Walgreens Again....The Colgate Merry-Go-Round

You may remember my Walgreens post from earlier this week located Here, where I was fretting about buying the Colgate Visible White Toothpaste this week, since alot of RRs I was trying to roll from last week were $4.50RRs generated from a Colgate product back then.
Oh, how silly was I to worry about that!

Daughter needed to get out to purchase a Top-Up Card for her cell phone and the ONLY place she wishes to buy them is at WAGS, so I said, "Sure honey! I'll selflessly drive you over there to get your card.", as I rubbed my hands together with gleeful anticipation of some WAGS RR fun ahead.

I had read last night online at http://www.iheartwags.com/ that the $4.50RR generated by the Colgate Visible White Toothpaste was truly ROLLING! So I planned to test it out in my local store.

My first pass through the register line and I had a Visible White Tpaste, a Right Guard Clinical Deo. & some filler Royal Gelatin boxes, so I could use 3 RRs-the $4.50 I got earlier in the week from buying the Visible White and a couple of $2RRs I wanted to roll.

I handed her the RRs after she rang up my 2 Qs and after looking at the $4.50RR, she said, "You CAN'T use this one!"

I said, "Why not?"

"Well, if you use it to buy this toothpaste, you won't get a RR back because it's a Colgate product.", she told me.

"That's ok....just use it.", I said, waving my hand like I didn't care. hehehe

"Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you!", she added.

She hits the button, the cash drawer opens up and the Cat machine starts spitting out 1 RR(for the Right Guard)and then #2 RR(for the Visible White).

YESSSS!!!

The cashier's mouth dropped open and she just looked at me...."How did you do that?!?", said she.

I played dumb...."Gee, I don't know."

"You weren't suppose to get a RR. That never happened before. Maybe they changed the rules or sumthin....", she said, shaking her head.

I just smiled and went back to grab another tube of toothpaste and box of gelatin.

And each time I went to check-out with my toothpaste, gelatin, $4.50RR and .24¢, I got another $4.50RR. And the cashier just got more and more perplexed.

About the 6th pass through the line, I told her I saw online that for some reason, this product was spitting out RRs even when you used the same RR to pay.

She digested this information and then said, "Ok....but don't tell anyone working here. I get off in about an hour and I'm going to go get me some free toothpaste too!"

I leaned in and whispered, "Gotcha! I'll be sure and leave some boxes of it on the shelf for ya too."

And we laughed and shared a special moment..... ;-)

So what do you think? Did I get enough?

I also bought daughter a Frappaccino that isn't pictured. I didn't want too many but I only had bought 2 earlier in the week. Daughter urged me on too because she's getting her braces off next month and has this fear that she'll have stains on her teeth. She thinks she'll be needing this toothpaste to whiten them once the braces are off.

I'm too tired from today's excursions(including 2 trips to Price Chopper for more Unilever goodies)so I'll skip the 9 transaction breakdowns and just say that I spent a total of $2.43 on a Gift Card and got a $61.69 Value of Items, giving me a 96% Savings at Wags today.

Sluggy

How to Roll a CAT 101 & get a Great Deal!

I've had a couple of people ask me how to go about working a Catalina Promotion Deal, including the Cashier at the Price Chopper today, as I made my 5th trip through her check-out line.lol

The key to working a Deal or rolling a CAT is to be organized and Plan, Plan, PLAN before you even set foot in the store!

Yes, you can just throw your coupons and sales flyer into your purse and rush into the store, but then what?

What happens when they are out of items you want to build an order with?

What happens when you misfigure your total in your head and you haven't spent enough to qualify for the Cat?

You leave the store without your Cat and your great buys and either angry at yourself or so disappointed you just give up and go back to paying....GASP...retail for everything.

First you need to study the sales promotion.

1. What do you have to buy? Make sure you only buy what the sales ad clearly states qualifies for the promotion. If the ad is not clear, then ask store's management.

2. How much do you need to spend? Is there a dollar threshold you must spend & what is it? Is that dollar amount based on Regular Shelf Price, or if the item is on sale, the current sales price? One store here bases Cat promos on sales price(I hardly EVER do those promos!).

