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: $148 for a $17 profit, and sleeping soundly for two years

What a day, what a day!  Shopping should always be this fun.

CVS
1 Thermacare neck, back & shoulder 1ct $2.79
Less $1 off any Thermacare
Total $1.79, received back $2.79 ECB (limit 1)

$1 profit!!

This wasn't very exciting.  The only item that drew my attention at CVS this week was the free after ECB Thermacare.  I had coupons for $1 off, but with the limit being just one I couldn't do much.  If CVS wasn't directly on the way to Rite Aid I wouldn't have even bothered stopping, but what can ya do?  Some weeks aren't great at some stores and this was one of them for CVS.  At least I got a Thermacare (which I use like crazy) and a Green Bag Tag scan.

Rite Aid
Transaction 1
6 bonus packs 3mg Natrol melatonin $8.49ea (2 60ct bottles banded together for a total of 12 bottles)
Subtotal $50.94
Less BOGO sale - $25.47
Less $5 off $25 purchase, less six $3 off any Natrol
Total $2.47, received back $6 in +UP ($2 for each two bonus packs)

$3.53 profit!!

By my count, this is 720 days' (nights?) worth of melatonin.  I should be sleeping soundly for two years, and they paid me $3.53 to do it.


Transaction 2
4 candy bars $.50ea, $2
3 Clearasil daily wash $5.49ea, $16.74
3 Clearasil Overnight Serum $5.24ea, $15.72 (clearanced 50% off from $10.49ea)
3 Rite Aid coffee 11oz $1.99ea, $5.97
3 Motrin PM 20ct $5.99ea, $17.97
2 fishing game toy thingies $2.24ea, $4.48
1 package Rite Aid beef jerky for Andy, $3.59 with my discount
Subtotal $66.47
Less $5 off $25 coupon, less BOGO candy, less $.50 off 2 candy, less three $2 off Clearasil in-ad coupons, less three $2 off Clearasil manufacturer's coupons, less three $5 off Clearasil Overnight in-ad coupons, less three $2 off Rite Aid coffee, less three $2 off Motrin in-ad coupons, less three $2 off Motrin mfg coupons
Total $15.47
Received back $28 in +UPs: $1 for buying 4 candy bars, $2 for each Clearasil product, $3 for each Motrin, $2 for each game, and a bonus $1 for each game

$12.53 profit!!

The last transaction was a bit of a doozy.  I could have broken it up into two, but I hadn't brought enough $5 off $25 coupons with me.  *shrug*

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:

Dual Drugstore Deals: $185 for a $13 profit

We hit CVS & Rite Aid this morning before the snow started and wound up with a great haul.  It wasn't as good as I'd been hoping for in an ideal situation, but it was great.  :)  Afterward I hightailed it (with my loot!) over to my grandparents' to make Christmas cookies all day.  Gram was impressed with the haul and, as I set up for the loot stack photo, was laughing that I had my own little store.  It seems like it sometimes!

CVS
2 Excedrin PM 100ct $21.98
1 Complete contact solution $9.99
1 Christmas tree $29.99
Subtotal $61.96
Less $5 off $30 purchase, less two $2.50 off Excedrin PM, less 25% off tree, less $10 off Christmas tree
Total $34.46, paid in ECBs, received back $10 ECB Excedrin, $9.99 ECB Complete
Total $14.47

The Magic Coupon Machine spit out a coupon for $10 off any Christmas tree.  We don't have one yet, and since it's just the two of us I'd only wanted a very small 3' or 4' tree.  We found a really cute little 4' prelit tree with a base, so you just need to take it out and plug it in.  It was normally $29.99 but was marked down 25% to $22.49.  With the $10 off coupon, it came to $12.49 and that's a fantastic price in my book!

Here it is straight out of the box.  I was messing with it later and it's a fluffy, nice-looking tree - especially for $12.49!  I'll get a better photo later once it's decorated.

Originally I got the Complete contact solution just so I could use my $5 off $30 coupon.  It's $9.99 with a $9.99 ECB back; when combined with $20 of Excedrin that coupon would have brought my out of pocket down to like $2.  Since we added the tree I technically didn't need to get the stuff (I don't wear contacts!), but I had already put it in my bag and didn't quite realize until we were paying that it wasn't necessary.  Oh well, it was free!

