Now What?.....How to Use Your Drugstore Knowledge

*This post is the follow-up to THIS POST on the basics of the Rite-Aid system.*

Now that you know all the lingo and have a basic knowledge of how shopping at Rite-Aid works & have signed up for your Wellness card, it's time to figure out what to buy when you go to the store.
What you are going to buy depends on these things...
1. What do you need/want to buy?
2. What are the deals this week?
3. What coupons do you have?

So you need to find some "Deal Blogs" to follow and consult.


"Deal Blogs" are those that post on what the upcoming sales are at a particular store.  They are informational, cut and dried.  Ok, some chat it up also but you are there for the info.  Don't Read This;It's Boring! may mention specific deals now and again but I am NOT a Deal Blogger. 

By following these blogs you can find out what is going on sale in future weeks as well as what is happening in the current week.
Deal bloggers will also do "coupon match-ups" for that store.  This is a list of currently available coupons(both ManuQs and IPQs)that match up with a sale item.  By matching the sales price with a coupon you can increase your savings when you buy that item.
These blogs are also where you can find out about hidden deals at the stores.
Many of these blogs will also give you actual "Deal Scenarios".  These are actual lists of specific items to buy, what coupons/sales to use and what premiums(RRs, ECBs, +Ups, Catalinas, etc.)you will receive and how much out of pocket you will be after that specific transaction.

Deal Blogs
Finding Deal Blogs online is quite easy.  Just google or use whatever search engine you prefer, and search under "deal blogs" or "drugstore blogs","drugstore deals", etc.  For grocery store deals, google that specific term.  Find a group of blogs and read them for awhile until you find the ones that give out the best information for you.  If there is a store, there is bound to be a blog out there that follows it.
For the larger chains, you will find more Deal Blogs devoted to them, because, well, they are so large.lol
Some deal blogs follow more than one store.  You will have to wade through many posts to find the Store Specific posts you need on those blogs.

When you find a few Deal Blogs that give you the information you want/need, go subscribe to them so you automatically get their posts sent to your email or into your Google Reader.  This will assure that you don't forget to check their blogs for deal information you need and miss some gem.

Personally I like to follow Deal Blogs within my regional area whenever possible.
For Rite-Aid I consult I "Heart" Rite-Aid as Erica is very knowledgeable about all things Rite-Aid.
But I also follow Anne at Coupons Deals and More and Shannon at For The Mommas.  Anne is in the Buffalo NY area and Shannon is outside of Philly.  I don't have a Rite-Aid Deal Blogger in my specific area but those 2 are in what I consider my region and they are both cover the Rite-Aid stuff well.

Why follow regional deal bloggers?  Sometimes Qs are regional, so you want someone who is matching up the Qs that YOUR area receives, in the denomination that you get.  There is nothing worse than finding a great deal scenario only to find that your area of the country did not receive a vital Q you need to complete that transaction cheaply.   There's nothing worse than planning out a scenario and then finding that you either didn't get that Q or that the one you got was not $2 but .50¢.  8-(

I also like to consult Building Up Da Benjamins.  She is over in the San Diego CA area.  2 reasons I follow her....1-I like her style.  2-The southern CA area Rite-Aid deals begin on the Thursday before they begin in all other parts of the country on Sunday.  So if something isn't working or there is a hidden deal to find, the bloggers/shoppers in this area will find out about it at the store and report back before the sales week even starts here.

Many folks read the Rite-Aid message board over at Slick Deals or at the 2 major Couponing Sites--A Full Cup and Hot Coupon World.  These are huge sites and can be intimidating to new coupon users.  I'd suggest you explore one of them to begin with and once you have a routine going, branch out and read the others.

There are tons of Deal Bloggers so go find a few that you enjoy reading and start getting up to speed on Rite-Aid deals.

As always if anyone has any questions about Rite-Aid or couponing or deal finding in general, feel free to leave a comment or email me privately if you prefer.   If you have suggestions of things that have helped you find the deals, please feel free to share that with us all as well.


