Here are the deals I scooped at Walgreens and CVS this week:
Retail Price: $63.75
My bottom Line: $6.13
Savings: 90%
Retail Price: $63.75
My bottom Line: $6.13Savings: 90%
I haven't posted any of my drugstore deals previously, although this is a major source of free products and good "moneymaker" deals. Almost every week at CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid there are items that are "free". Although you do pay for the item up front, each item has a slightly different system of how you get your money back. I will post more detailed "how-to" articles of each drugstore, but for now here's a quick rundown:
CVS: you are given Extra Care Bucks or ECB's, which print out at the bottom of your store receipt. CVS is the best store (in my opinion) because ECB's are just like cash and CVS tends to have the most and best deals of all 3 drugstores. You can use ECB's to pay for subsequent purchases without restriction.
This week there were many school supply items that were "free after ECB's." I split up my purchases into 2 transactions and use the ECB's I got in my first transaction to pay for the items I bought in my 2nd so I could lesson my up-front costs; then more ECB's printed on my receipt which I will use on next weeks ECB freebies. ECB's expire after 1 month.
Walgreens: A few months ago Walgreens switched from a having mixture of "Register Reward" promotions (which are similar to Catalinas at the grocery store) and mail-in rebates, to purely just Register Rewards. Although I do miss their mail-in-rebates, Register Rewards (RR) can be quite fruitful as well because they have no limit to how many you can obtain during the promotional period (the rebates were usually limited to 1 per household). The trick with RR is that they are technically "manufacturers coupons" for money off your next purchase, so they are not as easy to use as ECB's. Also another restriction is that you can't use a RR to pay for the same product that produced it. For Example: this week Vitamin Shampoo & Conditioner is free after RR. You pay $4 to purchase it, and then a $4 RR prints out which you can use on anything else except the Vitamin Shampoo & Conditioner. This means you have to get a little creative in how to use your RR's so that you don't end up buying other stuff you don't need just to redeem them. They expire after 2 weeks which also somewhat restricts how easy it is to "roll" them over onto purchasing subsequent free-after-RR items.
Rite Aid: They use the mail-in-rebate system (which can also be submitted online for much quicker return of your rebate check). Throughout the month they will have various items that are free, or have a discount after their "Single Rebate Check." Be sure to keep you receipts and enter in a few pieces of information into your online account (on the Rite-Aid website) including store #, receipt #, and purchase date. Then they will automatically check which rebates you are eligible for and at the end of the month you just request your check to be sent in the mail. It usually only takes 2-4 weeks to arrive (depending on how soon you request it). It's simpler than Walgreens, but usually rebate items are limited to 1 per household.
Now, here's where the "moneymaking" comes in. At each of these stores you can use coupons to purchase the particular rebate/ECB items and you will still receive the full advertised amount back. For example: This week Blink Eyedrops were on sale for $7.99, with $7.99 ECB's (making it free). There was a $3/1 coupon in the paper this past Sunday which you could use to buy it making your cost only $4.99 and still receiving back the $7.99 ECB for your next purchase. The same principle holds true for Walgreens and Rite-Aid.
More details to follow! I know how confusing the whole drugstore deal scene can be in the beginning!
CVS: you are given Extra Care Bucks or ECB's, which print out at the bottom of your store receipt. CVS is the best store (in my opinion) because ECB's are just like cash and CVS tends to have the most and best deals of all 3 drugstores. You can use ECB's to pay for subsequent purchases without restriction.
This week there were many school supply items that were "free after ECB's." I split up my purchases into 2 transactions and use the ECB's I got in my first transaction to pay for the items I bought in my 2nd so I could lesson my up-front costs; then more ECB's printed on my receipt which I will use on next weeks ECB freebies. ECB's expire after 1 month.
Walgreens: A few months ago Walgreens switched from a having mixture of "Register Reward" promotions (which are similar to Catalinas at the grocery store) and mail-in rebates, to purely just Register Rewards. Although I do miss their mail-in-rebates, Register Rewards (RR) can be quite fruitful as well because they have no limit to how many you can obtain during the promotional period (the rebates were usually limited to 1 per household). The trick with RR is that they are technically "manufacturers coupons" for money off your next purchase, so they are not as easy to use as ECB's. Also another restriction is that you can't use a RR to pay for the same product that produced it. For Example: this week Vitamin Shampoo & Conditioner is free after RR. You pay $4 to purchase it, and then a $4 RR prints out which you can use on anything else except the Vitamin Shampoo & Conditioner. This means you have to get a little creative in how to use your RR's so that you don't end up buying other stuff you don't need just to redeem them. They expire after 2 weeks which also somewhat restricts how easy it is to "roll" them over onto purchasing subsequent free-after-RR items.
Rite Aid: They use the mail-in-rebate system (which can also be submitted online for much quicker return of your rebate check). Throughout the month they will have various items that are free, or have a discount after their "Single Rebate Check." Be sure to keep you receipts and enter in a few pieces of information into your online account (on the Rite-Aid website) including store #, receipt #, and purchase date. Then they will automatically check which rebates you are eligible for and at the end of the month you just request your check to be sent in the mail. It usually only takes 2-4 weeks to arrive (depending on how soon you request it). It's simpler than Walgreens, but usually rebate items are limited to 1 per household.
Now, here's where the "moneymaking" comes in. At each of these stores you can use coupons to purchase the particular rebate/ECB items and you will still receive the full advertised amount back. For example: This week Blink Eyedrops were on sale for $7.99, with $7.99 ECB's (making it free). There was a $3/1 coupon in the paper this past Sunday which you could use to buy it making your cost only $4.99 and still receiving back the $7.99 ECB for your next purchase. The same principle holds true for Walgreens and Rite-Aid.
More details to follow! I know how confusing the whole drugstore deal scene can be in the beginning!
5 Comments:
yes it is. I usually just get frustrated and leave the store, which reminds me why I don't like shopping there. I have seen some uses in the past, but with such a restricted budget I kinda feel like I'm getting my money "wrapped up" in their system, like an "investment" I really can't ever get back.
yes, getting your money "wrapped up" is exactly why i like CVS the best. THeir ECB's are just like cash, so after your first few times going, and building up some ECB's then you should be able to easily roll them over from one purchase to the next without paying much out of pocket.
Good tutorial, TTC.
I say, Wow are you kidding? I didn't read the tutorial, just saw the amount you paid for what you got. I think Lincoln will be all set for school long before he gets there!
p.s. I noticed you mentioned free eyedrops...Christmas stocking for grandma...hint hint....that's if you find any more like that....they are very expensive everywhere I have looked!
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