Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Rite-Aid this week.....5/22-5/28





















Just not feeling "it" this week.  Looked at the ad and only saw a few things that might get me to the store this week:

- Cheap Q-tips (have a year supply in my stockpile so not that interested)
- Possibly free Coppertone (with the $2/1 Rite-Aid Q that should have come in your weekly Rite-Aid email) 
- Dixie plates for $1.00 a stack (with the Video Values Q)
- Possibly inexpensive playtex sippy cups (wyb 6 with the 20% discount and the insert Q)
- Sort-of cheap cetaphil (we're out so I may have to make the trip for that item)

Just not that much to interest me....have you found any good deals this week.  Post them in the comments section.  :)

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Rite-Aid, 5/14-5/21













I was visiting some of my dear friends last week in Nashville so I was unable to do my shop until today (Saturday).  I only ventured out because I had several UP Rewards that were going to expire today.  I pulled a quick shop together and headed out to my favorite Rite-Aid for some fun transactions. 

I won't spend time breaking down my transaction since I am posting this so late but I will share some of the photos of my great trip.  I miss all of my sweet friends.  You are all very loved. 

PS - I did squeeze in a couple of shops at Publix; I just couldn't resist all of the free Back to Nature granola!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Rite-Aid, 5/8-5/14
































I wasn't planning on shopping this week.  I was in the wine country last weekend with some of my dear friends from Nashville.  We had a wonderful time together.  The weather was beautiful and we had many great "mom" conversations (i.e. uninterrupted conversations).  When I arrived home on Sunday I decided that I missed my family too much to go out and shop.  I had a wonderful time just hanging out with my husband and my children.  We read books, played outside and talked all afternoon. 

Monday arrived and I decided to finally clean up the summer clothes that I had strewn all over the girl's bedroom for the last 3 weeks.  After I was finished organizing everything I spotted a spider crawling across the floor.  I remembered that the Bug Barrier was on sale this week at Rite-Aid.  We used the Raid Bug Barrier spray last year when we were having some trouble with spiders in our home; it worked really, really well.  My friends will remember that I had a nasty encounter with spiders last year so I wasn't interested in repeating that episode.  

My hubby told me that he had some work to do last night so I told him that I was going to run and do a quick shop to pick up some of the bug spray.  I was very thankful that everything was in stock!

Click on the pictures to expand....

MONEYMAKERS
4 Breathe Right Nasal strips, 10ct. $3.99 ea. (sale price) - limit 4
- FREE Breathe Right Nasal Strips, Rite-Aid printable (rings up at $5.99) - no longer available  ** GBC, RCG and CBC folks; leave comment with email and I will send to you
- $1.50/1 Breathe Right Nasal strips from 4/10 RP
- $1/1 Breathe Right Nasal Strips, Rite-Aid vv printable (no longer available)
= FREE + $4.50 in overage ea.

6 Tylenol Precise Pain Patch or Cream $5.00 ea. (sale price)
- $5/1 Tylenol Precise Pain printable or 5/8 SS (didn't get in my region)
- $10 UP wyb $25 Weekend Warrior items (not printing; will call Rite-Aid and have them mail it)
= FREE + $10 in overage wyb 5

STOCKPILE
4 Carefree 20ct. $1.00 ea. (sale price)
- $1/1 Carefree 20ct from 5/8 SS
= FREE

THINGS I NEEDED
2 Flinstones Vitamins $8.49 & $4.24 (B1G1 50%)
- $1/1 Flinstones from 3/20 SS or printable (no longer available)
- $2 UP Reward wyb 2
- $3/15 Rite-Aid survey coupon
= $2.86 ea. wyb 2

