Hey, you guys!
I'm resurrecting the "Deals & Steals" posts, at least this once, to help out my Virginia pals with saving some moolah. If you want to see more of these posts on a regular basis, to help you get into the groove of saving some serious cash, just drop me a comment below to let me know.
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First, I have to say thank you to Collin over at Hip2Save for helping me put together these awesome deals. I've been a lifelong coupon user, but reading her blog transformed my method. I have a Word file with an intro to the Melanie method of couponing - which is not Extreme Couponing, if that's what you're looking for - that will help give a lot of background information for putting together the deals below {and for reading Hip2Save}. If you want that file, just make sure to leave me your email address in a comment on this post.
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Second, we don't have Rite Aid here in South Florida, so my deals will come exclusively from Walgreens and CVS today. Between this Rite Aid page on Hip2Save and the Word.doc I can send you, you should be able to sort things if you want to shop the rockin' Rite Aid deals. Be sure to click on "New Here?" near the top left of Collin's blog, too, if you're new to either her highly functional site or to couponing in general. You'll glean so much useful information that will make a huge difference in putting together your own deals and saving money for your family, too.
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And finally, before I get started with detailing today's shopping trips, there's just a little bit of coupon lingo that I'm going to use. You need to familiarize yourself with these and more terms, which I've listed in the aforementioned Word.doc and most of which are also listed in the newbie sections on Hip2Save (and used regularly by Collin and other coupon bloggers).
The ones you need to know right now are:
MQ = Manufacturer's Coupons
SQ = Store Coupons (in this case, from Walgreens or CVS)
RRs = Register Rewards, the Walgreens store 'bonus' currency
BRs = Balance Rewards, the Walgreens 'loyalty' currency
ECBs = Extra Care Bucks, the CVS store 'bonus' currency
ARV = Average Retail Value, or the pre-sale price at the store I'm shopping below
OOP = Out of pocket expenditure
Net = What I'm actually paying, after RRs or ECBs, respectively
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Let's get started!
Walgreens
{Read this page first on Hip2Save}
I did this in five separate transactions, which I generally only have had to do at "Wags" and not at Rite Aid or CVS. {The only other place I've really needed to do split transactions is at Target, because they often reward with Gift Cards that can't be used in the same transaction in which they're earned.} I'll detail each transaction separately below:
Transaction #1:
{{Done to earn BRs, which cannot be earned and redeemed within the same transaction; also, to separate RR transactions in order to purchase multiple items needed}}
- (2) 6-roll packs of Bounty paper towels at $4.99 each (ARV: $6.99) + (4) 3-count Venus disposable razors at $8.61 each after 25% off sale (ARV: $11.49) = $47.61. (The deal was spend $20, get 5,000 BRs, so I doubled it.) I used two Buy One, Get One Free (BOGO) MQs for the razors + two 25¢-off MQs for the Bounty towels = $26.70. I also earned 10,000 BRs for a future transaction, which equates to a $10 reward, so $16.70 for all six items. My notebook entry for this deal looks like this:
- *(4) 3ct Venus disposable razors: $11.49 ea – 25% off – (2) BOGO MQ + (2) 6ct Bounty towels: $4.99 each – (2) 25¢ MQ – 10,000 BRs = 16.70/all 6!
- (Yes, I really do write exclamation points after each deal. I get excited about saving money, what can I say? I also do color-code my notebook, underline BRs and more. Develop your system to make the most sense for you.)
- (4) 4-count Gillette CustomPlus3 disposable razors: $5.99 each (ARV: $7.99) = $23.96. I had two BOGO MQs again, but the cashier missed one so I’ll have to go back and recoup my losses. It SHOULD have subtracted $11.98, plus I earned another 5,000 BRs for a total of $6.98. Dividing out, that’s 44¢ per razor!
- (2) 24-ct Children’s Advil chewables: $4.99 each (ARV: 5.99), minus two $1.50 MQs, plus 3,000 BRs earned for buying two = $1.99 x 2! (Not killer but good, especially since my older girl gets a lot of headaches and we’re out of kids’ meds, so I bought.)
- 100-ct Natrol Melatonin: $4 (ARV: $9.99), kicked back $4 RR for a future transaction, so FREE! (Yay! I am finally going to try; y’all know I don’t sleep!)
