Drug store shopping

The lowdown on getting stuff for little or nothing!

 Most of us live near a walgreens or a CVS. I for one live less than a two minute drive from both. Its certainly convenient for me to go there. But its also an easy way to drop a ton of cash on nothing important.

To truly master drugstore shopping you should first do these things:

*Decide which store you will shop with- shopping all the drug stores is of course an option but you would have to have a lot of time on your hands to make it worth your while.

Instead of chasing deals, stick to one store and then stockpile those items you are most likely to need; shampoo, toilet paper, toothpaste. Get these items when they are at the lowest possible price and take advantage of any customer rewards your store provides.

*Learn the programs & policies of your chosen store.

Walgreens has a "register rewards" program. Buying certain items each week will generate a register reward good for money off your next transaction. It's important to learn the rules though-- for instance, you cannot use a register reward to go back & buy the same item & get another RR, in other words, they are not "rolling".

CVS has a similar program called Extra Care Bucks. This requires that you first get an extra Care Card. Snag one for free next time you are there. ECBs can be earned much in the same way and can be used to buy anything you like on your next trip to the store.

I'm liking CVS a lot these days because they have these Kiosks inside the stores now, where you scan your Extra Care card and a bunch of coupons come out. That is like a fantastic dream come true. A magic, coupon-generating machine??!!

All drugstores will eventually have great deals. Getting hung up on a particular deal at a certain store is never a good idea, you will end up disappointed if your store is out of stock or if it doesn't turn out as planned.

My goal each week is to get my newspapers free, and end up with as many ECBs as I went in with or more. Sometimes I buy stuff that I will use, sometimes I get things to give away, gift or donate. But at this point I never have any out of pocket spending besides tax.

For instance, this week I bought:

4 newspapers @ $1 each=$4
2 Old Spice Body Washes $4 each, get back a $4 ECB
Schick Hydro Razor $9 get back a $5 ECB
Total before coups= $21
-4 off $20 CVS coupon that printed on my last receipt
used BOGO Old Spice coupon(-$4)
used -$5 Schick coup
Used $8 in ECBs from last week
pay tax
Get back $13 ECBs!

So I will certainly have enough ECBs to get some great deals next week!
And that is my goal, to have little or no out of pocket expense and just keep the deals rolling!
Have fun shopping!!