The Lazy Way to Work the Drug Store Deals

Because not everybody enjoys spending their weekends doing coupon origamy…

Plenty of people drool over the deals us coupon crazies (yes, I figure I’m one of them) manage to swing, but the effort involved – pouring over sales circulars, clipping & filing coupons, joining manufacturers’ email lists, etc – is rather intimidating despite the wealth of sites that help you pull it all together. Every chain has its own policy and reward system, but worse than that is how much your experience and savings vary depending on what manager and cashier you get. I’ve had such hassles with Manhattan CVSes lately that I’ve pulled way back on my shopping-for-free because the deals haven’t been good enough to brave the suspicion and arguments [Note: heard from district manager yesterday about my rejected coupons – I was completely right, for whatever that’s worth since I didn’t get the stuff]. The funny thing is, it’s a lose-lose-lose situation:  I don’t get the product, the store doesn’t get the boost to their bottom line (the money may not come out of my pocket, but it doesn’t come out of theirs either), and the manufacturer doesn’t get their promotion, well, promoted.

I have a friend who lives across the street from Walgreens and tends to do a lot of her shopping there. She’s not a coupon clipper and always forgets to use any Register Rewards earned (not familiar with these? it’s like an instant rebate at checkout, full or partial, that can only be spent in Walgreens). From that, I came up with:

No matter what you’re there to buy, if there’s something on special that gives you back the full price, you should buy that first, get the reward, and then go buy what you came for. It’s kind of like…recycling.

But what if it’s something I don’t need/want/use, you might ask. I won’t even go the “donate it” route, because that can be a lot of hassle for a few things a month. However, I would advise you to hang onto it because you’d be surprised at the opportunities to give this stuff a good home. For example, I got a lot of household cleaning products and Glade room scent thingies for free back in February – more than I’ll use in 2 years. Then in April, my brother bought his first house and moved in. They all laughed when I showed up with a big bag of Lysol Bowl, Pledge, Glade Sense & Spray, Fantastik, Dawn, Scrubbing Bubbles, etc…but then found themselves dipping into it several times a day during the organization of his swanky new pad.

I poke fun at myself around my family about all the “free crap” I snaffle up. They just shake their heads and say “but it’s not crap, it’s good stuff”. They still think I’m nuts, but I’ve bought their reluctant respect with a year’s supply of Secret, Listerine, Always, Pantene, Chapstick, Dawn, Ziploc, Windex, Dove, you name it. I guess it’s hard to make fun of someone else’s hobby when it saves you hundreds a year on stuff you actually need.