- Tampax Tampon Pearl Lites: $3.99 (ARV: $5.79). {{I had a $1.50 MQ, but it wouldn’t scan. It was a valid MQ, so the cashier should have keyed it in manually, but my cashier – and, sadly, many Wags cashiers – didn’t know how to do that, so I didn’t use it. Normally, I’d have taken it off the order, but they can’t void once they ring in coupons. I’d have done a Return/Refund after that transaction, but I was tired and I’ve got two girls and am stocking up for the future, so I said to heck with it and just kept them. It’s annoying, though!}} This kicked back a $1 RR, so with the MQ, this should have been $1.49!
- 6-oz Crest Pro-Health toothpaste: $2.99 (ARV: $4.79) – 50¢ MQ, plus a $2 RR kicked out = 49¢! (My price point is normally $0-25¢ for toothpaste, but Hubs needs this kind, so I stocked up.)
- 27-ct Scunci hair elastics: $2.99, got back a $2 RR = 99¢. (Again, I have two little girls, and they lose these things like nobody’s business, so I get these whenever I can.)
So for Transaction #1: My subtotal after MQs came out to $62.50 + $5.49 tax = $67.99 OOP. I earned 18,000 BRs for Transaction #5, got back $9 in RRs, and saved $65.94 between sales and MQs.
Transaction #2:
- This time, I tried the 54ct Tampax Pearl liners: $2.99 (ARV: $5.29), but my $1.50 that should have worked still didn’t. I kept it anyway, same reason as above. Got back a $1 RR. Not great, but whatevs.
- 100-ct Natrol Melatonin: $4 (ARV: $9.99), kicked back $4 RR for a future transaction, so FREE!
- 6-oz Crest Pro-Health toothpaste: $2.99 (ARV: $4.79) – 50¢ MQ, plus a $2 RR kicked out = 49¢!
- 27-ct Scunci hair elastics: $2.99, got back a $2 RR = 99¢.
So for Transaction #2: My subtotal after MQs came out to $13.47 + 70¢ tax = $14.17 OOP. I got another $9 back in RRs for next week, instead of spending them on Transaction #5 for whatever unknown reason, so my Net for this transaction = $5.17.
Transactions #3 & #4, identical:
- At this point, I knew the Tampax MQ wasn’t going to work for me, so I didn’t take them for these (2) transactions.
- 100-ct Natrol Melatonin: $4 (ARV: $9.99), kicked back $4 RR for a future transaction, so FREE!
- 6-oz Crest Pro-Health toothpaste: $2.99 (ARV: $4.79) – 50¢ MQ, plus a $2 RR kicked out = 49¢!
- 27-ct Scunci hair elastics: $2.99, got back a $2 RR = 99¢.
So for both Transactions #3 and #4: My subtotal came out to $9.48 + 42¢ tax = $9.90. I got $8 back each time for next week, so my Net for both these transactions was $1.90.
Transactions #5:
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(4) Ben & Jerry’s pints: $4.99 each – BOGO sale – (4) $1 MQs
= $1.50 x 4!
- (4) 2-L Dr. Pepper Ten: 4 for $4 (ARV: $1.99) – (2) BOGO MQs = 50¢ x 4!
- (4) Chex Mix: 4 for $6 (ARV: $1.99) – (4) 50¢ MQs - $1 off four SQ from the June Coupon Booklet, which you can find at the front of the store near the weekly ads = 75¢ x 4!
- (4) 6ct Slim-Fast bars: $5.49 each – Buy 1 Get 1 50% off sale – (4) $1.50 MQs = $1.87 x 4!
- Keebler Soft Batch Chocolate Chip cookies: $1.99 (ARV: $3.59) – $1.50 MQ = 49¢!
- (3) Skittles singles packs + (3) Starburst singles packs (great for kids’ snack for our weekly Family Meeting!): 59¢ each (ARV: 99¢) – (3) 50¢-off-two MQs = 34¢ x 6!
- (4) 3Musketeers bars (yucky to me, but Hubs loves them): 59¢ each (ARV: 99¢) – (2) 50¢-off-two MQs = 34¢ x 4!
- (2) 10ct Starbucks K-Cups: $6.99 (ARV: $9.99) – (2) $1.50 MQ = $5.49 x 2, or 55¢ per K-cup! (Not great, but okay for Starbucks, and I need to replenish our K-cup supply.)
So for Transaction #5: My subtotal came out to $35.33 + $1.40 tax = $36.73. I used 20,000 BR points from Transaction #1 and previous earnings to reduce my OOP to $16.73!