3. Is there a certain number of items you need to buy or a certain combination of items?

4. Are there any special conditions you need to meet for the CAT outside of #1 , #2 & #3?

With those questions answered, you are ready for some store reconnaissance. You need to venture into enemy territory(the store)and survey the battlefield. Take a trip into the store you'll be doing your deal in and get any information of price/size/quantity of the products you'll need to buy. My current Unilever Cat deal covered a wide range of Unilever branded items....from peanut butter to deodorant. As the total threshold was based on regular shelf price, I needed to literally take pen & paper into the store and write down the reg. price on each item in the deal. PC is notorious for NOT putting the price on BOGO sales ads! An item will be advertised as a BOGO/B1G1 but no mention of what the 1 you have to pay for will cost you.

You can sometimes use price information shared by others on forums like A Full Cup or Hot Coupon World but individual stores' prices CAN VARY. If I take the info. from someone online who shops at my chain store but in Trumbull CT, the price in MY PA store might or might not be the same. You want to know precisely the prices in YOUR store. This is vital information that, if you don't have it correct, can trip up your deal.

In my case, even though I did a Unilever Cat deal in early April in this PC store & still had some of the reg. shelf prices written down, I wrote them all down again on my reconnoitering 1st trip in for this New deal.

After all your facts are checked and you have all your information, now the fun begins! Get out your calculator and some pen & paper and do your homework.

Figure out and commit to paper any potential transactions you want to perform at the store.(This is also most excellent advise for folks who use ECBs at CVS &/or RRs at Walgreens to pay, and want to spend little to none out of pocket.)

I will fill up an 8x10 sheet of paper with potential scenarios before I even get in the car. When plannning out your scenarios, make sure to figure in the coupons you will be using too. If I can get it all written down(the scenarios with plenty of back up plans too)before I hit the store, the actual time it takes me to shop is minimal.

And be sure you have plenty of back up scenarios as Murphy's Law will always kick in and they will always be out of stuff you want to buy in your deals.lol

Having the deals worked out beats trying to think on your feet in the aisles with the too loud muzak blaring and the other customers talking & getting in your way, all the while you are trying to figure math in your head, while fondling boxes of soap or jars of spaghetti sauce.lolol

And if you have to take babies or children or moody teens with you on your shopping trip, well, let me just say, there is a special place in Heaven for YOU!

If you have your beloved 'baggage' along for the ride, it is ESPECIALLY important to have the 'brain work' done ahead of time. That way you can be on auto-pilot so you can focus on keeping the kids out of trouble & happy and still have your deals work out.

Now get your coupons together. Bring any coupon you feel you may need. If it's a certain brands deal, unless you are also going to buying items besides the ones that qualify for that deal, leave the other branded coupons at home or in the car. For this Unilever deal I went through my binder and pulled every Unilever product that's a part of this Cat deal, just in case I needed it. I put them into 2 envelopes-one for the food products & one for the non-food/hba products. For the amount of coupons I had, this was enough organization for me.

And I would add, that if you are NEW to doing Catalina Deals to don't try to do 'other' shopping while shopping for the Cat Deal. Focusing on just this Cat Deal and buying just those products for this deal will help you get it right. If you need to do non-Cat deal shopping, do the Cat deal first, take it to the car and go back in to do your other shopping.

You scenarios are written down, your coupons, selling price of the items & sales flyer in hand. Grab your calculator(just in case you need to do last minute calculations in the store)and go to the store. Don't forget your store loyalty card too!!

Having everything worked out before you leave the house also makes the amount of time in the store alot shorter. Just pick up what's written down & get in line to pay.

Mostly it's the lengthy amount of time waiting in the check-out lines that makes some trips seem to drag on forever. If you can avoid being in the store on weekends(except very early or very late)& weekdays between about 2:30-5:30(the school dismissal hour to dinner hour), do so. Around here, those are the times where you will inevitably end up in a long check-out line. And any day they have a Senior Discount too. Most seniors aren't in a big rush so they slow the lines down, but they are much more pleasant company than the general population usually. ;-)

BTW-I hit Price Chopper this afternoon again & did 9 more transactions rolling my $7 Cat. After 12 Transactions, I'm up to a savings of 85%. (Savings of 80% for the first 3 & Savings of 86.5% for the last 9, averages out to 85% so far.)

