Sat. Feb. 14, 2009 Savings from RiteAid Purchase

Saturday, February 14, 2009 RiteAid Purchase

This week I took advantage of some great coupons and RiteAid rebates at their store.  I have been using the RiteAid Single Check Rebates (SCR) for about two years now, but just found a plethora of blogs that delve even further into “Drug Store Deals” and “Extreme Couponing”.  I admit it, I never knew how much I could save by stocking up on sales and taking advantage of rebates and coupons!

For this trip I spent $19.42 (includes $1.05 for tax) and my total coupon savings were $8.55.  Plus I will be getting a single check rebate of 4.99 from RiteAid, a $6.99 MIR from the Vitamin Manufacturer and a $10 RiteAid gift card.  I also had printed off additional Manufacturer coupons from RightAtHome for $1.50 off of the Drano and $1.00 off the Pledge wipes, but the cashier (and manager) said they couldn’t accept coupons printed off on computer paper that don’t have a RiteAid logo on them (bummer! But at least I know now for the future. They told me this was standard RiteAid policy). So after rebate and gift card, I’ll have an overage of $2.56 (ie. in the end I ended up getting these items for free plus a couple dollars extra)!  Here’s a breakdown of what I bought:

1 VitaminShampoo Acai Berry & Guava Shampoo 13 oz. $6.99
1 Electrasol Orange Gel 75 oz. regular price 1/$4.79 on sale for $4.49
1 Fructis Full Control Mousse 6.8 oz. regular price 1/$4.39 on sale for $2.99
1 Drano Foaming Liquid 17 oz. regular price 1/$5.49 on sale for $3.49
1 Pledge Wipes 18 ct. regular price 1/$3.99 on sale for $2.99
3 Bayer Aspirin Tablets 24 ct. regular 1/$3.69 on sale for 1/$1.99 so I paid $5.97
TOTAL BEFORE COUPONS=$26.92 plus $1.05 tax = $27.97

Coupons used:
1 $1.00 off Garnier coupon from RedPlum insert (2/8/09)
1 $1.00 off Garnier peel-off coupon in store by display
1 $0.55 peel off coupon on Drano bottle that I purchased
1 $0.50 off Select Cleaners Manufacturer coupon from the RiteAid weekly circular 2/8-2/14
1 $0.50 off Drano coupon from the RiteAid weekly circular 2/8-2/14
1 $5 off of $20 purchase from RiteAid (received this via email from RiteAid)
TOTAL COUPON SAVINGS=$8.55

Rebates:
$6.99 Mail-in-rebate for VitaminShampoo purchased between 8/1/08-12/31/09 (this was a peel off rebate offer on the shampoo bottle I bought). This is not a part of the RiteAid Single Check Rebates and needs to be mailed to: CMS Rebate Center, Promo ID Vitamin001, P.O. Box 426006, Del Rio, TX 78842-6006.
$2.99 SCR (RiteAid Feb. 2009 offer # 72)
$2.00 SCR (RiteAid Feb. 2009 offer # 111)
$10.00 RiteAid Gift Card (mailed separately from rebate check. RiteAid Feb. 2009 offer # 43)
TOTAL REBATE/GIFT CARD=$21.98

TOTAL SPENT AFTER REBATE/GIFT CARD= -$2.56 (overage)

I also went to CVS and bought this 1.0 Liter Listerine Total Care with a $2.00 off coupon from the RedPlum insert (2/8/09) and a $3 instant savings just for using my CVS extra care card. My total, including tax, came to $0.49. I am completely new to “CVS-ing” (yes, it’s a verb among “frugals”) and the CVS ECB and savings offerings, so this was my first “try”. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it soon enough.  Here’s a great post by Crystal of MoneySavingMom on CVS 101 and “Making CVS work for you.”

I signed up for a Walgreens EasySaver Rebate account and I’m looking forward to trying that out. The closest Walgreens to me is in Aldie or Fairfax, VA, and I plan to go there when I’m already heading out in that general direction to do errands or visit my parents.  I just saw a sign near the Manassas Costco that they’re building a Walgreens in the shopping center next to it.  Yipee!

Anyone else have ideas on ways to be frugal and save money in Northern Virginia?  Or maybe you can tell me what drug store deals you took advantage of this week and what deals you know about for next week?  Let’s share the frugal love!  Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!