Essentially, you will paying money out of pocket to get started. However, the trick is to use your coupons on items that are being offered FREE after the rewards dollars to cut your initial out of pocket expense, then SAVE your store dollars to keep them rolling so you are always spending STORE money instead of YOUR money.
You will almost always need to do more than one transaction in order to spend the least out of pocket, unless you've got a good stack of store money and you are buying products that will roll out more rewards than you will be spending. I've given an example of how to do these transactions at the bottom of the screen. Typically the program works the same at all 3 of the drugstores, however I"ve given an example based on Walgreens because they tend to have the most stipulations and can be a bit more tricky.
Rite-Aid
By far my favorite drug store to shop! They are coupon friendly and have many avenues for getting a great deal! You will need to sign up for the Wellness Plus card to take advantage of the sale prices and to earn +Up Rewards.
Single Check Rebates - items will have a rebate on them if you purchase the required minimum. To request the rebate, you go to the website for RiteAid and register for Single Check Rebates
Once registered, you can select the button to enter the information from your receipt. Rite Aid will send you a rebate check in the mail.
Video Values- these are store coupons that are rewards for watching short videos about a product. These can be printed out and stacked with manufacturer coupons to get the best deal.
In-ad Coupons- these are coupons that are printed in the weekly flyer and can be stacked with a manufacturer coupon.
Up + Rewards- this is what I like to call "rite-aid money" It is a rewards program that prints out on your receipt after you purchase the promotional product that can be used towards the purchase of another product.
Wellness Awards Program- Another money saving program that gives you points each time you make a purchase @ Rite Aid. After you receive a certain amount of points, you can earn up to 20% off your purchases for an entire year.
CVS
Most of my friends that coupon tell me that CVS is their FAVORITE drugstore. By far, CVS has the easiest and least confusing system. Personally, there isn't one in a convenient location for me, so I don't shop there very often. I will, of course, drive the few extra miles if there is a deal I can't pass up.
CVS has a customer loyalty program called ExtraCare. You will need an extracare card in order to participate and earn CVS extracare bucks or ECB’s. You can get these in the stores or register online and they will mail you your card (in store is best because you can start saving right away). You need this card in order to get the sale prices and to earn the ECB's.
Walgreens has a program called Register Rewards that they run on a weekly basis for specific items.
Register Rewards are linked to specific products each week. Sometimes you only need to buy one item, sometimes it is for buying a certain amount of products. Register Rewards (RR) print out when you get your receipt after you buy the required item.
A few things you need to know about the Register Rewards:
*You need to spend more than the value of the RR. For example, if you have a $10RR, you’d need to spend at least $10.01 when you checkout.
*They can’t be used on gift cards, stamps or alcohol.
*A Register Reward is considered a coupon. Walgreens registers get confused when you have more coupons than items. Sooooo...when you check-out and are using coupons and register rewards, you must have as many items as you do coupons. So if you are “stacking” coupons and have two for any particular item, you must make sure that you have another item that doesn’t have a coupon in order to use it, a "filler" item. I usually look for items that are on sale for less than 50 cents.
Walgreens also has store coupons, these can be found in the Sunday ad insert and in the store they have coupon booklets that are usually put out each month.
These will say Walgreens coupon—and no where on it will it say manufacturer’s coupon. When you find coupons, such as these, you can “stack” them with a manufacturer’s coupon for the same product.
At Walgreens the order in which you give the cashier your coupons is very important. First always give RR, then give manufacturer coupons, then store coupons.
Walgreens can be very rewarding to shop at when you find an irresistable deal, but can be very frustrating. So go in and be prepared for the frustration but bring your patience along and hopefully you will leave with your deals!
Here is an example of how to get started based on sales Walgreens had:
1st Transaction:
purchased: Crest toothpaste $2.75
used $1.00 manufacturer coupon
Paid: $1.75 (plus tax)
Got back: $2.75 Register Reward
2nd Transaction:
purchased: Scunci hair bands 2 for $3.00
used $2.75 Register Reward
Paid: $0.25 (plus tax)
Got back: $3.00 Register Reward
3rd Transaction
purchased: Revlon nail polish $4.
travel pack tissues 25cents
used $1.00 manufacturer coupon
used $3.00 Register Reward
Paid: $1.24 (plus tax)
Got back: $4.00 Register Reward
Total out of pocket spent for everything: $3.24
Register Rewards remaining: $4.00
Now I can either spend this $4.00 Register Reward on something I need that is on sale for $4 and pay nothing or I can hold onto it for the following week sale and use it to purchase something that will give me store money back and continue to roll the rewards. Either way, its a win-win. Because I could've just gone into the store and purchased a toothpaste that wasn't on sale and paid more money.
And just a tip to keep in mind, always make sure the item you are purchasing is MORE than your store reward money, because you do not get change back on the reward money.
The stores will almost always put a limit on the amount of rewards that will be given.
RiteAid & CVS both have store cards that will keep track and will not allow you to find a loophole.
Walgreens, however....has no store card, so, if you've got enough coupons and Register Rewards...well, you can just keep on rolling. HOWEVER, you can not use a register reward on a duplicate item and get a register reward in return. (For example, if I had purchased another set of scuncis and had paid for them with the register reward that I received from the first purchase of scuni's, the register would not have printed another register reward) Clear as mud? You can always send me a message and I will try my best to answer.
Its fun and addicting once you get the hang of it!! Happy Shopping!
