quick morning Rite Aid run

I went back at 8 am when the store opened, coupons in hand, to try to snag a couple more of the 50% off Clearasil items.  Unfortunately they were all sold already!  I left my cut out coupons on the shelf, and hopefully they'll help someone else.

I also hit up the As Seen on TV section to try to get the buy $30 of items/get $10 back deal.  the fun thing about this deal is that everything is either 4.99, 9.99, 14.99, etc- making it close to impossible to pay only $30.

I ended up with a Children's Snuggie (14.99 -$2 VV coupon), a Micro Touch groomer ($9.99 -$1 VV coupon) and a pack of Cami Secrets (which I guess also have a $1 off VV coupon but I didn't have it).  I combined these with a $3 off $20 VV coupon, a $1 off VV coupon, and my $20 GoS reward.  I paid $8.28 in cash and received $10 +UP rewards.

I had $6 more in +UP Rewards I could have used, but once I hit the register I forgot that I had $10 +UP coming to me, so I opted to hold on to them as a safety net.  That was dumb!  Oh well.

THAT was easy... a simple Rite Aid moneymaker.

This week at Rite Aid (12/19-12/25) you earn $2 +UP rewards every time you buy a Clearasil facial care item.  There's are 2 Rite Aid Clearasil ads in the flyer: one for $2 off any Clearasil Facial Care item, and other for $5 off any Clearasil overnight facial care item.

I walked into Rite Aid tonight and saw this:


Clearasil Overnight, normally $10.49, marked down to $5.24.  With the $5 off in-flyer coupon, this item becomes an almost $1.50 moneymaker.  Combine that Rite Aid coupon with a printable $2 off Clearasil coupon here or here, and it's a $2 moneymaker.

(The Clearasil Gel Cleanser shown at 50% off would also be a moneymaker when combined with the $2 off Rite Aid coupon and the $2 off printable).

Hope this works for you too!

decent Rite Aid trip... but I messed up again.

I was planning to head to RA at some point today, but when Charlie woke up with a fever and a bark-y cough I decided to go out at 8 to grab her some cough drops & cough syrup.

There are lots of quirky deals running right now where the price of the item you buy is cheaper than the +UP rewards you earn, so I was hoping to grab some of these. I got 2 small packs of Revlon nail files for 1.47 each and then used the $3 off any Revlon nail care RA printable. I got 2 packs of RA tape that were b1g1 free, so I paid $1.49 and earned $2 in +UP rewards (you get $1 in reward for each package of tape you buy). I added gum filler to get to the $25 level for the $5 off myriteaid.com coupon to work.

Unfortunately, I messed up on the AirWick deal and ended up buying $9 worth of product instead of $10, so I didn't get the $5 +UP reward that would have earned me. Darn it!!

Anyway... here's my final total. I really think I'll head back later to roll my +UPs for more tape, you can't ever have enough in the house and they had PLENTY left.

1 kids' natural cough syrup

2 bags Halls cough drops

1 pack Orbit Mist

2 packs Revlon Expert nail files

1 Airwick Warmer

4 Airwick Oil Refills

2 RiteAid gift tape rolls

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retail price after sales was right around $25, I paid $13.49 after coupons and got $5 in +UP rewards to roll. Not bad since the cough syrup was $7 (not on sale) and I was in need of some more air fresheners for the bathrooms!

How to fail at Rite Aid shopping.

1. Forget that your local Rite Aid takes two days to get the sale hang tags on the shelves.

2. Decide that you were somehow wrong after all, and the Pull Ups you needed aren't actually on sale.

3. Gather 2 packs of Pull Ups and one Kit Kat bar as filler to hit $25, so you can use your $5/$25 coupon.

4. When you get to the register, and it turns out you were right all along and the Pull Ups AND the Kit Kat bar are on sale, making your total under $25, freeze like a deer in headlights.

5. Don't bother asking the cashier to close out the sale so you can re-group. You could have gone back, grabbed another pack of Pull Ups, and dumped the Kit Kat filler, but you didn't.

6. Use all of your rolled +UP Rewards in a desperate effort to make the scenario come out better for you.

7. Spend $16 for 2 packs of Pull-Ups and a candy bar you don't need, when you MEANT to have spent $17 for 3 packs of Pull Ups.

