Thursday, March 3, 2011

Walgreens Trip 3/1/11 Detailed

For Oldies but Newbies:
If you know a little about couponing already and have a binder full of coupons, then you can see how I did the Walgreens Trip from 3/1/11 in detail below. FYI - There are 5 transactions total. The coupon lingo for the total of your transaction is called a "scenario" So this is my "scenario", for my trip.
Transaction #1

Buy:
(1) Applied Nutrition Anti-Aging Total Body Defense, 50 ct. $10.00
(1) Filler item. I chose to purchase Hydrogen Peroxide @$0.34 with in-ad Coupon.
(make sure you give them this coupon, they need to scan it to get the sale price. Otherwise, it will be $0.50.
Total: $10.34


Use:
(1) $1.00 off coupon, found inside the box. (yes I opened the box inside the store, it was not sealed and I was purchasing the item anyways, so it is OK. It is not proper coupon etiquitte to open the box, take the coupon out and leave the box.)
(1) $5.00 off Register Reward from previous Walgreens Trip for Newbies.
Total Coupons: $6.00

Total # of items (2)
Total # of coupons (2)

Note: The total # of coupons cannot exceed the total # of items here. If you just bought the Applied Nutrition and the $1.00 off coupon, that would be OK, but because I want to use the $5.00 Register Reward (it's considered a coupon), I had to purchase another item, also called a "filler". You can purchase ANYTHING. Some people find pencils for $0.12. You can get gum, candy, etc. Anything will do, it is up to you to walk around store and find some cheap items you can use as a filler.

Total Out of Pocket: $4.34
Register Rewards Earned: $10.00

Transaction #2

Buy:
(2) Tylenol Precise Pain Relief. Reg $7.99 = sale price $3.99
(For some reason this rang up as Buy One, Get One 50% off, so the 2nd one was only $1.99)
(1) Super Poligrip $1.99
(1) Colgate Total $2.99
(1) Aquaphor Lip Repair $4.99
(1) Glade Sense & Spray $6.99
(3) Filler items. I used Hydrogen Peroxide $1.00 with in ad coupon (must show cashier, so she can scan)
Total: $23.94


 Use:
(1) $6.00 off 2 participating products (Tylenol, Zyrtec, Pepcid, Motrin PM)
(1) $1.00 off Poligrip printable (you will need to sign up to get coupons)
(1) $0.75 off Colgate OR you can pick up a copy of Diabetes & You Winter 2011 Free Magazine at the Pharmacy counter and there's a $1.00 off coupon for Colgate. I didn't realize this until later.
(1) $1.00 off Aquaphor printable
(1) $2.00 off Glade Sense & Spray Walgreens coupon (Use the March Instant Value Coupon booklet (located by the sales ads in front of the store)
(1) $3.00 off Glade Sense & Spray printable - this stacks with Walgreens coupon
(1) $10.00 Register Reward earned from Transaction #1
Total Coupons: $23.75

Total # of Items: 9
Total # of Coupons: 6 (the Walgreens Instant Value Coupons do not count toward this number, nor does any in-ad coupons)

Note: Since the total # of coupons does not exceed the total # of items, we are ok. The only reason why I purchase 3 filler items of Hydrogen peroxide even though I didn't need any, is because I didn't account for the Buy One Get One 50% off on the Tylenol Precise deal so I had to have at LEAST $10.00 in products in order to use my $10.00 Register Reward.

Total Out of Pocket (OOP): $0.19 
Register Rewards Earned: $9.00
(1) $2.00 Register Reward for Poligrip
(1) $3.00 Register Reward for Colgate
(1) $4.00 Register Reward for Aquaphor

Note: These Register Rewards print separately so you will get 3 different coupons to use on your next purchase. Keep in mind that each time you use one, you will have to make sure that you have enough items to cover the 1 item per 1 coupon rule at Walgreens.

