sunday shopping 9-26-10

I really, really didn't want to go out shopping last night because a.) we had just gotten home from our Disney weekend and I was exhausted and b.) it was pouring down rain and stormy outside.  But there were some good deals to be had (like the free $33 toothbrush at CVS!) and Sunday is my drugstore shopping day, so, against my better judgment, out I went.

I stopped at the 3 closest CVS stores and ended up with only one toothbrush.  I did, however, get 5 rainchecks, so hopefully I will be able to still make that deal work later this week.   The deals at Walgreens are fun this week because the way it works out with the register rewards, you can just keep getting free stuff indefinitely (provided the store doesn't run out of the right items) after your initial OOP transaction.  However, I learned my lesson about going out during a thunderstorm, because at the 3rd Walgreens I went to, they had just experienced a power surge and the Catalina machine (which prints the Register Rewards) wasn't working.  The manager was very nice and let me put everything on hold until this morning, but it meant an extra trip and extra hassle.  But in the end it was worth it because I scored some great deals on some things I really needed (a new toothbrush!) and wanted.

Here is what I got:

At CVS I paid $8.61 for $34.60 worth of toothbrush, a savings of 75%.  (I also received back $13 in Extra Care Bucks, but I don't count those until I redeem them.)

Coupons used:

(1) $10 off Oral-B Vitality Toothbrush (Proctor & Gamble Insert, 9/26)

$6 ECB from last week.

At Walgreens, I spent $14.14 for $190.02 worth of merchandise, a savings of 93%.  (I also ended up with $8.50 Register Rewards left over to use next week.)  I was psyched at the free deals this week because I really love those Emergen-C packets, and I've been meaning to stock up on kid's cold medicine before cold season hits.  I also scored some cute stocking stuffers for my filler items!  

If you are new to Walgreens shopping, this is a great week to try it out, because it requires very few coupons. 

Here is how to do it:

Initial Transaction:

Purchase:

Hyland Kids Cold & Cough

Emergen-C Vitamin C Packets

Use:

(1) $1.50 off Hyland Kids Cold & Cough Medicine (printable here)

Total OOP: $6.98

Get back $8.50 RRs

Transaction #2:

Purchase:

Vaseline Sheer Infusion Lotion

1 Full Bar Fit

1 Filler Item, priced at approximately $0.69-0.75.  

(Check weekly flyer for coupons on gummy candy and Yeardly soap, or check the clearance section of the store.)

Use:

Store coupon for filler item, if needed

$8.50 RRs

Total OOP: approximately $0.65

Get back $7.00 RRs

Transaction #3:

Purchase:

Hylands Kids Cold & Cough

Emergenc-C Vitamin C Packets

1 clearance or other filler item, priced at approximately $0.35-0.45.  

(DO NOT use store coupon for this filler item--transaction will not work if you have too many coupons.)

Use:

(1) $1.50 off Hylands Kids Cold & Cough Medicine (printable here)

$7.00 RRs

Total OOP: approximately $0.35

Get back $8.50 RRs.

You can then repeat Transaction #2 and alternate #2 and #3 indefinitely (or until the store no longer has one of these items available.)

Altogether, I spent $22.75 for $224.62 worth of merchandise, an average savings of 90% for the day.

Happy Monday!