8. Cry.

Rite Aid Gift of Savings update

I'm up to a $10 gift card already! My total spent (according to Rite Aid) is around $56 so far. Once i hit $100.01 I get a $20 gift card, and you can bet I'll be cashing that baby in immediately. And extra $20 to roll towards freebies and cheapo things, like $1 cereal or Goldfish crackers? How could I turn that down?

LOTS of shopping today.

I had 2.5 hours to hit 5 stores, in 2 different towns, while my youngest was in preschool. It was birthday shopping, Christmas shopping, and some random drug store buys. Here's the breakdown...

#1 CVS

Bought 4 Zhu Zhu Pets, 3 of which were free. Paid with ECBs. Total retail $39.52, $0 out of pocket.

#2 Rite Aid

Not gonna type it all out, but did 2 transactions.

First, Goldfish, Airborne, Thermacare Wraps. Retail $23.97, paid $16.30 and earned +UP rewards.

Then candy and some other stuff. Retail $22.99, paid .49, got +UP rewards.

I went home with $5 in +UP rewards to roll.

#3 AC Moore

Got supplies for Mia's birthday party and used one 50% off coupon. Retail $57.69, paid $34.43.

#4 American Girl Store

Paid a lot of money and got no discounts :| That place.

#5 Target

Had to exchange a pair of pants I got for Charlie that had the wrong size on the label, used some board game coupons, picked up a few stocking stuffers. Ended up spending $17 on 2 board games and a few other little things.

I got home and put the girls' gifts on the spreadsheet I've been keeping. It helps me to track online orders and know how much I've spent on each girl. Anyway, I figured I was about done, but turns out I still have a good amount of money left to buy things for each girl. I'm very surprised!

Gift of Savings

Are you curious about how your Gift of Savings dollars will be added up? Here's the detail from my latest Rite Aid trip, where I spent .15 for a bunch of stuff. This is the detail that shows on the GoS site about my transaction.

12/02/10 WELLNESS PLUS COUPON $5.00 1 ($5.00)

12/02/10 $5 OFF $25 NONPERSCRIPTION 1 ($5.00)

12/02/10 MERCHANDISE TAXABL 1 ($1.00)

12/02/10 WELLNESS PLUS COUPON $2.00 2 ($4.00)

12/02/10 RA MIGRAINE CAPLETS 50CT $4.94

12/02/10 Command Dsgnr Med Hoo 2 $8.44

12/02/10 DOUBLEMINT BIG E 60PC1 $2.50

12/02/10 Foam 3D Jewelry Box Kit 2 $4.48

12/02/10 ELMERS SCHGLUE STKS 2PK $1.79

12/02/10 Ra Invis Tape 2 $1.00

Doing the math here, that's $23.15 purchased, and then $15 in coupons, meaning they gave me credit for $8.15 worth of product towards GoS. As I said, I paid .15 for this transaction (the gum was filler!) so I'm not quite sure exactly what they're not taking off... but it's interesting to look at, isn't it?

My Sunday Rite Aid haul

Let me just say... DRAMA! I realized that I didn't get the full P&G circular in my sunday paper, so I had to run to CVS and use some ECBs to buy 2 papers so I'd have the 2 circulars.

Next I went to Rite Aid and took a while to get my 2 transactions together. Once I checked out with my first order, only $2 +UP rewards printed. Uh oh... I very quickly realized I'd bought the wrong Gillete razors. UGH! That $10 in +UP rewards was worth fighting for, so I very apologetically returned the wrong razors and did another transaction.

After all that, here's my breakdown...

2 x Gillette Fusion Proglide razors, normally 12.99/for sale 9.99

-2 $4 off coupons

1 DayQuil & 1 NyQuil 24 ct., normally 7.49, sale $4

-2 $1.50 off coupons

-$5/$25 coupon

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$11.98

earned $12 in +UP rewards

then...

4x Gillette Clearshield Deodorant, normally 4.99, sale 3.50

- b2g1 free coupon

- $2 coupon (on stick #4)

---------------------

$8.50

earned $4 in +UP rewards

**I really SHOULD have done this scenario twice in one deal and used another $5/$25 off the order, making my total around $4 OOP. Oh well.**

Total OOP: $20.48

+UP Rewards earned: $16

TOTAL PRICE: $4.48

I'm not entirely sure how much of this goes towards Gift of Savings... I *think* it's computed by the sale price of your items, but your coupons and the +UP rewards you earn don't count. If so,

I believe that's about $41 towards Gift of Savings, which gets me $5 back. Seriously, this is nuts. How do they stay in business? I am guessing it's just that the people who pay no mind to sales or +UP rewards trump all the super shoppers who really work the deals.