I've got 1 more day of this sale ad/promo deal and an envelope still stuffed with coupons. If anyone is looking for me tomorrow evening, I'll be in PC until closing time. ;-))

Sluggy

I'm a Chopper Shopper.....at least this week I am.

One of our local grocery stores, Price Chopper, has a silly slogan-"Be a Chopper Shopper!" Yes, they are all about "Chopping your Food Bill", etc, etc....blah, blah, blah.
Their marketing folks think this is clever, I think it is annoying. All those "chopping" references are a tad violent to boot.

Frankly, Price Chopper is NOT the least expensive overall in this area. I only go there to cherry pick the great buys(when they have them) or if they are holding a Catalina Promotion. You may recall my haul back in early April at PC from THIS post.

Well, Price Chopper is running a similar Unilever CAT Deal this week. Buy $20 in selected Unilever items and get a $7 CAT GOYNO(=Good On Your Next Order). Not as good as the Spend $40, Get $20 CAT Deal with the FREE EASTER HAM DOUBLE DIP, but there haven't been ANY CAT Deals around here for some time, so I took the bait!

Even though it's only a stinking $7 CAT for a $20 purchase, A-the total is based on the REGULAR SHELF Price, NOT the Sale Price! & B-some of the items included are Buy One/Get One FREE, so that alone will bring down your Out of Pocket costs and might make this stinking $7 CAT Deal worth doing.

Oh, and C-this CAT deal can roll. You can take that $7 CAT and use it on your next order of Unilever products and get another $7 CAT(if you purchase $20 or more in your next order).

So after dropping #1 son's car at the Oil change place and then dropping #1 son at school, I had an hour to hit the Price Chopper to scope out the shelf prices and figure out the least expensive way to get to $20 & then bring that down with coupons.

First I did this....

2x Wisk Laundry Detergent Reg. Price $6.59 ea.=$13.18/Sale Price BOGO
2x Q-Tips Swabs 500 ct. Reg. Price $3.99 ea.=$7.98/Sale Price 2/$5.00

Reg. Price Total=$21.16 **Over the $20 threshold

Sale Price Total=$11.59+.40¢ tax=$11.99

Coupons Used

1x $1.50/2 Wisk
2x $.30/1 Q=Tips doubled=$1.20

Coupon Total=$2.70

$11.99-$2.70=$9.29 OOP

Received a $7 CAT good OYNO

The 1st payment is the worst. Now it was time to 'play' with the PC money and get stuff for real C-H-E-A-P!

Next go 'round....

4x Caress Body Wash Reg. Price $5.49 ea.=$21.96/Sale Price BOGO

Reg. Price Total=21.96 **Over the $20 threshold
Sale Price Total=$10.98+.66¢ tax=$11.64

Coupons Used
4x $1.00/1 Caress Q=$4.00

$7.00 CAT
Coupon Total=$11.00

$11.64-$11.00=$.64 OOP
Received a $7 CAT good OYNO**

**Well I SHOULD have gotten a CAT but the machine ran out of paper halfway through my Cat!ack So the Manager came over and just gave me $7 cash back. I used that $7 as my CAT for the next transaction.

Round #3.....

2x Wishbone Dressing Reg. Price $2.69 ea.=$5.38/Sale Price BOGO=$2.69

3x Suave Shampoo Reg. Price $1.19 ea.=$3.57/Sale Price $.88=$2.64

2x Degree Deodorants Reg. Price $3.49 ea.=$6.98/Sale Price $2.00=$4.00

1x Degree Deodorant Reg. Price $4.49 /Sale Price $3.00

Reg. Price Total=$20.42 **Over the $20 threshold
Sale Price Total=$12.33+.58¢ tax=$12.91

Coupons Used
1x $1.00/2 Wishbone Q=$1.00

1x $1.00/2 Suave Q=$1.00

1x $1.00/1 Degree Q=$1.00

2x $1.25/1 Degree Q=$2.50
Coupon Total=$5.50

$12.91-$5.50=$7.41**-$7.00 cash from last Catalina that didn't print=$.41OOP Received a $7 CAT good OYNO

3 Rounds and I'm OOP $12.96. The value of the items I've purchased is $65.54. I'm just over an 80% Savings rate.

The more rounds I do, the lower my OOP will be proportionately to my Value of Items, meaning my percentage of savings will go higher.

