A Really Good Shopping Trip

I've decided that my new favorite store is Rite Aid. My Rite Aid is quiet and clean and I never feel like I'm holding up a line while using my coupons. The cashiers are awesome and accept all coupons without question. PLUS, you can stack many coupons on each item to make for some really great deals. Rite Aid has two separate programs to help in your couponing mission. Since I'm still new to blogging, I don't know how to link to the individual pages directly yet. But, you can find the links at riteaid.com. The first program is the video values program. By watching very short videos, you can earn manufacturers coupons for certain products. These coupons can be stacked with other manufacturers coupons found in coupon inserts or printed on line. Plus, these two types of coupons can be stacked with Rite Aid coupons. Thus allowing you to use three coupons per item! The other program at Rite Aid is their Single Check Rebates. Every month they give rebates on certain products, sometimes up to the full purchase price of the item. The cool thing is, they don't care if you used a coupon at purchase to pay less. They'll still refund the full amount!! I've learned that in the couponing world, this is called a "moneymaker." You end up with more money than you had. And, I guess, we can include a third benefit from Rite Aid with their +UP rewards. These are coupons that print out after the purchase of certain items. I had a hard time understanding these at first but I think I've got them down now. So, here's my shopping trip from last night. Please remember that I am new to this and it took a lot of planning to make my shopping list and then a lot of time in the store finding the correct products. Last night was only my 3rd time in Rite Aid. Also, while I was there, I realized that I had pulled the wrong coupon for the body wash. Fortunately, I had my coupon binder with me to find the matching coupon. Otherwise, I would have had to scrap the body wash from my list. Here's the rundown. I used two transactions to use two $5 off $25 purchase coupons. Oh, that's another really cool thing. The $25 is PRE coupons! Here we go.

Item Cost Coupons +UP reward SCR
Crest toothpaste $2.49 -$0.75 $2.00
Renu contact solution $7.29 -$4.00 $7.29
Kendall first aid gauze 2 for $7.00 -$2.00 $1.00 $3.00
Gillette Body Wash 2 for $8.00 -$6.00 $2.00
Allergy Buster $9.99 $9.00
Blink eye drops $7.99 -$1.50 $2.00

Total $46.76 -$16.25 $5.00 $21.29
I also used $13.00 +UP coupons I had from the last shopping trip I took and a $5 off $25 coupon I had. This made my out of pocket cost $12.51. I got $5 +UP back and will get $21.29 back in rebates.

Here's transaction number 2.
Item Cost Coupons +UP reward SCR
Crest toothpaste $2.49 -$0.75 $2.00
Mitchum deodorant (3) $10.50 -$2.25 $2.00
Crest mouth rinse $4.99 -$2.00 $3.00
Glide floss 2pk $5.99 -$0.75 $4.00
Milk 1 gallon $1.99 No coupons, I just needed milk!

Total $25.95 -$5.75 $2.00 $9.00
I used the $5.00 +UP rewards earned from transaction number one above plus a $5 off $25 purchase. This made my out of pocket cost $10.21 with a $2.00 +UP coupon back to use on my next purchase and $9.00 to come back as a single check rebate.

Here's my total for the entire shopping trip. Total cost of items $72.72. My out of pocket was $22.72. My single check rebates from these purchases will be $30.29. So, I guess you could say, I earned $7.57 by shopping last night! That's awesome!! Shopping doesn't seem like such a chore when you can make money doing it!