2 Rite-Aid Napkins $3.99 ea. (B1G1)
- no coupons
- $3/15 Rite-Aid survey coupon
= $.50 ea. wyb 2

4 Raid Bug Barrier $6.99 ea. (sale price)
- $3/1 Raid Bug Barrier from 5/8 SS
- $1/1 Raid Bug Barrier, Rite-Aid vv printable
- two $3/15 Rite-Aid survey coupons (two transactions)
= $1.49 ea. wyb four and use two $3/15 survey coupons


TOTAL: $137.28
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $0
SAVINGS:  100%



NOTE: The weekend warrior UP Reward did not print.  I looked on iheartriteaid.com to see what was going on.  It looks as though several folks have had problems with the printing of this UP Reward.  Rite-aid is telling folks to wait 48 hours and then check their receipt and it should print.  I will go back next week and see if it prints.  If not then I will call Rite-Aid and have them mail me the UP Reward.

NOTE: I received 3 more surveys on my receipts.  These surveys will generate three more $3/15 Rite-Aid coupons.  Make sure that you check your receipts for these surveys!

NOTE: I am indicating where I used the $3/15 survey coupons in my item list above.  In some cases I am filling in with free items to get up to the $15 mark.  Just wanted to show you how my strategy works to get what I need every week!

NOTE: I don't know why the font on some of my posts changes from sentence to sentence.  If you know why this is happening please let me know. 



Sunday, May 1, 2011

2ND UPDATE: Rite-Aid, 5/1-5/7















Worn out from my shops today!

Pepsi "Moments to Save" insert in 5/1 Sunday paper; look for Sunchips coupon!























Me feeling sad after my 2nd shop with uninformed Assistant Mgr.
















Goodness gracious!

It's a terrific week at Rite-Aid!  I was able to get all of the above for FREE and I made $26 dollars in rebates.  A very, very good week indeed. There are some fun products this week that don't usually go on sale (ProFoot shoe inserts, popcorn, Physician Formula bronzers (just in time for summer), and a good deal on chips!  There is also FREE Fish oil so get on out there if you can and score yourselves some great deals.  Please report back here if you were helped by this post.  I really appreciate hearing from my readers.

2ND UPDATE: I made another trip out to Rite-Aid this afternoon to pick up the Lipton Diet Citrus tea (for those of you that have been following my blog over the years you KNOW how much I love that tea right)?  I was super excited to add some to my transaction today.

Unfortunately, I had another horrible transaction today.  I went to the Rite-Aid on the corner of Madison and Sunrise.  The cashier (Shawna) was sweet but she didn't understand the language on the coupons.  She kept turning to the Assistant Manager and saying, "can we take this coupon?  it says, "such and such" on it."  The Assistant Manager would turn to her and say, "no, we can't take that coupon."  I have had problems at this store before and it was mainly due to this Assistant Manager.  His name is Darren.  He told me that I couldn't use two manufacturer coupons on a B1G1 deal because I was already getting the 2nd item for free.  I informed him that I could because technically I was taking home two items so I was buying two items.  He told me that he couldn't take my coupons.  I decided to just finish my transaction and go home.

When I arrived home I started thinking about what had happened and realized that I should go back and talk with him because I didn't want other couponers to encounter the same treatment when they tried to use their coupons.  I decided to print the Rite-Aid coupon policy and bring it to him before I called Corporate so that we could "talk things out" and try and come to a meeting of the minds.  I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.  My hubby and I decided to go back out together; he told me to head back to the Rite-Aid and have them process my coupons after the fact because their policy clearly states that they will take two coupons for a B1G1 deal (I was out $9).

I headed back to the Rite-Aid and spoke with the cashier and explained the policy and she said, "yeah, it looks like it is clear from our policy."  She called Darren (Asst. Mgr.) over and he told me that he couldn't take the coupon because the language on the coupon said, "not valid with any other offer" and the product was on sale so that was another "offer."  At this point, I have to admit that I lost my cool (yes, please pray for me).  I won't bore you with the details of the rest of our conversation.  Jason and I both tried to reason with him about his misunderstanding of the language of the coupons.  He said many things which would indicate that he is afraid to take coupons;  there seems to be a culture of fear at this Rite-Aid about coupons.  Jason is emailing Corporate right now to deal with the issue.  This is an important issue to raise especially since some of you are encountering this same problem at many of your stores.  Please raise these issues to Corporate.  It is their job to correct and train their employees on the proper use of coupons.  We will talk to the District Manager and I'll post back here with our results.

