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Your readers and those new to the drug store game and couponing might be interested in my STORE TRANSACTION CALCULATOR. http://ecomomicalme.com/2011/06/01/ecomomical-me-transaction-calculator/ This was so helpful to see it in black & white as you can easily get confused at the store. I used this for the drug stores as well as the grocery stores. You can find it here: http://ecomomicalme.com/2011/06/01/ecomomical-me-transaction-calculator/.
~ Thank You
I have been doing the Drugstore game for years now, and I still write down exactly what I’m going in for, lol. It goes on my document with my regular shopping list, so I just print them all out and take them to the store. 🙂 We have CVS and Walgreens, and I’d never remember which deal were where otherwise.
Is it worth $2 for the Sunday paper for the coupons? I can’t find anyone who gets the paper that would give them to me free when they’re done with it.
yes, you should be able to save 2.00 from the Sunday paper. See if your local paper offers a 1 yr discount, though. Ours is 52.00 year for Sunday/Wednesday and that gets us the Wed grocery ads for price matching and planning and also the Sunday coupons.
Hey Crystal-Thanks for giving this newbie permission slow down. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with my Walgreen’s trips. I think if I just focus on 1 or 2 RR deals I will be less overwhelmed. Sometimes the most simple advice is like a “duh” moment for me. Thanks!
Hey Crystal!
You’re not standing in front your door this time! Sitting in a chair in your living room adds a better cozy feel to your videos! You’re awesome, thank you for all you do!!!! =)
We’re getting pretty good at Wal-Greens and Rite Aid! I love the video values you can get with Rite Aid.
You have wonderful and helpful posts Crystal!
You look great, vacation was good for you! You’d probably disappear on that Jillian Micheal’s thing you are trying, unless its for your marathon training.
I agree with Stephanie, get the rewards from transaction number one and use them up on transaction number 2. That way you don’t have to worry about coming back and buying something that you may not have otherwise bought.
When you get to the point where you are shopping there every week or every other week, you’ll want to have the rewards on hand so that your OOP on that first transaction becomes smaller and smaller. Since we don’t always have the benefit of knowing what will be on sale weeks in advance, it will help out if the next week, there’s something you really would like to get without spending more than a couple of bucks.
Ya, I have to say your makeup looks really good !! What kind of foundation and powder do u use? Or are u just naturally glowing from your vacation 🙂 Didn’t even finish the video, wanted to ask this q.
I’ve been playing the game for a little less than a month and I KNOW I’m not ready to move beyond the baby step phase yet. BUT, I have still managed to save a significant amount of money so I’ll stick with it!
Great job; keep up the savings!
Thanks Crystal! Very exciting! 🙂
Great advice (& lighting!) crystal! I’m a month into playing the drugstore game and I think I needed to be reminded to take the baby steps still 🙂 thanks!
Does anyone else feel this way about drugstore game? I cannot afford to not save instantly. I prefer to save it immediately and do not feel that the rewards are financially savvy for my lifestyle.
Sometimes I feel that way too. When I get the rewards back they have an experation date and sometimes I feel stressed about having to use them before they expire. That can force you to do a deal that you might not really want or that is not really a good deal just because your rewards are going to expire!
One great thing to do is to have 2 (or more) transactions. You can plan to buy the items that print out rewards to use on your next purchase (or the higher value rewards) in the first transaction, and then buy the items that do not give a reward (or the lesser value rewards) in the second transaction. That way you don’t spend a lot out of pocket, and don’t have to worry about rewards expiring before you get back to the store to use them. I do this frequently and I find that most cashiers are familiar with it and very helpful. If your store has a beauty counter to check out at that would be a excellent place to do 2 transactions so you aren’t holding up the lines up front! 🙂
I also should have added that you use those rewards from the first transaction on the second tranaction. 🙂
Thanks for writing this comment. I do this too. There are weeks that I feel there are no good sale items at the drug stores. Or the items on sale may not be anything I’ll use. It’s been 3 months since I’ve bought anything at CVS just because I didn’t feel like the sale items were things I needed. If I waited to accumulate extra bucks, my first ones would expire before they were used. I figure it all evens out in the end anyway not matter if I use them immediately or later.
Yes, yes, and yes to everything! I remember my first Walgreen’s trip (Wags is all we have no so brainer there): six bottles of Herbal Essences, batteries, and gum. I was hooked! There are some weeks where I have a huge spreadsheet mapping out my plan, and simpler weeks where I only get two or three items…or nothing at all! But ya gotta know the specific rules or it will flop! Read, read, read all the comments on posts to understand all the little nuances, and you’ll get the hang of it. The Drugstore Game can be the best deals you ever get!