I plan on going back over the next 2 days before the sale ends to do some more deals. Nothing as radical as back in early April but we can always use some more spaghetti sauce and soap. ;-))

Check back with me after the weekend to see how I did.

And if you have a Price Chopper near you, get on over and give this Catalina Deal a try. Go on now, I have faith that you can do this!

Sluggy

All Roads Lead to Walgreen's...at least they did today

I have been going stir-crazy being grounded at home! My car is STILL in the shop thanks to my daughter's accident with the awning support pole at CVS the end of April.

We turned in the rental car early as it was just getting ridiculously expensive to keep it, so I've been without wheels for about a week now.

I finally bribed #1 son to drive me to WAGS today because I had RRs expiring on the 21st and Dr. Scholl's Qs to use before the month ends and we just can't have that now, can we?lolol

I had printed out some of the $5/25 coupon good today and tomorrow at WAGS but only used one. Why pay OOP actual CASH for things when I have all these lovely little RRs to spend! So after using 1 of the coupons I had printed off, I gave them to people in line around me. One woman I gave a Q to broke her $50+ order up so she could go back through the line to use another Q.....now THAT woman has potential to be a great Hound!LOLOL

Here's how it went.....

Transaction #1

2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles on sale @ $10=$20.00

4x Bandaids on sale @$2.50 ea.=$10.00

1x Bayer Crystals on sale @$2.49

1x Colgate Visible White Tpaste on sale @$4.49

1x Bic Utility Lighter on sale @$2.99

1x Skintimate on sale @$1.99

1x Right Guard Pro Deo on sale @$5.99

2x Oreos on sale @$3.50=$7.00

3x Paper Plates @$1.50=$4.50

Subtotal $59.45

Tax $.54

Coupons Used
2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles Sunday Insert Q $10=$20.00
4x Bandaids Sunday Insert Q $1.00 ea.=$4.00
1x Bayer Crystals Q from display $1.00
1x Colgate Visible White Tpaste IP Q $1.00
1x Bic Utility Lighter IP Q $1.00
1x Skintimate Sunday Insert Q $1.00
1x Right Guard Pro Deo Sunday Insert Q $1.00
3x Paper Plates Wags Flyer Q $.51=$1.53

Wags 1 Day Q $5 off $25 after discounts=$5.00

Coupon Total $35.53

$59.99-$35.53=$24.46 OOP

No RRs used-so I could use that $5/25 Coupon. I don't know....I did get back more in RRs than I spent but still, I had to spend MONEY.

Received $10 Dr. Scholl's, $4 Bandaids, $2.50 Bayer, $4.50 Colgate, $1 Bic, $1 Skintimate, $5 Right Guard=$28RRs

Yes, I actually spent real money at Wags today! Imagine that....lolol

**So I paid and the cashier hands me the receipt and NONE of the EIGHT Register Rewards I was suppose to get, PRINTS! EEEEK!!!

After my heart started beating again I told her to call the manager 'cuz I was NOT leaving without my RRs!lol

Long story short, the CAT machine was broken. They KNEW it was broken first thing that morning and had put in calls to the company, etc. to try to get it fixed and they couldn't and they were STILL using that REGISTER all day to ring people up!! So, if you were an unaware shopper, you never even knew you were getting ripped off when you bought a RR generating item in that store!

Unreal.....that they would continue to ring customers out and not use a different register. They have FIVE registers at this store! Man, that got me hot.lol

So the manager rerang everything up at another register and all 8 RRs printed like they should have the first time. So for the rest of my transactions I had to go to the photo center to checkout. Luckily, my fav. cashier Leticia was working at the photo center and she didn't mind letting me check out there. Sometimes the photo person doesn't want to ring you out if you don't have photo/ink stuff to buy too. I have GOT to write a letter to that store and give Leticia some Kudos! ;-))

Then it was off to roll a stack of RRs before they expired. Alot of them were $4.50RRs from the Colgate last week, so I couldn't buy the Visible White until I used those up.

