Drug Stores are essential to the couponer.
They often present some of the best deals and money-makers on the everyday products you need and the brands you want that may seem to be the most expensive items in your budget. Once you hit your stride with the couponing, you will realize that drug stores can be your best friends and that those pricey brands are actually way cheaper than most store brands out there! I suggest starting slowly and choosing one drug store to focus on. Learn their policies and programs. Get to know the clerks. Get comfortable with the deals, and then add other drug stores later as you want or need to.
Choose your drugstore based on 3 main criteria:
1. Location! Choose a convenient location that you will actually go to.
2. Rewards Programs Offerred- Make sure you understand the circulars and the deals programs. Also, make sure their policies. If you have a good coupon and a good location to go to, but don't understand how to work that store's deals, then it isn't a good drug store to start with.
3. Make sure you patronize stores that WELCOME your business and your coupons! Never shop somewhere that gives you a lot of grief for following THEIR policies or even worse, makes you feel like a criminal when you are just a savvy shopper!
So, pick a drug store, learn its programs and policies, and get ready to save more than you ever thought you could on high-quality every-day necessity products!
CVS- Extra-Care Card Program with Extra-Bucks (EB's)
CVS has a program that saves you a lot of money. Basically, you sign up for an Extra-Care card. It is free to sign up. Then, every time you go to CVS, you can scan your Extra-Care card at the in-store coupon kiosk to get CVS store brand coupons. These coupons can be stacked with manufacturer's coupons on the same item. Sometimes these kiosk coupons are better than others. The best is when you get a kiosk store coupon that you can match with a manufacturer's coupon for an item that is on sale that week! To see what items are on sale in any given week, you want to check the store's weekly circulars. Often, the sale will say something like 2 liter Cokes for $1 each (with card, limit 4). This means you have to have an Extra-Care card to get the special pricing and that you can only buy 4 of the 2- liter cokes at the special $1 price. Also, this card is very important for getting the Extra-Bucks deals. Again, you will check the circular to see what items have an EB offer attached. When you see a circular and it says "Gillette Fusion Razor- Pay $9.99 and get $5 EB back, it like paying only $4.99" that means that when you buy this razor, you will pay $9.99. On the bottom of your receipt, you will get $5 worth of EB printed out. These can be used IMMEDIATELY on the very next transaction! You can make a plan of action before you even go to the store and try to match coupons with EB deals. Then, you can roll your transactions by breaking up the EB deals into separate transactions so that you end up spending less money out of pocket by paying for multiple transactions with the just earned EBs.
Transaction 1: You will buy the Razor. The clerk will scan your Extra Care card to get you the special pricing and deals. That is $9.99- your $4 coupon. Your total is $5.99 (we are ignoring tax for this purpose!). On the bottom of your receipt, your $5 in EB prints out.
Transaction 2: You will buy the diapers. Stack the $1 CVS store coupon with the $3 off manufacturer's coupon. $8.99-$4= $4.99. Pay with the $5 EB you just earned = FREE DIAPERS!
In the past, you might have spent up to $18.98 out of pocket by buying the items outright and not rolling the deals into each other. On this trip, by using coupons, the circular, and your Extra Care card and EB's, you spent a total of $5.99 out of pocket! It is that simple to use the CVS Extra Care card program! Just give the circular a glance, grab your card and your coupons, and roll the EB deals into each other for less out of pocket expense.
REMEMBER: They are going to track your purchases for their own internal purposes. AND, EB's can be used immediately and have an expiration date.
*CVS also has a GREEN BAG TAG. It sells for about $1. You attach it to your favorite reusable shopping bag. Have the cashier scan it every time you shop. Then, on the fourth visit, an EB for $1 will print out at the bottom of your receipt.
RITE AID : UP REWARDS and SINGLE CHECK REBATES and WELLNESS PROGRAM
Rite Aid offers two different types of rewards: UP rewards and Single Check Rebates.
With the Single Check Rebates, often referred to as SCR on the blogs, you check out the monthly flyer/booklet that Rite Aid publishes to see the rebate offer deals. Check this booklet for the offers, the offer limits, and the offer expiration dates. Then, you shop for the items you want, need, or have coupons for that are listed in this rebate book. You can sign up here to submit your rebates online. You would follow their directions and add the receipt information online to keep track of your rebates online. Then, at the end of the rebate period, you can request your rebate check. Make sure you are done submitting rebate offers, because you can only request one check in the given rebate period... about one a month, in other words. You can also keep up with your receipts and rebate offers in an envelop and then mail them in instead of submitting them online. Go to Rite Aid's site for the exact address and information on how to submit these rebate offers. ALSO, look for the term "Free after Rebate" in the rebate booklet! These are super easy money-makers! The Rite Aid rebate checks are for the full price of the rebate items. IF you use a $2 off coupon to buy such an item, for example, you will make $2 PROFIT to own that item once your rebate check comes in.