 Transaction #3

Buy:
(1) Colgate $2.99
(1) Super Poligrip $1.99
(1) Filler item. I found Purex complete 30-in-1 sheets on clearance for $0.49
Total: $5.46

 Use:
(1) $0.75 off Colgate. (Or Diabetes & You Magazine for $1.00 off)
(1) $1.00 off Super Poligrip printable
(1) $3.00 Register Reward from previous transaction
Total Coupons: $4.75 

Total # of Items: 3
Total # of Coupons: 3

Total Out of Pocket (OOP): $0.71
Register Rewards Earned: $5.00
(1) $3.00 Register Reward for Colgate
(1) $2.00 Register Reward for Poligrip

Note: We only used the $3.00 Register Reward here, so we still have the $2.00 and $4.00 Register Rewards from the previous Transaction.

Total Register Rewards in hand: $11.00

Transaction #4

Buy:
(1) Applied Nutrition Anti-Aging $10.00
(3) Filler Items. I used Purex again. $0.49 ea.
 Total: $11.47




Use:
(1) $1.00 off coupon, found inside the box.
(1) $3.00 Register Reward from prev. transaction
(1) $2.00 Register Reward from prev. transaction
(1) $4.00 Register Reward from prev. transaction
Total Coupons: $10.00

Total # of Items: 4
Total # of Coupons: 4

Total Out of Pocket (OOP): $1.47
Earned: $10.00 Register Rewards

Transaction #5

Buy:
(1)Schick ProGlide Razor $8.99
(2) Vicks Dayquil Liquicaps, 12ct $5.49 ea. (with in ad coupon, must show cashier show they can scan)
(2) Puffs Facial Tissue $1.49 ea.
(1) Filler item. I used Purex $0.49
Total: $23.44


Use:
(1) $2.00 off Schick coupon
(2) $4.00 off Vicks Sinex
(2) FREE Puffs with purchase of any Vicks coupon
(1) Register Reward for $10.00 from previous transaction
Total Coupons: $22.98

Total # of Items: 6
Total # of Coupons: 6

Total Out of Pocket (OOP): $.46
Register Rewards Earned: $6.00 from Schick

Total Register Rewards in hand: $8.00
(1) $2.00 Register Reward from previous transaction
(1) $6.00 Register Reward from Schick

The Cream of Wheat that is pictured is $1.00 ea., and I had a $1.00 off coupon for each. so they were free. The total # of items match the total # of coupons, so it doesn't really matter when you factor that into any of the above transactions. You can even do it separately or on a different day since no Register Rewards print, it's not really part of the "rolling" procedure.

That's the end of my "scenario"!

What I learned:
There is no way that you can plan out each transaction, or the "scenario" before you go to the store. There may be items out of stock, or different filler items, or in my case, one item was on sale for less than I figured, so I needed more filler items. Also, there will be mistakes in calculation. It is VERY normal to make mistakes, all newbies and oldies do it. Cashiers make mistakes too. Sometimes Register Rewards don't print. That happened to me during this transaction. I had to stop after Transaction # 4 because Colgate's Register Reward didn't print. I had to move out of line and see manager at another desk to fix it and then return to the front registers to complete the rest of my transactions. Don't beat yourself up about mistakes, just learn from them.

What I do now:
Now I make a list of things that I plan to buy. I walk around the store and put everything in my cart, then I sit over at the pharmacy in a chair and calculate how many transactions i will do, how many coupons I'm using and figure out if I need filler items, etc. I only figure out the "scenario" after I get to the store and know what I can actually buy. The other thing that I've started doing is writing down each item on a post it note with it's Out of Pocket Price, the coupons I hold, and in ad coupons that i need to show the cashier, any coupons from the Monthly Instant Value coupon booklet, and the Register Rewards I should earn, if any. This way I can re-arrange the post it notes over and over again until I figure out how to do my "scenario" for that trip. Otherwise, I was writing and re-writing the transactions over and over again and I was wasting alot of paper and scribbling alot.

Hope this helps.

Happy Shopping!
 - Veronica

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