Guest post by Lacey Wilcox
I can still remember the first time I went to try and play the drugstore game. I was excited, a little nervous, and expectant of being able to show my husband my money-saving triumph.
I walked into Walgreens with my coupons and detailed list in hand. I’d used MoneySavingMom®’s helpful tools to come up with transactions that would help me get what I needed, and get a great deal.
Let’s just say, I was pumped as I walked in the door towards my first item.
It was gone.
I was crushed, for a moment. But, I could do without the baby lotion–for now anyway. I shook it off, deciding to just move on to the next item, only to find that it was gone, too.
I worked my way through the rest of my list, only to find that almost all of the items I had planned on purchasing, had already been bought. Talk about a feeling of money-saving defeat.
Anyone else ever been there? My guess is I’m not alone.
So, what do you do when all your deals are gone? Cry? Scream? Gripe about all those selfish people out there? Yell at the store manager for not ordering enough baby lotion or laundry detergent? Sit in your car and pout? Buy ice cream?
Well, no (although that last one is pretty tempting…!). But, here are some things you can do when all your deals are gone that can help save your sanity, and maybe even help you save a buck.
1. Have a back-up plan.
Write out the transactions that are your goal, and then have some others planned out just in case you can’t make them. (Note: I would only recommend putting items on your back-up plan that you either really need, or can get for free. If there are not items like this, I would not suggest spending money just so you can say you used your coupons.)
2. Try another store.
Try another location of the same store, or maybe you decide to go try a completely different one altogether. Create some transactions for alternate drug stores and grocery stores in case your first choice doesn’t work out.
3. Politely and cordially talk to the store manager.
First, ask the store manager when their merchandise is delivered, and when would be the best time to make your purchase. Then, you can also talk with him/her about the possibility of addressing people who take all of the good deals. They might not realize that this can actually hurt their store’s business.
4. Partner with a friend.
If you have small children or a busy schedule, having a back-up plan can be a little tricky. If this is the case, try partnering with a friend to help purchase deals for yourselves and each other. This way, you both don’t have to go every week. I’ve also found that planning transactions with someone else helps me to create the best scenarios.
5. Walk away, but with joy.
When all else fails, choose joy. If you can’t make it work this week, walk away choosing to try again next week. And as you walk away, remember the things you have to be thankful for: for life, for grace, for breath, for family, for sunshine, for blessings…
…and, for ice cream. 
What about you? How do you react when all of your deals are gone? What advice do you have to hande that situation?
Lacey lives in the Panhandle of Texas with her husband, Kade and sweet baby, Selah, where they manage Panfork Baptist Camp. Lacey writes about adventures in marriage, mommy-hood, and camp life on her blog.
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I pretty much gave up on the drugstore game b/c of this.
The manager at my CVS told me corporate decides how many of the “deal” items to send. He has no control. He said they get as frustrated as the customers, but sometimes he only gets 4-5 of an item.
I usually get a raincheck and the funny thing is sometimes it ends up being a better deal later on. I either have more q’s or an ECB deal is happening again. Double ECBs! I did not know about this until it happened. I told the cashier a mistake was made and he said, “No, that is how it works with a raincheck. It is your lucky day”. So sometimes the annoyance pays off in the end. It does no good to pout or get mad at all the so called “greedy” people.
my walgreens won’t give a rain check for any item that has a register rewards, and frankly I gave up on the drugstore game – yes there are great deals but I got so upset at myself because I let 7.00 in register rewards expire and then I said “self” get over it and get all of your needs at one store (krogers is where I get everything). I still use my coupons but if I pay more at least I still have my sanity. I may try the drugstore game again in the future, but I am much happier just buying everything in one place.
That is exactly the reason why I won’t do the drugstore game. I would consistently go to my Walgreens with a list and would maybe find half the items on the list – even if I shopped early in the week. I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and frustration. I go elsewhere to pick up my deals and keep my joy.
I loved the “buy ice cream” option! I have to guiltily (is that a word?) admit I’ve done that…just to make sure I didn’t go all the way to the store for nothing! Although, I guess NOT being able to buy whatever the coupons were for did in the end save money :0) unless they were going to be free…Thanks for the tips!
When I cannot find what I went to buy I just see it as money I did not spend. Sometimes that is the best deal especially when I did not need the item I was going to buy.
These are wise, wise words! Most of the time, the item wasn’t something I really needed, but something that I just really would like to have. In the long run though, not spending money on it is saving money!
Walgreens for me is a mixed bag of frustration…. Sometimes I would think that they know what deals are out and what coupons are out and the policy is to remove those items that are free or nearly free especially if the RR is not involved. I had never had luck at walgreen like at CVS.
Several months ago I was working a couple of deals on Oral B tooth brushes and on Airwick/Lysol Sense n Sprays… The shelves were bare of anything I needed on the shelfs… I was asking the manager (it was Monday) if there were any in the back he was in the mddle of saying no im sorry we dont get our truck until…. when his younger cashier overheard and said hey Bill, Dont you remember you had me take all of those back into the stock room on Saturday??
