Playin' the Drugstore Game

The major drugstore chains all have programs where if you buy certain items, you get "reward dollars" back that can be spent in the store on your next visit.  These are very much like the Catalinas/OYNOs at the grocery store, and, as I've recently started to figure out - THIS is how those crazy coupon ladies get $30 worth of merchandise for a quarter.  We'll examine how it works momentarily.

The three big drugstores we've got access to in my 'hood are Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid.
Of the three, Walgreens' reward program is the most restrictive; Rite Aid's is by far the best.  CVS seems to be somewhere in the middle.

Let's take a look at a razor deal.  A Schick Hydro 5 razor is priced at $8.99 on sale, and if you buy one you receive $5 back in reward dollars.  Better yet, there's a $4/1 coupon.  $8.99 - $4 coupon = $4.99, and you get a $5 store credit in reward dollars back, making the razor a $.01 moneymaker.

• At Walgreens you can buy the razor, use the coupon, get the $5 back, but you cannot use that $5 to purchase another razor.  The reward dollars won't print if you do so.  In  addition, you can only get one deal per transaction.  If you wanted to buy 5 razors, you would have to do 5 separate transactions to get the $5 back on each one, and in the end you'd have paid about $25 and you'll have five $5 Walgreens Register Rewards (their name for reward dollars, shortened to RRs) that you can use on other stuff in the store. 
• At CVS you can purchase multiple razors in one transaction and use the $5 in Extra Care Bucks (their reward dollars, shortened to ECBs) on more razors.  The downside is that most of the really good deals have a limit of one per card for the sale period.  With the Schick razor, you buy your razor for $4.99 with coupon, get $5 back in ECBs, and you could use that $5 to buy another razor - you just won't get another $5 ECB for it.  So you'd be able to get two razors for $4.99, which isn't a bad deal, but it ain't free quite yet.
• At Rite Aid, there are very few restrictions.  Unless there's a restriction printed in the sales circular, and there aren't many times where it is, you could buy a razor, get your $5 +UP (Rite Aid's reward dollars, pronounced plus-ups or ups) and use it to get another razor for free.  You could then use the $5 +UP from the 2nd razor and use it to get another for free.  Or you could buy two razors with two coupons for $9.98, get $10 in +UPs, buy two more at no cost to you using coupons & the +UPs from the last transaction and get $10 more +UPs, THEN buy 2 more at no cost and get $10 more +UPs back.  And on and on it goes.

That all said, I decided to start learning the drugstore game at Rite Aid.  As is usually the case with me, I had to get all crazy and jump into CVS as well due to a couple good deals they have, so I guess I'm learning both stores now.  Let's see how I did.

Friday - CVS
Pepsi 2 liters were on sale for $1ea.  If you purchased 15, you got $5 ECBs back, making them $.67ea.  I had two $1/2 coupons as well.  I am a Diet Pepsi FIEND.  It's almost embarrassing how much of that stuff I drink; suffice to say, the 15 bottles will be consumed.
15 Diet Pepsi = $15 - $2 in coupons = $13.
Receive $5 ECBs back.


They also had gallons of milk for $2.19.  Andy drinks as much milk as I do Diet Pepsi, so we got two gallons of milk as well (normally $2.50-3.00 at the grocery store.

$17.38 with $5 ECBs remaining = $12.38 for 15 sodas and 2 gallons of milk.

Sunday - CVS
Schick Hydro 5 razor - $8.99 (limit 1)
Schick Hydro shave gel - $3.99
10 Mentos gum - $1.79ea
1 bag of Hershey's Miniatures - $3

CVS has these little red kiosks in the store; you scan your loyalty card and often bonus coupons will print out.  We got a couple today, including one for $1 off a bag of Hershey's candy.  I like candy so I got a bag - it's a good thing I did, because this trip wound up with overage.
When I was picking up a razor, I noticed some had peelies on them to get a free can of shave gel when you buy a razor.
The Mentos were on sale buy one get one free.  I had 10 $1/1 Mentos gum coupons.
And, as mentioned above, there is indeed a $4/1 Schick Hydro coupon, and I have a stack of them.  I could only do the deal once as per the limit, so I'm hoping this same sort of deal will pop up at Rite Aid.

Total for all items: $33.88
Less $8.95 for the BOGO Mentos gum sale
Less $4 for the razor
Less $3.99 for the free shave gel
Less $1 for the candy
Less $10 for the Mentos coupons
=$5.44 plus tax to equal $6.45
I paid with the $5 ECB from Friday's soda and $1.45 cash and received a $5 ECB for the razor.
96% savings!!

The Mentos coupons all scanned at $1ea, even though the gum worked out to $.90ea after BOGO sale.  That means if I hadn't purchased that Hershey's candy, my total would have been negative $1.  You're not allowed to do that, so I would have had to add candy or Chapstik or something for a buck or more to make up the difference.

Sunday - Rite Aid
Transaction 1
6 Old Spice body wash $29.94, on sale for $18
1 Old Spice body spray $4.99, on sale for $3
1 Old Spice deodorant $4.99, on sale for $3
1 bag BeeMD cough drops $2.49
$42.41 shelf, $26.49 sale

Less $5 off $25 purchase
Less four buy one get one free Old Spice Red Zone products - $12
Less two $1/2 Old Spice Red Zone products - $2
Less $2.49 freebie for the cough drops
=$5 plus tax to equal $6.67
Paid cash, received $8 in +UPs: $2 when you buy 2 Old Spice products

Transaction 2
2 Old Spice deodorant $9.98, $6 on sale
2 Old Spice body spray $9.98, $6 on sale
6 Ziploc slider bags $17.94, $12 on sale
2 little boxes of candy $3.18, $2 on sale
$41.08 shelf, $26 sale

Less $5 off $25 purchase
Less two buy one Old Spice product, get Old Spice body spray free - $6
Less three $1/2 Ziploc coupons - $3
Less two $1/2 Old Spice Red Zone products - $2
=$10 plus tax to equal $11.47
Paid with $8 in +UPs from previous transaction & $3.47 in cash
Received $7 in +UPs: $1 when you buy 2 Ziploc, $2 when you buy 2 Old Spice

Rite Aid total
$83.49 shelf
$10.14 cash paid
$7 remaining +UPs
True out of pocket cost: $3.14, or a savings of 96%

Sunday's drugstore game totals
Shelf $117.37
Cash paid $11.59
Remaining reward dollars $12 ($5 ECBs, $7 +UPs)
PROFIT of $.41!

Next week, or the week after if there aren't any good sales, I'll use those reward dollars towards other sale items that give more reward dollars back, which I'll then use to buy MORE stuff that gives reward dollars back, and so on.  This is the same concept as rolling Catalinas/OYNOs at the grocery store; try to buy items with your reward dollars that will give you an equal or greater amount of reward dollars back.
If I go into Rite Aid next week with my $7 +UPs and find that I can get, let's say, some shampoo on sale & with coupons for $7.99, and it gives me $10 back in +UPs, I'll walk out having made a $2 profit.

My total owed would be $7.99. I'd pay with the $7 +UPs and a dollar bill, and receive $10 back.  View those reward dollars (as well as grocery OYNOs!) as CASH!  They're the same as cash to that store, and they should be the same as cash to you because that's more George Washingtons in your pocket to use towards rent, bills, vacations, meals out, strip clubs, and other important stuff!