My Trip to Walgreens

Well, I officially made my first "big trip" to Walgreens this morning. I have never planned out a Wags trip- I usually just pop in for a few small items I can get super cheap here and there, or when I go to pick up a prescription. (And if I happened to get a register reward or have a coupon, it wasn't that big of a deal to me!) Today was the last day of their most recent circular, and I discovered that I had a lot of coupons that worked well with the sale- most of which expire sometime this weekend.

The first thing I did was print out the Walgreens shopping list from grocerysmarts (I printed the entire list, so I could make notes and see any other promos that are going on which may not be advertised in the circular), next, I checked out iheartwags for some ideas and freebie scenarios-and then I got down to business :)

Being that this was my first "big" trip, I decided that I wanted to focus on all the products I had coupons for which offered Register Rewards- that way I could use those earned RR's next time. I thought about making 2 separate transactions at this one trip (get some RR's first, then roll them over to the next) but since I am still learning about this little game, I wanted to see just how much I saved overall.


I'm not going to lie- it took me a good solid half hour to write my list and sort my coupons, but once I had them all together, the shopping was a piece of cake (well- shopping is always a piece of cake for me!)

So here is the breakdown of my trip- I think I did a pretty good job, considering the fact that I didn't go in with any RR's or past experience... *Totals out of pocket (OOP) factor in any register reward (RR) earned or mail in rebate (MIR).

• 6 boxes of Kleenex- 2.29ea; on sale B1G1; used (2) .50/3; earned 3.00 RR- total OOP after RR= 2.87 (about 48 cents a box!)


• 2 Glade plug-ins oil refills- 5.99ea; on sale B1G1; used free warmer w/ refill coupon; 5.88 OOP- but- qualifies for SC Johnson MIR (5.00) so grand total is 99 cents for all 3!


• 3 Glade room sprays- 2.49ea; used (3) 1.00/1 MQ and .50/1 WQ; total OOP 2.97- also qualifies for SC Johnson MIR (5.00) so that makes this a 2.03 money maker!


• 2 Purex 3-1 detergent sheets- 2 for 9.00; used B1G1 coupon; earned 1.00 RR; total OOP 3.50 for both/ 1.75 each!


• 1 Colgate toothpaste- 2.99; used 1.00 off WQ, .75/1 MQ; earned 2.00 RR= FREE and a .76 money maker!


• 1 Lady Speed Stick- 1.99; used 1.00/1 MQ; earned 1.00 RR= FREE (one penny money maker! Woo-hoo!)


• 2 Aveeno baby shampoo- 4.79ea; used 3.00/1 MQ; earned 3.00 RR; total OOP 3.58 or 1.79 each (this is a steal for Aveeno!)


• 4 Nivea lip gloss/ chapstick- 3.29 and 3.99 (I got 2 of each); used 2 B1G1 MQ; and WQ which made them .99- so it looks like this: (3.29 + 3.29+ 3.99+ 3.99) - 6.58 (they take the lower price off for the B1G1) and then -10.60 (the Walgreens coupon adjusts the current price of all 4 down to 99 cents each- takes off 3.00, 3.00, 2.30, 2.30) SO with all the coupons, they took 17.28 off of 14.56= $2.68 Money Maker! (I hope that made sense, I will break it down at the bottom)


• 3 boxes Kotex Tampons- 2.99ea; used 1.00/1 MQ and 1.50/2 MQ; earned a 5.00 RR= 1.47 OOP (49 cents a box)


• 4 packs Dentyne gum- 1.39ea; used (2) 1.00/2 MQ and WQ to make them .69/ea (takes .70 off per pack); total OOP .76 (19 cents a pack)


• 2 Sudafed PE- 4.99; used (2) 1.50/1 MQ; earned 5.00 RR; total OOP 1.98 (99 cents each)


• 4 cans Campbells soup- 1.50ea; used 1.00/4 MQ and WQ to make them .79/ea (takes off .71 per can); total OOP 2.16 (.54 per can)


• 4 Vicks DayQuil- 5.00ea; used (4) 1.50/1 MQ; earned a 10.00 RR; total OOP 4.00 (1.00 a box!- with allergy season coming- I really need this!)
  
  

My grand total was $64.51 BUT...
I got back 30.00 in Register Rewards and get 10.00 back in MIR's!

Once all is said and done, my official total was: $24.51! And I saved $113.95 with coupons :) Not too shabby for my first time, if I may say so myself ;)

So next time I walk into Walgreens, I will have $30 in Register Rewards to roll, not to mention $10 in rebates heading my way! Let the games begin!



*Here is a quick explanation for the Nivea lip care (using a different scenario with gum- thank you krazycouponlady) and why it is important to hand the cashier your manufacturer coupons before your Walgreens coupons:

{BUY 2} Dentyne Gum Regular Price $1.00 each

-Manufacturer coupon for Buy 1, Get 1 FREE (or -$1.00)

-Walgreen’s In Ad Coupon for 2/$1 (or-$1.00- adjusts price to .50/ea)

Final Price: FREE

Here’s what it would look like if you gave them the in-ad coupon first:

{BUY 2} Dentyne Gum Regular Price $1.00 each-Walgreen’s In Ad Coupon for 2/$1 (or-$1.00)

-Manufacturer coupon for Buy 1, Get 1 FREE (or -$.50)

Final Price: $.50

-Ambra