WOW! Unbelievable yet SO believable! I wonder where you are located, my Walgreens also has a manager named Bill and they are continuously out of advertised products, often even when they open on Sundays!
I also remember that it probably wasn’t just one person that cleared that drug store shelf! The drug stores around here don’t carry a huge inventory so just 10 or 12 different people each picking up just one of the deal items can clear a shelf.
There is nothing that I need that bad and as far as the drug stores go – they seem to go in cycles and there will always be a next time for that shampoo, toothpaste, or razor deal!
You should also check to see if they will do a rain check on the sale price. I have at times gotten a better deal with a rain check than I otherwise would have, because I received a better coupon or could double my coupons when the sale week there weren’t any doublers.
When I find my deals gone….I head strait the toe customer service desk to pick up RAINCHECKS! I can still use my coupons and take advantage of the advertised specials! The key is to make sure you make it back to the store within the time you can use the raincheck.
My local CVS is really good about giving out rain checks when they’re out of sale items. Problem is they are out of sale items a lot. You’d think they’d figure out that they need to order extra inventory of items that they know will be coming up for a good sale in the near future!
Raincheck, raincheck!! One chain of drugstore in our area is almost always out of the items, so I rarely shop there. Sometimes that means I miss out on a great deal, but the peace of not walking totally frustrated is well worth it. If it is something I REALLY want/need, then I try to get there on the first day if possible. Remember, the items are going to be on sale again.
The clerk on the other side of the counter is not to blame. I must remember that my witness as a child of God needs to come before a free deodorant.
I had to do that today at Albertsons. They were out of the two deals that I was hoping for. I went straight to customer service and got rain checks for the items that I wanted. I am hoping that they will have the items in by next week.
This used to happen to me at CVS all the time. But then I learned their truck arrived on Friday mornings so that is when I arrived. Often they were restocking as I wanted things.
I learned early on in my couponing to not let empty shelves get me down. However, I have to say there are a few instances when I have just become disgusted with people by the sheer greed they display so openly since shows like “extreme couponing” came out. Since this shows inception I have seen more and more people doing outlandish things to get free stuff with coupons. For example, this past Sunday I went to Walmart to get the Scrubbing Bubbles toilet cleaning deal only to get to the shelf and see a women completely take every last box off the freshly stocked shelf and dump it into her cart and then walk away. This wasn’t one or two items this was probably about 50 since the shelf had just been stocked. I didn’t say anything I just sat there is shock. Needless to say I was unable to get the two kits I myself was planning to get.
Last week two of our local grocery stores stopped doubling and tripling coupons and I just thought how this type of greed is making it hard for the people who just want to get by. I am so glad that more coupon sites are discussing how horrible these types of habits are for everyone now because it really has to stop before they ruin it for everyone.
I think that people shouldn’t get upset about deals being gone. I have just come to expect that if you are not at the store the morning the sale begins that you don’t get the deal. But thats ok deals are a dime a dozen.
If it is an item I am wanting immediatly-I go on Sun or Mon…..if I cannot find my coupon or are short on time….I go in Fri or Sat and invariably (knowing this ahead of time) they are out-I happily ask for a rain check.
I’m new to the coupon game, but so far every place that’s been out of something has been willing to give me a rain check. Unless the coupon is expiring right away, you should still be able to get your deal when the product is in. And I’d think you could call the store to see if an item was back in stock, to save yourself from making a trip for nothing.
I only looked at a few of the comments above and don’t know if this has already been mentioned. But, we only have a Walgreens in town, so that’s the only drug store game we can play. I will ask for a raincheck and when their next shipments are, but also I will sometimes (especially if the coupon is expiring) ask the manager if they are substituting another item for the one that is out of stock. Sometimes they will allow me to substitute a similar item for the same deal, and sometimes that item will take the coupon too or it ends up being a little more expensive since I can’t use the coupon but still a good deal.
As the old saying goes “misery loves company.” I LOVED this article, as I too can relate SO well!!! My mistake admittedly is I wait till Saturday to go to Walgreen’s, the last day of the sale, and of course they are out of everything. I get upset and say next time I’ll make it a point to go earlier in the week but never have the time. THANKS for the idea of asking what day the “truck comes in”. As far as rainchecks go this Saturday was a prime example of why that doesn’t always help. A customer was pointing out to the clerk that a raincheck wouldn’t help as the item had a Register Reward which you wouldn’t get when you came in later with the raincheck. Another helpful tip I gained from this article was the person who mentioned going to Walmart for the price match deal. Thanks for that thought too.
Asking the manager is definitely a well-used option for me! My Walgreens manager knows me well by now and jokes with me when I’ve actually been able to find everything on the first try.
Once, he let me substitute a different brand of PB when the Planters brand was out of stock, and made sure the cashier knew how to ring up the deal so that I would get the PB and jelly both at their sale price and able to use the Planters coupon, too. It definitely pays to make friends with the store employees!
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