Next, on to Rite Aid!

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:

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:

Dual Drugstore Deals: $150 for $5.50

Another raincheck.
*sigh*
At this rate, my mom is going to get a raincheck for Christmas.

In spite of that, all went very well today - even better than I'd planned thanks to another impromptu, off the cuff deal.  This time the deal was at Rite Aid and I can cross some more presents off my list.

CVS
4 Playtex Gentle Glide - $21.76 (they only had one of the $5.29 type on the shelf, so three of them were $5.49)
Subtotal $21.76
Less $4 off $20 purchase, less two $2 off, less two $1 off
Total $11.76, received back $10 ECB for $20 in Playtex purchases, $1 ECB for Green Bag Tag
Out of pocket $.76!!

For whatever reason, the $10 ECB didn't print when my receipt printed.  If there's one store you want this sort of thing to happen, it's CVS.  They can manually print it out for you in just a few seconds and they shouldn't give you any trouble over it.  When I only got the $1 tag ECB and nothing else, I showed the cashier the ad in the circular, she glanced quickly at my receipt to verify that I had really purchased $20 worth, and with no hassle typed a few keys on the register and handed over the $10 that printed with a smile and an apology.
$.76 for four boxes of Playtex.  That is so worth an extra 30 seconds at the checkout.

Rite Aid
I went in to the store ahead of Andy while he finished his cigarette in the car.  He found me in the undisclosed item aisle staring morosely at the shelf.  Empty.  The sale tag was there, all bright yellow and taunting.  I checked to make sure they didn't have any in the back, and continued on with my trip.
After loading up on the Planters nuts - tons and tons of those available! - I wanted to glance at two more potential deals.  If you buy $10 in Burt's Bees items, you receive a $2 +UP back.  I wanted to get some of this as a gift, but the coupons out there aren't great.  We decided to go ahead and get it anyway since it was still a decent price after +UP and, y'know, it's a gift and we don't have to get everything for free.  I added an $8 lotion and a $3 lip balm (!!) to the basket.
I then went in search of photo frames.  They were advertised as "starting at $6.99" and you receive a $3 +UP for each one purchased.  With the free photo collage I got from Walgreens a few weeks ago, and another free one coming up on Thursday, I wanted to get a frame or two to go with the prints if the price was right.  Boy was the price right!  Most of the 8x10 frames were in the $10-15 range, but tucked in the corner was not only a $5.99 frame, but also three frames marked at $3.  Each had the $3 +UP tag under them, meaning all four frames were $2.99 total after +UP!  Between the frames and the Burt's Bees items, my total was over $25 meaning I could use an additional $5 coupon to bring the prices on everything even lower.

Transaction 1
3 8x10 photo frames - $9
1 8x10 photo frame - $5.99
1 Burt's Bees lotion - $7.99
1 Burt's Bees lip balm - $2.99
Subtotal $25.97
Less $5 off $25 purchase, less $1 off lotion
Total $19.97, received back $14 +UPs (four $3 frames, one $2 Burt's)
Out of pocket $5.97

Transactions 2 & 3
7 Planters nuts (various) - $27.93
Less $5 off $25, less seven $1 off
Total $15.93 each, $31.86 for both, received back $33 in +UPs (fourteen $2 Planters, one $5 Planters bonus)

$1.14 profit!!

Shelf price $129.33
Total $51.83
Rewards earned $47
Out of pocket $4.83

Fourteen cans of nuts (including 3 cashews, YUM!), four photo frames, and some very fancy Burt's Bees items for under $5.  Wow.  Wow.

I also got a raincheck for the undisclosed item.  My favorite cashier rang us out today and when I asked for the raincheck she offered to call some other stores to see if they had any.  I thanked her and said that I'd rather spend my money at THIS store.  Coupons or not, the more sales the store gets, the more hours the employees get and the better the store does overall.  They treat me very well and in return I'll pour my coupons into their sales totals.  She gave me the raincheck and the heads up that more are coming on the truck Wednesday.  We shall see if I can score this item then.  ;)

And now the totals for the day

Shelf price $151.09
Total $63.59
Rewards earned $58
Out of pocket $5.59, a savings of $145.50 or 93%!!!

