores.

Long breakdown under the cut:

Drugstore Trifecta: $237 for $7 and enough shampoo to last a year

Today was nearly a 100% success!
The undisclosed item was, indeed, not in stock.  Worse yet, my particular store doesn't even carry said item so a raincheck would be useless.  I spoke with the store manager about it and he said they can't even order them in.  What I'll do is check with some other area stores to see which ones, if any, carry said item and I'll try to get it elsewhere.

CVS wasn't a wash, though.  I abandoned my carefully laid out plan and winged it due to a couple surprises and wound up with a fantastic deal off the cuff.

Let's begin.

Not pictured: seven 2 liters of Diet Pepsi.

CVS
6 Skippy peanut butter $10
1 Herbal Essence conditioner $2.99
7 Diet Pepsi $6.93
1 package 6 mega roll Scott paper towels $4.99
1 bag Godiva truffles $4.99
Subtotal $29.90
Total after coupons $13.40, received $9 ECBs ($3 Skippy, $2 HE, $4 Xmas book)
OOP $4.40

Shelf price: $47.32
Total: $13.40
Rewards earned: $9
Out of pocket: $4.40 for a savings of $42.92 or 91%!!

Look at the bottom of the loot stack photo - you'll see a CVS catalog with "100s of gifts under $10" on the cover.  There were stacks of these in the rack with the sales circulars in store as well as a stack at each register.  Inside each catalog is a store coupon to receive a $4 ECB when you spend $20.  You should grab one catalog for each CVS card you have.  If you only have one card, it will probably be worth it to have your spouse (or child, or dog) sign up for a new one so you can use that $4/$20 on each card.

I got a $5 off $25 coupon from CVS in my email this morning (good for today only!) which I was very excited about because it would work perfectly with the trip I had planned.  Due to the undisclosed item being unavailable at my store, everything was thrown off.  I had $12.99 worth of stuff in my bag - the Skippy and the conditioner.  Andy and I pondered over the sale circular back by the clearance section, trying to figure out if we could make something work.  After a minute, he said "Ummmm," and pointed behind us; Pepsi 2 liters on sale for $.99ea.  The lightbulb flickered on.  We buy the stuff anyway - if we got 7 of them and a small filler, we could use the $4 ECB back coupon.  And since that would bring our total to about $20, we could find a $5 item, use the $5 off $25 coupon and get that for free.  Right on the front of the circular was the Scott paper towels on sale for $4.99.  We were down to our last two rolls so they were desperately needed.  I went to find the towels, Andy grabbed a cart and loaded it with 7 Diet Pepsis, and I suggested we find some cheap candy to make up the $.09 to get us up to $25.
"If we're gonna get candy let's get the good stuff," Andy insisted.  The coupon kiosk (aka the Magic Coupon Machine) had spit out a $1 off coupon for Godiva truffles.  Those were on sale for $4.99 and that's what he wanted to get as our filler.  If we'd gone with a single cheap candy bar our out of pocket on this would have been under a buck, but what can ya do?  $4.40 for 6 jars of Skippy, a bottle of conditioner, 7 bottles of soda, a big pack of paper towels, and a bag of fancy chocolate is alright by me!

Walgreens - exactly as planned yesterday.