Plus, I have $37 in RRs to use next week! So my Total Value for all five transactions, before sales and coupons, was $293.37 (pre-tax). My total OOP was $118.69, making my Net after RRs $81.69. Not the best I’ve ever done, but eh. You win some, you lose some.
CVS
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(4) 1.6-oz Secret Clinical deodorant: $4 each (ARV: $8.99) – (4)
$3 MQs - $1 x 4! (Plus, I’ll submit for a Mail-in Rebate for another one, for
free!)
- (2) Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails Strengthener: $3.99 each + (1) Sally Hansen Super Shine Top Coat: $4.69 = $12.67. The deal was, get $5 Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) when you spend $12 in Sally Hansen products at regular price. I had (3) $4 MQs, which the cashier should have adjusted down to $3.99 for two of them but keyed them in as $4 anyway, so my Net was 67¢, making this a $4.33 Money Maker for me after ECBs. Woohoo! My notebook entry for this deal looks like this:
- (3) Sally Hansen products: (2)$3.99 + $4.69 – (3) $4 MQ - $5 ECB = $5.33 MM!
- (4) 7oz Edge shave gels: (2) for $3.49 each + (2) for $2.99 each + (1) 15 oz Irish Spring body wash: $2.99 (ARV: $4.99) = $15.95. The deal was, spend $15 on certain products and get $5 ECB back. I had (2) BOGO (up to $3) MQs for the Edge gels, which took off $6, and a $1 MQ for the body wash, so this worked out to $3.95 for all five. My notebook entry for this deal looks like this:
- (4) 7oz Edge shave gels: (2)$2.99 + (2)$3.49 + (1) 15oz Irish Spring body wash: $2.99 – (2) BOGO MQ – $1 MQ - $5 ECB = 79¢ x 5!
- (1) Softsoap pump: $2.99 – 35¢ MQ - $2 ECB = 64¢!
- (2) 1ct Gillette Venus razor: $6.99 each + (2) 4ct Gillette Sensor3 Sensitive disposable razors: $9.99 each = $33.96. The deal was, get $10 ECBs when you spend $30 on Gillette shaving products. I had (2) $3 MQs for the Venus and a BOGO MQ for the men’s razors, so my notebook entry looks like this:
- (2) 1ct Venus: $6.99 ea + (2) 4ct Gillette Sensor3 disp razors: $9.99 ea – (2) $3 MQs – BOGO MQ - $10 ECBs = $1.99 x 4!
- (1) Schick Intuition razor: $8.99 (ARV: $11.99) - $2 MQ - $4 ECB = $2.99!
- (3) Huggies Little Swimmers packs: 2 for $20 (so $30 for all 3) (ARV: $13.99) – (2) $3 MQ - $1.50 MQ – (2) $2 SQ - $10 ECBs (for spending $30 on select Huggies) = $2.83 x 3! Great price!
- (3) 8oz Colgate Optic White Mouthwash: $4.49 each – (3) $2 MQ - $5 ECB (for buying 3) = 82¢ x 3!
- 10ct TENA Ultimate pads: $3.79 (ARV: $6.99) - $1 MQ - $3 ECBs = 21¢ Money Maker! (Woohoo! TMI side note: I totally told the cashier I wish the limit on this ECB deal was more than one, because, uh, after having four kids, I need ‘em!) ;)
- (4) Febreze Air Effects: $3.79 each + (1) Febreze Set & Refresh: $3.79 – (4) $1.50 MQ – (1) 75¢ MQ - $5 ECB = $1.44 x 5! (With a horde of cats and their litter boxes, I was all over this!)
- (4) 3pk Ivory soap: 2 for $3 (ARV: $2.27) – (4) 50¢ MQ = $1 x 4! (Hubs’ favorite soap, plus it’s really great to grate this up and use in making your own laundry detergent!)
- Froot Loops: $1.99 (ARV: $4.79) - $1.50 MQ = 49¢!
So for this singular transaction, the total value was $229.66 (pre-tax), and my OOP expense (because I had ECBs from last week and SQs from the “magic coupon machine,” aka the price scanner near the front of the store) was $49.44. I got back $49 in ECBs for next week, so my Net is 44¢. Sweet deals!
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Please feel free to ask questions in the comments (so others can benefit), request the Word doc, and peruse Hip2Save! Realize that using coupons this way is time-consuming and can be hard work, but in my opinion, it’s SO worth it. It’s a game that I enjoy playing.
Now go out there and get some great deals!
Fin.
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