3/4/09

Step by step wags

All of this for a little over a dollar....how? See below
Okay… as my continuing efforts to teach my family and friends about good deals, I thought I would post a recent “big” experience trip to Wags, Walgreens as it is formally called. This is a GREAT week to shop there, as they have a lot of great Register Rewards deals going on. I want to show you just how much you can be saving by taking a bit of time….and honestly, it does take a little more time to figure out the order and deals and find the coupons, but I think it’s worth it. I still SO have a long ways to go. This will probably be the only time I will go into such great depths on my blog (because all my frugal blog links do this much better than me).

Here is the exact order of the transactions I did.

1st Transaction
2 Glade Lasting Impressions
Walgreens allergy tabs (on free after rebate)
2 Ziplock bags 50 count
1 Vaselline Intense lotion
4 cans Campbells Cream of Chicken soup
Total before coupons: 40.64
I used the following coupons, B1G1 (buy one get on free) on the Glade impressions, in-store Wags coupon for the ziplock bags making them 99 cents each, Vaseline lotion was on sale 25 percent off, plus I used a 1.25 MC off (manufacterer’s coupon), 2 IP (internet printable $2 off 2 cans Campbells soups), plus the in-store ad coupons for the Campbells soups (making them 3 for $3.00)

Result: I paid out of pocket 10.23, but will be getting back 3.99 on rebate this month on the allergy tablets (Easy Saver catalog), plus I got 2 RR(register rewards money to be used toward future purchase) from the Vaseline purchase
Total after rebates and coupons: $4.24 a savings of more than 90 percent
Keep in mind, the ONLY coupon from an actual newspaper insert was the Vaseline coupon. That is just to say, you don’t have to get MC to still get a good deal. Wags takes Internet coupons so you can just print off a lot of coupons online FOR FREE.

2nd Transaction
This was a “series” of transactions, but one trip.
Bought 1 Vaseline Intense Rescue lotion
Used 1 MC coupon for 1.25 off
The Vaseline (as mentioned above) was 25 percent off on sale
OOP 1.62, but I got a 2 RR back, MONEYMAKER
Then
I bought another Vaseline lotion for the exact same results
Then
I bought a Carmex lip balm on sale for 2.99 (if I had been thinking right, I could have made money on this trip by using a 2 RR from my previous Vaseline deal), but I wasn’t sure if it would work at the time, now I know it would have)
OOP 3.19 and got a 2 RR back.
Overall total before coupons on this trip: $10.73
OOP $6.43
Results after the RR and coupons, $.43, a savings of more than 95 percent!

3rd Transaction
I bought 2 Scrubbing bubbles wipes
1 Colgate 6 oz (the one on RR deal)
2 Sambocol cold/flu medicines (this is a GREAT example of buying something you don’t need/want to get a lower price on something you do want, and then you can donate these to someone that does need it!)
Total before coupons 40.64
Then I used a $3/2 IP coupon on the scrubbing bubbles, 2 IP Sambocol coupons for $4/1, and also used the $10/1 Sambocol coupon twice (in the Easy Saver catalog), I also used 2RR from one of my previous Vaseline deals towards this transaction
OOP result: 5.44 but I got a 3.50 RR back from the toothpaste and will get a $2 rebate back on the 2 Scrubbing Bubbles
Results overall PROFIT 6 cents!
Then
I bought 1 Colgate Total 4 oz
1 Colgate 6 oz (RR deal again)
Total before coupons 7.24
I then used the 2.50 off Colgate Total (easy saver catalog), and 1.50 IP off the same Colgate Total, and then I also was able to use another 2 RR from my Vaseline deal
OOP result: 1.24 but then I got a 3.50 RR from the 6 oz Colgate that printed off
Results after coupons: PROFIT 2.26
Then
I bought another Carmex lip balm
Another Colgate 4 oz toothpaste
Total before coupons: $6.92
I used the 2.50 coupon for Colgate (easy saver) and then another 1.50 off Colgate IP plus my final Vaseline 2 RR
OOP: .92 cents plus I got a 3.50 RR printing from the Colgate
Results after total: PROFIT 1.08

Overall totals: 106.47 (before any sales, coupons RR, anything)
Actual cost (this includes the coupons used and RR printed, etc.): $1.07
Savings 90 percent!
The best part is all of that third transaction was put on my Wags gift card from the February rebates, so all of that was “technically” free :)
Plus, as a wonderful thing I just found out, Albertsons takes the Wags RRs as competitor coupons, so by using a $1/1 IP coupon for Velveeta cheese and my 3.50 RR from a Colgate deal, I was able to get Velveeta cheese, normally 4.49 for less than 50 cents! And that means my husband is happy because I made black bean chicken bake for dinner tonight!

Good luck to all of you! Hopefully this made sense!

7 comments:

Shanna Barnhisel said...

Great post. I sent you an email (surprise surprise). I am going to go to Albies on the way to the gym tomorrow morning for a couple of things (not much great this week). They have a great checker there and I want to see about using my RRs there. I'll let you know what happens!

Lindsey said...

My brain hurts. Alisa, you're amazing!

AO said...

Lindsey, you should have seen my brain after trying to type all of this up....thus the only one post like this comment :)

Krista said...

My brain hurts too! The savings is awesome. Thanks for sharing, Alisa.

Kristalyn said...

That was fun to read...you and Beth have gotten me started...this is my first month...hopefully I'll be as good as it as you are in a couple month!

Kristalyn said...

It's me again. So...chances are good that we are moving to Utah...does Walgreens out there often sell out of things? (I saw your comment on Beth's blog)

AO said...

Depends on the deal as far as sell outs. With the Huggies, yes :) and sometimes it just depends on when you go. BUT WAHOO if you are moving to Utah! Luckily, there are about 5 walgreens within a 10 minute drive from our house.