Sluggy

The One Where I Rant on Consumerism, Shopping, Frugality and Deal Blogs

Before you jump in the car today and hit the stores have a lookie here.

Is is just me or has the shopping madness just gone too far?
Yes, everyone acknowledges the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, as the beginning of the Mad Shopping Dash for Christmas.
And Stores no longer wait until after Halloween is over to start putting up their Christmas displays and merchandise.  That's been true for years.....

But now, Stores have extended the Holiday shopping frenzy to include Veteran's Day!
Use to be advertisers would run Veteran's Day sales for things like mattresses and some housewares(since Thanksgiving was right around the corner and you might need dishes/cooking stuff for the big day's meal).
Throw in a little winter clothing and you'd have a smallish special ad to snag shoppers who were off from work for Veteran's Day.

At least to me, is seems like the major retailers are using Veteran's Day to start the Christmas selling season instead of waiting until Black Friday.  ToysRUs has HUGE ads/deals for Veteran's Day.  They sell toys, so they depend on the Christmas season revenues to stay in business the other 11 months of the year.  But when did Veteran's Day become a time to go spend large sums of money on toys?
The line on the highway to get into the TRU parking lot is insane on Veteran's Day.....same madness can be seen in the Wal-Mart here around the toy aisles.

I am a frugal person.
I use coupons and shop sales, etc.
I check out the "deal" blogs often all year long....not talking about the grocery deals, just the 'stuff' deals.
I will tell you I've gotten a few good deals by finding offers on "deal" blogs.
Many deal blogs think of themselves as frugal blogs as well....because they are saving their readers money when they take advantage of the deals they tout.

But.....frugality is NOT only about saving money because true frugality is NOT about spending money!
And I feel that many of these "deal" blogs have the reverse affect and encourage some people to spend MORE money.  People who don't NEED an item but see it for a steal from a "deal" blog post will go and spend money, when they would not have w/out that post or that special price.
And theses people would have continued to lead their lives just as well without that item/deal.

Deal blogs have a place but I truly believe that they are fueling shopping addicts need for a "sales high".
And I know what I am talking about because I use to wander around in stores looking for clearance signs/racks and I brought many an item home for cheap that I didn't need.  I have felt the "shopping high" and it's quite a drug....

But from this point until the end of Dec. I am better off dumping almost every deal blog out of my favorites and not visiting them.
Because when I do go to them, all I find is massive quantities of "deals", so many that it overloads my senses.  And I find it difficult to weed through this huge crush of deals to find the one or two nuggets that I want or need.
Because I don't buy massive quantities of stuff for the Holidays anymore.
Just a few choice things.
And the bulk of what is being hawked on the deal blogs is not a deal for me.
And the deal blogs start to all look the same(same deals)and it's hard to distinguish them from the major retailers ads/deals either.

And another thing......if you are buying "deals" online from a faceless business and the items you are buying are being made halfway around the world and being shipped from this same place and no one in your local community is prospering from your purchase, it may still be a deal for your wallet but it's no deal for the planet nor a deal for your local businesses, that employ your local citizens, as long as they stay in business.  And if you don't support your local businesses at all by spending your money there, they will go away.  And the jobs will go away.  And the jobless will put more stress on your government supported safety nets(food stamps, unemployment, etc.).  And then your taxes will go up.  And that online deal that saved you so much money will cost you more in other ways, than you ever thought in the end.

I'm not saying you need to stop buying from anyone EXCEPT a local business.  No, I am not a tree-hugger, extremist.
I think life is all about balance.
And even when you shop, you can find balance.
So go get some "deals" online(but only things you truly need/want!)but also spread your consumer net wide.....go spend money with local merchants too.
We have 2 Chinese/Japanese restaurants in our teeny tiny town.  Some things are prepared better at one, other things at the other.  Both are locally owned small businesses.
So we alternate which restaurant we eat at and spread our consumer dollars out between them.
That way we support both and neither goes out of business.
And we continue to have a choice in where we want to dine when we want Chinese/Japanese food.
Having choices is cool and so is keeping jobs in your neighborhood.

Just some food for thought from what spills outta my brain....

Sluggy