ETA: Well that explains that... GoS this year looks to be subtracting +UP rewards and Rite Aid coupons and possibly manufacturers coupons too. It'll take a lot longer to get to those reward levels! Still worth entering your receipts though. You never know!

Super Sunday Rite Aid haul!!

Olay Regenerist Microsculpting Cream 22 (reg. 29.99)

Olay Regenerist Nighttime Elixir 22 (reg 29.99)

Olay Regenerist Daily Cleanser 7.99

Olay Ribbons Body Wash 7.49

Motrin PM 20 ct. 4 (reg. 5.99)

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$63.48 (regularly $81.45)

-$19 in coupons

-$2 SCR (Motrin)

- $20 SCR (Olay)

- $20 PG or Olay rebate

------------------

$2.28 OOP

Wahl hair cutting kit 22.49 (normally 24.99)

Sonicare Essence electric toothbrush 44.99 (normally 79.99)

-----------------

$67.48 (regularly $104.98)

-$19 in coupons and tier discounts

- $20 SCR (toothbrush)

- 10 Sonicare rebate

-----------------

$18.48 OOP (and I NEEDED the hair cutting kit, I wasn't buying it as a deal...)

So in final, the regular price was $186.43, sale price was $130.96, and I paid $20.76!

$66 for $3 OOP at Rite Aid

It's been a really rough week. I did end up buying a coffee & bagel at Dunkin' on Friday night... it was my dinner, and I needed the caffeine for the drive. But other than that and the pizza for lunch the other day, I think we're doing OK, considering.

Oh, and Tom ran to Shaw's to buy some stuff to make his famous comfort food favorite, macaroni & cheese, last night. I warned him I wasn't at all in the mood to cook and even though I suggested Chinese take-out, he cooked anyway. He's such a good guy.

After church today, I'm going to drown my sorrows at Rite Aid, where I'm hoping they'll end up paying ME to shop there. It happens! There are some great Rite Aid deals this week. In case you're curious, here's my plan:

Garnier $5 +up reward when you spend $15 on Fructis, Nutrisse, Herbashine, or Nutritioniste

Herbashine haircolor $5.99

-$3 printable

-$2 video values coupon

Herbashine haircolor $5.99

-$3 printable

- $3 coupon in Sunday paper

Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo $3.99

- $1 printable

- $2 video values coupon

- $1 coupon in Sunday paper

OOP price: .99, earn $5 +up reward= moneymaker!

Nivea Bodywash $1 +up reward when you buy 1

sale price $3.99

-$3 off 1 Nivea Men's bodywash printable

OOP price: .99, earn $1 +up reward = free!

Osteo Bi-Flex $2 +up reward when you buy 2

sale price: b1g1 free

-$3 video values coupon

-$3 printable

-$4 coupon from this week's Sunday paper

OOP price: varies, earn $2 + up reward (and I'm going to roll all my other +up rewards to this)

ETA: I did it! I ended up sending about $5 out of pocket and walked away with a $2 +up reward and $69 worth of stuff, all stuff we'll use. So a total price of $3, $66 saved.

Where we used to live, there was only a CVS. I could drive about 20 minutes to find a Walgreens, but I certainly didn't have a Rite Aid nearby. A year or two ago I heard of people playing "the CVS game" or "the Wags game" and using store cards, weekly sales, store coupons, and manufacturers coupons to get freebies. I was impressed by the savings I saw but I didn't try it myself.

Since we've moved, and have a Rite Aid right down the street, I've been paying way more attention to these kinds of deals. Yesterday I got a great deal on an 18 pack of Tide Stain Release:

$5.88 (sale price) -$2 manufacturer's coupon - $1 +up reward= $2.88 out of pocket

There are lots of sites out there that will do the legwork for you and tell you how to get the best deal at Rite Aid (or lots of other stores) every week by combining coupons and sales. I like For The Mommas and her deal lists for Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens. I'll warn you, though: just because it's cheap or free doesn't mean it's worth your time! Sure, I can use a clearance sale plus a coupon to get some Shakira perfume for only .50... but why would I?

Just a friendly tip for you tonight, since my dinner didn't go over well and my kids refused to eat it because "it looks gross" and it DID look gross! My poor, poor children.