Transaction #2

2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles on sale @ $10=$20.00
4x Kraft Mac & Cheez @ $.1.50=$6.00
1x Right Guard Pro Deo on sale @$5.99

1x Ramen Noodles Cup @ $.59
Subtotal $32.58

Tax $.36

Coupons Used
2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles Sunday Inserts Q $10=$20.00

4x Kraft Mac & Cheez Wags Flyer Q $.81=$3.24
1x Right Guard Pro Deo Sunday Inserts Q $1.00
1x Buy 3, Get 1 Free Kraft Mac&Cheez IP Q=$1.50

Coupons Total $25.74

$32.94-$25.74=$7.28

Used $4.50RR (Colgate Sensitive)& $2RR(Pert)

Total OOP=$.70 put on Gift Card

Received $10 Dr. Scholls, $5 Right Guard Deo=$15RRs

Transaction #3

2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles on sale @ $10=$20.00
1x Bic Utility Lighter on sale @$2.99
1x Edge Gel on sale @$1.99
1x Right Guard Pro Deo on sale @$5.99
2x Ramen Noodles @$.29=$.58
Subtotal $31.55
Tax $.66

Coupons Used
2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles Sunday Inserts $10=$20.00

1x Bic Utility Lighter IP Q $1.0
1x Skintimate Sunday Inserts $1.00

1x Right Guard Pro Deo Q inside box $2.00
Coupon Total $24.00

$32.21-$24.00=$8.21

Used $4.50(Colgate Sensitive), $2(Pert)

Total OOP $1.71 put on Gift Card

Received $10 Dr. Scholls, $1 Bic, $1 Edge, $5 Right Guard=$17RR

Transaction #4

2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles on sale @ $10=$20.00

1 Right Guard Pro Deo on sale @$5.99

2x 5 Gum @$1.49=$2.98

1x Energy Drink(for son) $2.29 Not Pictured
Subtotal $31.26
Tax $.50

Coupons Used

2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles Sunday Inserts $10=$20.00
2x WAGS Flyer Q 5 Gum $.50=$1.00
1x Right Guard Pro Deo Q inside box $2.00

Coupon Total $23.00

$31.76-$23.00=$8.76
Used $4.50(Colgate Sensitive), $3(ConAgra)
Total OOP $1.26 put on Gift Card
Received $10 Dr. Scholls, $5 Right Guard=$15RR

Transaction #5

2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles on sale @ $10=$20.00

1x Right Guard Pro Deo on sale @$5.99

1x Fruity Pebbles Cereal on sale @ $2.50

1x Paper Plates $1.79

2x Angel Soft TP clearance @$1.09=$2.18
Subtotal $32.46

Tax $.42

Coupons Used

2x Dr. Scholl's Insoles Sunday Inserts $10=$20.00
1x Right Guard Pro Deo Q inside box $2.00

1x Wags Flyer Q Plates $.80
Coupon Total $22.80

$32.88-$22.80=$10.08
Used 2x $4.50(Colgate Sensitive)-$9.00
Total OOP $1.08 put on Gift Card
Received $10 Dr. Scholls,$5 Right Guard=$15RR

Transaction #6

1x Royal Gelatin $.69
1x Colgate Visible White Tpaste on sale @$4.49

Subtotal $5.18
Tax $.00

Coupons Used

1x Visible White IP Q $1.00

1x Wags Flyer Gelatin Q $.44
Coupon Total $1.44

$5.18-$1.44=$3.74
Used $3.00(Kraft)RR
Total OOP $.74 put on Gift Card
Received $4.50RR Colgate

Transaction #7

2x Oreos on sale $3.50=$7.00
1x Edge Gel on sale @$1.99

Subtotal $8.99
Tax $.12

Coupons Used
1x Edge Sunday Inserts $1.00
Coupon Total $1.00

$9.11-$1.00=$8.11
Used $4.50(Colgate Sensitive), $2.50(Bayer)
Total OOP $1.11 put on Gift Card
Received $1 Edge, $3 Oreos=$4RRs

Transaction #8

1x Colgate Visibly White Tpaste on sale @$4.49
1x Royal Gelatin $.69
Subtotal $5.18
Tax $.00

Coupons Used

1x Colgate Visibly White $1.00

1x Wags Flyer Gelatin $.44
Coupon Total $1.44

$5.18-$1.44=$3.74

Used $3.00(Kraft)

Total OOP $.74 put on Gift Card
Received $4.50RR Colgate

GRAND TOTAL....

