Cvs weekly 10/11-10/17

[sylvenmaid]

I have some big $ ecb's too. I try really hard not to do that but I'm going to use it to buy the new Transformer's DVD coming out next Tuesday. It will be a stocking stuffer for my hubby. I love these DVD deals esp since it's stuff I usually buy anyway.

 

[Piecey]

Thanks
I joined!
But I didn't get a 5/25 coupon

The coupon on the site expired 9/30/09 but it looks like she's still using it?
Do they take expired the way CVS does?

Thanks again!!

This one is good through 12/19/09

http://offers.riteportal.com/760/ecoup_S525.pdf

 

[mafibisha]

This one is good through 12/19/09

http://offers.riteportal.com/760/ecoup_S525.pdf

Oh thank you very much! You all are the best!

 

[Magical Mama]

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to get the GC with a new perscription at CVS? Off to the MD's this afternoon and I thought I would try it. Thanks.

 

[flakypuff]

I may not be the best to answer this question but I will give it a shot.

At RA you pay upfront using your MQs and 5/25 coupon. So your best bet is to buy at least $25 of FAR (free after rebate) items and use the coupons to get your OOP as low as possible.

Then you must enter your receipts online. Do not request a rebate check until you are sure your shopping at RA is finished for the month. After requesting your check it will arrive in about 2 weeks. I cash this check and use it to purchase FAR items the next month.

Walgreens is the store that has RRs and frankly their setup is a pain in my behind. I never go in there with a plan that works.

Now if I have you totally confused maybe somebody else can fix my mess.

That sounds about right You pay for everything up front at Rite Aid and then you submit your receipts and claim your rebate check once a month.

I have a credit card that I only use for Rite Aid purchases. When the bill comes I pay with my rebate check. Usually I break even or come within $5 for the month which is the sales tax. Sometimes I come out ahead and then just pocket the profit.

I like Rite Aid because I don't usually have to make a gazillion trips. I don't have to worry about ECB's expiring. I don't have to do a ton of advanced planning on what order I need to pay in or anything like that. If I make a mistake, I can see online that the rebate didn't clear and I can easily fix it by returning the product and buying the right one. And if I decide to take a month off or a few weeks or if I am on vacation, it is no biggie. Nothing will "expire".

Yes, it is a pain to pay the money up front, but if you are disciplined to do it my way with the credit card or to use the rebate check for the next months purchases, it is very very easy. And yes, this is a GREAT week to start!

Hmmm I think I ment Walgreens

Would anyone be able to tell me a good game plan to start with...build up some RR

 

[tngramma]

Hmmm I think I ment Walgreens

Would anyone be able to tell me a good game plan to start with...build up some RR

I hope somebody else can help because Walgreens is a hard place to shop. It gives me a headache every time I go there.

 

[amcc]

I totally agree with TNGramma - Walgreens is hard! Some things I've learned and which may or may not be true (Walgreens is a tough place to get a straight answer, not one employee seems to understand their program:

1. You can not roll RRs into the same deal or the same manufacturer. So, if you buy colgate and get an RR, you can't roll them into an RR deal of the same manufacturer.

2. The cashiers can't do much if your RR doesn't print - they can either return and rering you at another register, or you have to call the RR place and they will mail you one.

3. The RR machines are temperamental.

4. RR expire after 2 weeks.

I've also learned that sometimes they will let you use two RR as payments in one transaction, sometimes they don't. Sometimes, if they don't print, the cashiers will blame it on the fact that you used an RR or a regular coupon as payment. I always end up spending way too much out of pocket.

Can you tell I've got the same frustrations??? However, the boards at hotcouponworld for Walgreens are full of bona fide experts.

The only way I can make it work for me (sometimes) is that when I go in to buy emergency milk at midnight, I buy an item that is free after RR first and use that RR right away.

Sorry for being absolutely no help, I've got a walgreens at the corner and I avoid it at all costs.

 

[JustMickey]

I totally agree with TNGramma - Walgreens is hard! Some things I've learned and which may or may not be true (Walgreens is a tough place to get a straight answer, not one employee seems to understand their program:



Sorry for being absolutely no help, I've got a walgreens at the corner and I avoid it at all costs.

Nice summary! I feel the same way about Walgreens. I still have a GC that has about $20 on it from last year when they were still doing EasySaver Rebates. I hate going into that place so I never use it.

 

[ShiPooOwner]

I hope somebody else can help because Walgreens is a hard place to shop. It gives me a headache every time I go there.

ITA! Why I continue to roll over my RR's there I have no idea. I really dislike that store and their policies. I might spend my last two or three RR's on something like milk and forget about going back.

Hmmm I think I ment Walgreens

Would anyone be able to tell me a good game plan to start with...build up some RR

If you want to start this week, you could buy the Vaseline Infusion Lotion for $6.99 and get $6.99 RR. If you have any coupons (IP for $1.50 is probably gone by now) it will become a MM. You could also buy the Gillette Fusion MVP razor (power or manual) for $8.99 and use the $4 P&G insert coupon and get $6 RR~~another MM. Those two transactions will also give you $13 in RR. The tricky part is when you go next time and want to use the RR with any items you have coupons for. You can't use a mfg. coupon along with a RR on one item. You will need to add a filler if you want to use the coupon and pay for the item with a RR. If you use a Wags coupon on the same item, they won't count as a coupon so no need to add another filler. You also will not get new RR if you used RR from the same company (example: Don't try to pay for another P&G item with the RR's you got for the razor.) Hope I didn't confuse you!