+UP REWARDS work a lot like the Extra Bucks from CVS do. Check the circulars every week and find the +UP Rewards offers. They will print at the end of your receipts. Also, you have to sign up for their Wellness Card program to get these rewards.
Rite Aid also has store coupons. You can find some of these in the weekly circulars. Stock up on the Rite Aid circulars that have the coupons you need so you can buy multiples of the items that you are after. These coupons do stack with manufacturer's coupons. Also, Rite Aid has Video Values coupons. You must watch a video for a product, and then will be given the chance to print a high-value coupon for that item. Video Values can be combined with manufacturer's and Rite Aid store coupons. Refer back to the official Rite Aid site for more info on this!
As always, Print and Carry Rite Aid's Official Coupon Policy HERE! Scroll down to see where to print the Coupon Acceptance Policy.
Finally, Couponing to Disney breaks down the Wellness Program for us:
"Rite Aid has a new program called Wellness+ where you earn points for your purchases. You will need to apply for your card here. You will get a temporary card and the permanent one will be mailed to you.
Here’s how you earn:
Earn 1 point for every dollar you spendon nonprescription purchases
Earn 25 points for every prescription you purchase
Here are the rewards you’ll get:Earn 1 point for every dollar you spendon nonprescription purchases
Earn 25 points for every prescription you purchase
For every 125 points (up to 375) – one-time, 10% off shopping pass
500 points – 10% off all non-prescription points purchases everyday
500 points – free health screenings
1000 points – 20% off all non-prescription points purchases everyday
Here are some everyday benefits you’ll enjoy:
Members-only sale pricing throughout the store
10% of Rite-Aid brand products everyday
24/7 exclusive access to a pharmacist when you call 1-800-Riteaid
After you sign up, you’ll also be able to print a $5 off $25 purchase, plus you will also receive 50 bonus coupons by email. They also release extra coupons each week."
Rite Aid has a lot of deals and programs to offer. Browse their site for more coupons and deals and such!
WALGREENS- REGISTER REWARDS
There isn't anything to sign up for here. It is just a straight forward rewards program. Check out the circular and see what items will trigger a Register Reward. Go buy that item. At the end of the transaction, a "Catalina Style" Coupon or Voucher will print. (Catalina refers to the machine at the check out that sometimes seemingly randomly will print out coupons, deals, advertisements, etc in a long strip). Then, you can use that Register Reward on your next transaction.
HOWEVER, there are exclusions to these deals and a bit of fine print. You can stack your manufacturer's coupons with these RR coupons. The system will not let you use more coupons than you have items to buy, however. For example, if you want to use 2 manufacturer's coupons to buy two packs of M&M's, and you have a RR coupon to pay for them, too, the register will beep in protest and not let you use 3 coupons to buy two items. So, in this case, if it is worth the discount, go pick up one more item of any price value. From 1 cent to $100, it doesn't matter what the third item costs, as long as there is a third item. Also, if you want to do a Register Rewards deal twice for the same deal, the system will NOT let you buy the second deal with the first deal's RR and still give you a new RR. Let's say you want to work the Secret Deodorant RR deal two times. The first time you buy the Secret (using a coupon, of course!) you will get your RR. IF you use the Secret RR to pay for your next Secret, it will NOT give you another Secret deodorant RR. It is better to buy a Secret, get the RR, buy something ELSE that has a RR attached to it, pay with the first Secret's RR. THEN, use the NEW item's RR to pay for the second Secret Deodorant to get another Secret RR. Again, rolling transactions seems to be the best way to make the most of the RR deals here.
If you feel like you should have gotten a Register Reward and it did not print out, you can call
1-888-322-3814. Have your receipt handy. They will verify that the Catalina machine malfunctioned and make sure you had the right items. Then, you will have to wait 6-8 weeks and will get your RR in the mail. OR you can return your items at the store right then and there, and try another cash register to see if that Catalina machine will work.
Also, Walgreens puts out coupon booklets in their store a few times a month, so check those out, too! And, sometimes, they have more coupon booklets in the pharmacy.
HERE is the official Walgreens coupon policy! Print it and keep it in your Bargain Binder!
