The Angry Cheapskate: Getting by on Less: Drugstore Trifecta: $80.25 worth of health & beauty for a profit of $5.08

Wow, what a day!!

First off I got electrocuted by the switch for the garbage disposal. That was disconcerting. My hands were all wet from doing some dishes and when I flipped the switch for the disposal it was all "bzzzzzt!" and I'm all "Gaaaah can't move hand tingling bzzzzzzzz!" and then a second later I pulled my hand away and the odd tingly sensation went away after an hour or two. *sigh*

But that wasn't the fun part. The fun part was hitting all three drugstores in quick succession this evening and making out like a bandit. Let's begin, shall we?

Rite Aid
I totally had to think on my feet here. There were three specific deals I was after; one was out of stock, one didn't have exactly what I'd wanted in stock, and the third had VERY slim pickins. The Bayer Contour USB meter (diabetic testing meter) was marked down from $79.99 to $29.99 and there's a $40 Rite Aid coupon available. Now, Rite Aid doesn't allow for overage, so no need to think it's a $10 profit - it's not. I'm not diabetic nor is anyone else I know, but I had planned to get the meter for free and donate it to the shelter; someone in need could get really nice medical supplies, and I could use the purchase to build up my points balance*, win-win. Alas, the meter was out of stock so I got a raincheck and continued on my way.
Next deal - SAMY haircare. The SAMY products are buy one get one free, I had a $2 coupon for each, and each bottle gives a $1 +UP back. I had planned to get shampoo and conditioner at $4.99ea, but my store had exactly zero of these. There wasn't even a spot for it on the shelves. I did, however, locate SAMY deep conditioning treatment and serum for $5.29ea. Four bottles at $10.58 less $8 in coupons less $4 +UP back works out to a profit of $1.42. Good enough for me!!
Finally, NYC cosmetics were buy one get a nail polish free, and each of those items gives back a $1 +UP. I also had two $1 off coupons. I was going to get five eye pencils at $1.99ea and five nail polishes for free, but there were exactly four nail polishes left. So I did four & four, no biggie. And when I checked out, the eye pencils rang up at $.99ea. I pointed out to the cashier that they were marked as $1.99 on the shelf (I'm so honest) and she shrugged and said it was my lucky day!

4 SAMY hair care: $21.16
4 NYC eye pencils: $3.96
4 NYC nail polish: $7.96
1 package cotton swabs: $2.59 (filler item)
Total $35.67
Less $5 off $25 purchase
Less $10.58 SAMY BOGO
Less $7.96 NYC BOGO
Less $8 SAMY coupons
Less $2 NYC coupons
For a total of $2.13
Received back $12 in +UPs (8 $1 for NYC, 4 $1 for SAMY) for a profit of $9.87!!

As you can see, my total would have been negative if I didn't get the cotton swabs ($2.59). Can't have a negative total, and I could've gotten something cheaper but I needed swabs anyway. This was a great trip!

*note: Rite Aid's Wellness+ card tracks your purchases and awards one point per dollar spent. When you reach certain numbers of points, you get discount coupons and, eventually, an across the board 10% or 20% discount on all non-prescription purchases. Since it tracks pre-coupon prices, the points can add up fast!

I want to mention the folks that work at this Rite Aid: the cashier who rang me up is just awesome. This is the third time in as many trips that she's checked me out, and each time she's just so friendly and cheerful. On Sunday when my receipt printed out for the Alka Seltzer & Bayer +UPs, she got really excited and was going on about "Would you look at that, I've never seen such a long receipt!!" It was taller than she is! She even called over another cashier to look at the receipt and they were both cheering me on. What a great feeling! Tonight another long receipt printed out and she again congratulated me and exclaimed over all the +UPs, calling another cashier and the manager over to see. They were all smiling and laughing away, and I commented "You had the same reaction earlier this week when I was in!"
She said, "I know! I just can't believe these receipts, you're so good at finding these deals!!"

CVS
We stopped here because it was on the route between Rite Aid & Wags to get a gallon of milk for $2.19. We received $1 Bag Tag ECB back. CVS has a program called the Green Bag Tag where you can purchase a little hang tag for $.99 that you attach to a reusable shopping bag. Each time you decline a plastic bag from the store (either hand carrying your purchases out or bagging them in a reusable tote), your tag gets scanned and on every fourth scan you get a $1 ECB.
Total: $2.19
Received $1 ECB
Out of pocket: $1.19

Walgreens
This was another GREAT trip to Walgreens!! Everything was in stock with plenty available and a minor cashier issue was quickly resolved by a friendly manager. We did two transactions due to the more restrictive nature of Wags' Register Rewards.

Transaction 1
Contac Day & Night Cold & Flu (this stuff works GREAT!) $6
Chapstik $.99 (filler item)
Less $2 Contac coupon
Total $4.99, received back $6 RR

Profit of $1.01!!

(Another restriction of Wags': you can only use one manufacturer's coupon per item, and their RRs count as manufacturer's coupons. Since we used a $2 coupon, we had to get a small filler item to pay with the $3.50 RR - two coupons, two items. I grabbed Chapstik.)

Transaction 2
2 Coffee Mate coffee creamers $5.38
2 Alka Seltzer Plus Fast Crystals Packs $7.98
1 Colgate Sensitive $3.49
4 Mentos Gum $7.56
1 double pack Vicks Nyquil liquid $8.99
1 bottle Gain dish soap $2 (filler item)
Total $35.40
Less $2.69 Coffee Mate BOGO (raincheck from last week)
Less $3 Coffee Mate coupons
Less $6 Alka Seltzer coupons
Less $1 Colgate coupons
Less $1 Gain coupon
Less $4 Mentos manufacturer's coupons
Less $3.60 Mentos store coupons
Total $14.11, received back $3.50 RR (Colgate), $3 RR (Nyquil) $3 RR (Alka Seltzer)
Out of pocket cost: $4.61, for a savings of $30.79 or 87%!!

The Nyquil was sort of an impulse buy. I hadn't planned on buying it, but apparently we're about out (I don't use the liquid, yech) and Andy asked if we could add some to the basket while I was putting the Contac & Alka Seltzer in. They had these big bottles in a two pack for $8.99 with $3 back in RR - not a bad deal at all. The trip would have been an overall profit without it, but it was a fair price and not every trip is profitable.

The cashier balked at the Coffee Mate coupons. I got them on raincheck for $2.69 for the both and I had two $1.50 off coupons totaling $3; she was like "Oh, I can't take these, it's more than the stuff costs!" Now I look at any bit of overage as a bonus, but I don't expect it. I pleasantly said "That's no problem, just adjust the coupons down to the right amount." I know they can do this easily, but she got flustered and said "No, no, I can't take these." I remained polite and asked "Could you check with a manager, please?"
The manager came over, looked at the coupons, and then looked at my two bags' worth of stuff. He told her that if all I was buying was the creamer she should adjust the coupon value down, but "She's got a ton of stuff here, go on ahead and put them through normally."
Everyone remained polite and pleasant, I got the overage, and at the end of the transactions she looked at me and said "Wow, you only spent like $10 cash and you got $15 back in rewards, that's impressive!"
"Yup, it's the only way to shop!" I said and we both laughed. I thanked her and we headed on out the door.

Today's totals