 

[englishrose47]

I have to agree Walgreens is the pits !!Noone understands fully how RR works they have soooo many restrictions !!

 

[DBarber600]

My girlfriend is a Walgreens pro!

We went close to 8 times 2 weeks ago. I have so much lotion and so many razors, tridents, glade candles and thera-flu. I, I mean she, manged to work it out so my DH got his Ben and Jerry's for free! Currently, I'm sitting on about $18 in RRs and only paid $1-2 OOP for each trip.

All of the above said things are true. But, this is an easy month to start. There are huge RRs on money makers. You buy the lotion and the razor on alternating trips (only if you have MFCs). If you need a filler, buy the Halls Refresh. They are $1 OOP with a $1 RR.

It is such a pain, but once you figure things out, it's fairly easy. It does take awhile to plan each trip.

For example, I have a (2) $7 RRs from the lotion. I will use them tomorrow to buy:

MVP razor + $6 RRs ($8.99 - $4 MFC)
2 Crest toothpastes + $4 RRs ($7 - (2)$1 MFCs)
2 Tridents + $1 RR($2 - (2)$0.75 MFCs)
4 10ct. boxes of Quaker granola bars + $5 RRs ($10 - (2)$1 MFCs)

My total less the MFCs = $18.49
Using $14 RRs it will be $4.49 with $16 RRs coming back

Now, this is more than I normally pay because I'm "losing" money on the granola bars - MFCs aren't great and I'll only get back $5 RRs. But, they're only costing $3 for 40 bars ...

 

[Magical Mama]

I do Wags several times a week. There are pros and cons to it. I enjoy the fact that there isn't a card program so I can do the deals as many times as I can make it into the store (there is a limit to each deal that it can only be done once per transaction). And it seems recently, Wags offers a lot more freebies than CVS!

Now some of my cons, you have to have more items than you have Q's (and they count RR's as coupons) so you need "filler items". Usually I use freebie items that I don't have a coupon for or just something cheap (this week perioxide was $0.29 so I used that).

I have to agree with a previous poster that not one employee understands the RR program. When I have a RR that doesn't print out the manager will usually attempt to tell me that I didn't qualify for it, he has no idea the amount of time I put into studying these ads! They will usually tell me that I don't get the RR since I used so many coupons to which I pull out the ad and show them the "use coupons for extra savings". They tend to grumble about it but give me the RR. Bottom line is I will tell them to call corporate and ask and then the manager ALWAYS gives. I have called corporate before for behavior and they have always said you may use coupons with the RRs so I know I am correct.

You have to stand your ground with Walgreens, at first I didn't but quickly learned my lesson. Like tonight, DH and I went in and did the same transaction (so we did it once each). Spent $3 OOP and made $19 in RR each time. But no RR's printed out for DH's transaction so they called the manager and his response was that since I only paid $3 I wasn't going to get the RR's. We talked for a few minutes and he wasn't going to see my point so I told him to call corporate. He said he would be happy to give me the number to corporate and I said no, I already have the number to corporate, I want YOU to call now and ask them if I get those RR's. He of course gave them to me very quickly!

My point is that Walgreens can be a very big MM because you can do the deals so many times. Just be sure you check your RR after each transaction and know how many you should be getting. And if they don't give you the correct amount, stand your ground!!!

 

[maggiew]

I stopped at CVS tonight. I bought 12 bags of the Mars candy that was BOGOF to get me over the $20 Halloween candy mark. So I got the $5 ECB. The free bag does NOT count towards the $20.

I also picked up a pack of the Quilted Northern to get the $1 ECB and I had a $1 coupon off 1.

That's all! Not much this week.

That's ok because I leave for Disneyland in the morning!!

Maggie

 

[Newfie2000]

That's ok because I leave for Disneyland in the morning!!

Maggie

Have a great trip Maggie!

 

[fofinia]

That's ok because I leave for Disneyland in the morning!!

Maggie

Lucky you! Have fun!!!

 

[englishrose47]

I agree with stand your ground at Walgreens !! AfterI called corporateon them andthe manager still was insisting I was wrong to me !! I called corporate again ,the egional manager called me and very sortly after a much more agreeable,but same , manger called back and they hve been much more cooperative since . However I think they have told me I cn't use a c/oand get a RR !! Now that is not correct !!elieve me I willb pointing that out to them !!!

 

[Magical Mama]

englishrose, take the weekly ad with you. Or grab one at the store. It will read "look for more savings in Sunday paper."

My DH was with me for his first Wags trip last night and when we left (after arguing with the manager) he asks why I do this each week. I said that I paid $6 OOP, made almost $40 in RR and had about 6 bags worth of merchandise! I'll argue my point for a few minutes to make all that money along with my free merchandise!!!!

 

[dawson5]

I got back about an hour ago. I had to get a few things and forgot to take my ad with me, which I am kicking myself for. Everything rung up as in the ad but I did not get my ECV for the toilet paper. While I was putting dinner together, I had my youngest going through ads to see who had vitamins and toilet paper on sale, CVS did so we went there. After paying and getting my receipt, I looked at the cashier and asked about the ECV and he said "no" with a questioning look and then asked a manager who was right near by who also replied "no." We looked at their ad and didn't see it in there. My youngest said "mom, that does not look like ours." So when we come home, we pull the ad, check the dates and it is this weeks but ours shows the $6.99 with $1. ECV like getting it for $5.99. They said I can bring the ad back with my receipt and I'll get it but who wants to seriously do all that running? grr. Still kicking myself for not taking the ad with me. Has anyone else run into this?