Tuesday 12/01/09: Use two coupons on the same item

Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid all tend to include store-specific coupons in their sale ads. What you may not realize, though, is that it's rare for these coupons to be restricted to be used alone. Usually a coupon you clip from the paper will say "not valid in conjunction with any other offer" or "limit one per item per customer" in order to prevent you from using multiple coupons to get an item for free. That's not usually the case with an in-ad coupon. Look at the fine print to make sure it doesn't contain one of those exclusions, and then use both. I did this a few weeks ago to get Softsoap body wash at Rite Aid for 25 cents.

Monday 11/30/09: An example of getting something for 'free'

Whenever I pull off an amazing deal, I'll post in on here as sort of a case study in how to stumble on or plan a great buy. Friday we were on the road to visit relatives and I needed to get Bonine (an anti-motion sickness medicine) so I could grade papers (I'm a teacher) in the car. So we stopped at Walgreens. It also happened that I'd forgotten my deoderant on the trip. I thought, well, I have some deoderant coupons, and I like to have a backup for when the other runs out because I hate running out of deoderant. So I stopped by the deoderant and was reminded by the sale tags that the new Dove Ultimate was priced at $3.99 with a $4 Register Reward. I have written about being careful with Register Rewards, but there are times when they do work well. I picked it up and went and got the Walgreens version of Bonine, which is about $6 a pack. So since what I really needed was more than the Register Rewards, this is how it worked: I took them both to the register, and said I wanted to pay for them separately. I bought the deoderant for $4.26 (tax) and received a coupon for $4 off my "next purchase." Then she scanned the medicine, I handed her the coupon, and I paid my $2 left over. So I got what I had gone in for, which I would have bought regardless of the price, and got Dove deoderant for $0.26.
(Incidentally, it would've been better if I'd had a coupon for Dove, but all I had was Secret and Suave.)

Monday 11/9/09: Beware of Extra Bucks & Register Rewards

Or, how Rite-Aid beats Walgreens and CVS.

Don't get me wrong, I love Walgreens. I think it's my brand loyalty. I get this warm fuzzy feeling when I go in. But Walgreens and CVS each have this 'rewards' program where you buy a certain amount of stuff and get "money" to spend on your next purchase. But lately I've seen two news stories, like this one, where women have claimed that by using these rewards (and similar ones at grocery stores) you can get stuff for 'free.' Not true. These programs, like anything else, are designed to get you to spend money and think you're getting stuff for free. In fact, CVS will tell you in their ad "$5.95-$5.95 in Extra Bucks, like getting it for free!"

Not true. The fact is that you paid $6 (plus tax) for whatever it is you bought, and IF you use it immediately (recommended) or come back before the ECB or RR expire, you'll get that much off your next purchase. Which means you didn't get anything for free, you paid $3 for each thing. Now, if you really need all the things you bought, then this is a good deal. My experience, though, is that these rewards are on things I don't need or want in the amount offered, or that there isn't enough more that I need that I can spend them on within the allotted time. I don't need $25 worth of Garnier products, but that's how much they want me to spend in order to get $5 in ECB. So I'm not getting $5 off, I'm spending $20 on stuff I don't need.

Rite-Aid is better because their offer is an actual rebate. The only thing is you need to be sure to file it, as soon as you get home. This way, I get the money back usually before I even have to pay for the stuff on my credit card. That's how last month Rite-Aid paid me $1 for a tube of toothpaste. They had a rebate for the entire amount, and I had a $1 coupon. Also I got 3 packages of Huggies, normally $11 each, for $5 TOTAL. Huggies offered a $10 rebate, I had $9 in coupons, and Rite-Aid had their Fall Gift of Savings program (and accidentally sent me two $5 rebates).

Shop rebates before ECB or RR, and if you do use the ECB and RR, make sure that BOTH purchases are items you'll actually use, combine with manufacturer's coupons (this is allowed!), and use the rewards immediately.