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.

Sunday Gameplan for 11/14

Assuming stock is decent tomorrow, it's shaping up to be a big haul at the drugstores.  We did a little recon at Wags tonight - we drove right by our usual store while out and about and stopped in to grab a couple more free Reach flosses.  While there, I scoped out the two items we're most interested in and stock looks good.

I'm a little nervous about Rite Aid, though I can get rainchecks if needed.  That's gonna be the big trip, though, and rainchecks disappoint me a little.  I want my free stuff NOW, dammit!


We'll begin at CVS.
6 Skippy peanut butter $10, get $3 ECB back (limit 1)
1 undisclosed item*
1 Herbal Essence shampoo or conditioner $2.99, get $2 ECB back (limit 1)
$1.52 profit!!
*undisclosed item is not disclosed due to the holiday season approaching.  I can't even break this one down because the price & ECBs back would give it away. 

The undisclosed item stands a good chance of not being in stock given the sale.  I would like it to be, but I'm expecting raincheck city.  *sigh*

Then Walgreens
Transaction 1:
2 Nyquil liquid $10
2 BC powder 24ct $3.98
1 bottle Gain dish soap $.89
2 packages paper plates $1.78 (filler)
Subtotal $16.65
Less two $1.50 Nyquil, two $1 BC, $1 Gain
Total $10.65, receive back $5 RR (Nyquil)
OOP $5.65

Transaction 2:
2 Nyquil liquid $10
1 package paper plates (filler)
Subtotal $10.89
Less two $1.50 Nyquil
Total $7.89, receive back $5 RR (Nyquil)
OOP $2.89

This is a higher out of pocket ($8.54 total) than I'd usually go for at Wags, but it is what it is.  The Nyquil is $1/bottle after coupon & RR, the BC powder is $.99ea after coupons, and we need paper plates so for $.89ea that's a great filler for us. 

We'll wrap it all up with (hopefully) a monster trip to Rite Aid

Drugstore Trifecta: $185 worth of health & beauty for $15.50

Today could not have gone any better.  Everything was in stock, we had CVS and Rite Aid completely to ourselves, and there were friendly faces everywhere.  And I got chocolate.

This also wraps up the month of October.  I have a confession to make.  I'm a nerd.  Really.  I'm a nerd.  I have an Excel spreadsheet with formulas and all that good stuff that calculates my spending and my savings.  Once I run down today's trips, I'll share the value of everything I bought this month and how much I paid for it.  I've been tracking it on my spreadsheet all month.

Buckle in, here we go!

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!

Quick CVS run

I was going to do up a nice post about this Enchilada Lasagna I made the other night for dinner.  It was sooooo yummy, ridiculously easy, and fairly cheap as well.

Alas, I've been feeling a bug of some sort coming on all week and it kicked my ass today.  I spent most of the afternoon in bed, though I did manage to drag myself out long enough for some soup and a trip to CVS.

We ran out of milk last night.  It's on sale for $2.19/gal at CVS through Saturday and I had a coupon for a free hand sanitizer expiring the same day so I figured I'd go the couple extra minutes and get both this evening.

I couldn't find the hand sanitizer, so that was a no-go.  *sigh*  Guess they sold out, and with the coupon expiring there was no need to get a raincheck.

But!

I did glance at the clearance section while I was there and scored a two pack of Oral-B toothbrushes for $.75 and a two pack of Scunci alligator hair clips that I go through like water for $.72.  That was nice!

I  was also able to take advantage of an unadvertised deal on Neutrogena Triple Moisture Split End Mender.  I'd heard about this on other blogs but between lack of stock being reported and the fact that I went so late in the week, I didn't figure I'd find any.  Lo and behold, my fantastic CVS had some on the shelf!
It was $7.49 and you receive a $7.49 ECB (CVS store dollars) back, which makes this fancy-schmancy hair stuff free.  As you may have heard, I like free!

So, two gallons of milk, the Neutrogena stuff, two toothbrushes, and two Scunci hair clips came to $13.34.  I paid with a $5 ECB from earlier in the week and the rest cash.
After receiving my $7.49 ECB back, all that stuff cost $5.85.  That's right around what we'd pay for just the milk at the grocery store, so this was a nice little trip.

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.