Value of Items $244.50

Coupons Used $134.95

OOP Spent $31.80 ($24.46 Cash/$7.34 Gift Card)
RRs Used $43.50
RRs Received $103.00

Savings of 87%

I am loving WAGS this month! All those Dr. Scholl's and Glucose Meter Moneymaker Coupons I got to use this month were wonderful.

Sluggy

Rite-Aid Building Single Check Rebate for MAY Part 4

This is the 4th Post in My Rite-Aid MAY Single Check Rebate PLAN. See the 1st installment HERE & the 2nd one HERE & the 3rd one HERE.

To recap, here are the Rebates I have qualified for so far.

Skintimate $2.24
Salt-Aire $6.99
Mini Drops $6.49
Listerine Whitening $2.00
ProFoot $10.00
Claritin $3.00
Got2Be $4.99
Offer #50 $10-Highest level
Offer #500 $10-Need $7.55 more to get $25.00 Gift Card

Total of $55.71 in Rebates

Total Out of Pocket $55.26-including tax.

Everything free once the Rebates come in plus getting paid 45 cents.
*********************************

The Plan from Part 2 has changed a bit. The Centrum Cardio SCR & the Centrum $10 rebate are NOT for the same size container. I can't buy 1 container and use it for both rebates. The size for the Centrum rebate is 180 capsules and cost alot more than the $10 Rebate offer. The size container for the Rite-Aid SCR is 60 capsules but the rebate is only for $1. Even with the $2/1 Q for it, I'll be spending about $7 OOP to get that $1 rebate, so these are out.

Here is what I bought on Sunday. This was done in 2 Transactions but if your Rite-Aid will take more than 1 Internet Printed Coupon Per Transaction, you can do this all in 1 Transaction instead. I had IP Qs for the Bayer & the Rite Aid 5/25 Q and they would only take one. **If you CAN do this in 1 transaction, leave out the Pop-Tarts. They were a cheap 'filler' for my purposes to get me to a $25 total.



Alaway Drops $7.99
Wound Wash $5.49
Right Guard Clinical Deodorant $5.99
Pop-Tarts $1.50 **Not Pictured**
Electrasol Dishwashing Detergent $4.99 **Not Pictured**
Subtotal $25.96

Coupons Used
Alaway Drops Q from Inserts $4.00/1
Wound Wash Peelie on Lid $1.00/1
Right Guard Q from Inserts $1.00/1
Pop-Tarts Peelie $1.00/1
$5/$25 Rite-Aid IP Q $5.00
Total Coupons $12.00

Tax $.66
$26.62-$12.00=$14.62
Spent OOP $14.62

Bayer Crystals 10 ct. $3.99

No Tax
Used Bayer IP Q -$1.50
Spent OOP $2.49

Total OOP for both $17.11

The Alaway ALSO qualifies for Offer #500-the Allergy Rebate check. (I now qualify for this highest level Gift Card for this offer, the $25 GC.)


New Rebates I qualify for with this purchase.....
Alaway $7.99
Wound Wash $5.49
Right Guard Deo. $5.00
Electrasol $2.00
Bayer $3.99


So I added $39.47 in refunds to my total(with $15 more on the $25 Allergy Offer) & only $17.11 was spent.

Total of Rebate due me is now $95.18($70.18 Cash/$25 Gift Card)

Total Out of Pocket until rebates come in is $72.37.

This Plan now has me getting $95.18 worth of products for FREE PLUS I'll get my initial $72.37 back And get paid $22.81 MORE to take the items.

Well $22.81 of it will be a Gift Card, not cash, so technically I am OOP $2.19 and I profited $95.18 worth of product AND a $25 Gift Card.

Would you spend $2.19 on $120.18 worth of products?

I have a couple more items to purchase(the Gillette Deodorant this week and maybe something next week)before my plan is complete.

Check back for the last installment in this series soon.



Sluggy