UPDATE: Jason heard back from the District Manager today (John).  John apologized and informed Jason that he had spoken with Darren and had re-trained him on the use of coupons.  He said that the next time that we go back to that store we should encounter a friendlier staff.  He said that Darren was a new Assistant Manager and that he must not have been trained properly.  It's always a good idea to fill out the customer service email form when you encounter problems at the store level.  I have always had a good response from doing this.  I'm very thankful for the way that this whole situation turned out.  I can go back to this store now and be assured that I won't have a problem with my coupons (and so can you)!

A special note to my friends at CBC, RCG, and GBC......it's been a very long time since I've lost my cool over a deal not going through and I am saddened by my lack of self-control (I really thought that I was past this stage of couponing; the stage where you get upset when things don't go according to plan).  I have repented but would still appreciate your prayers that I might keep it all in perspective. 

Click on pictures to expand....

MONEYMAKERS
32 Revlon Beauty Tools $.75-$2.09 (40% off) - limit 4
$2/1 Revlon Beauty Tools printable (no longer available)
- prints $4 UP Reward wyb 2
= FREE + $2.50 in overage wyb 2 $.75 cent emory boards after UP Rewards

4 John Frieda Precision Foam Haircolor $9.59 w/20% discount (regular $11.99ea.)
- $5/1 John Frieda Precision Foam from 5/1 SS
- $5/1 John Frieda, Rite-Aid VV printable (no longer available to view)
- $5/1 John Frieda Rite-Aid printable 
= FREE + $5.41 in overage

4 Oral-B Adv. $2.79 ea. w/20% discount (sale price $2.99)  
4 Crest Toothpaste $2.99 ea.  (sale price) - limit 4 total of either Crest or Oral-B
- $1.50/1 Oral-B Toothbrush from 5/1 PG, $1.50/1 Crest Clinical from 5/1 PG
- prints $2 UP Reward
= FREE + $.50 cents overage after UP Reward

6 NatureMade Fish Oil $10.99 (B1G1)
- $1/1 Naturemade printable or printable (sign-in) or printable (zip 76109)
- $1.50/1 Naturemade Fish Oil, Rite-Aid VV printable (Rite-Aid Caregivers section)
- $3/1 NatureMade Fish Oil printable
= FREE + $.01 cent overage wyb 2

4 Right Guard Bodywash $2.99 ea. (sale price)
- B1G1 Right Guard product from 5/1 RP
- $1/1 Right Guard bodywash peelie (found 3-5 months ago)
- $1/1 Right Guard bodywash, Rite-Aid vv printable (great offers section)
= FREE + $.01 cent overage wyb 2 (use B1G1, $1/1 and $1/1 store Q)

1 Super Poligrip .75 oz $1.83 w/20% discount (regular $2.29 ea.)
- FREE Super Poligrip from 3/27 RP
- $1.50/1 Super Poligrip, Rite-Aid vv printable (Great offers section)
= FREE + $1.50 in overage

2 Fusion ProGlide $8.79 w/20% discount (sale price $9.99ea.) - limit 2
- $4/1 Fusion ProGlide from 5/1 PG
- prints $5 UP Reward
= FREE + $.21 cents overage after UP Reward

6 Physician Formula Bronzers $11.95, $12.95ea. (B1G1)
- $5/1 Physicians Formula printable (GBC, RCG and CBC folks only; leave message and I will email to you)
- $2/1 Physicians Formula Bronzer, Rite-Aid vv printable (new beauty section)
- $2/10 Go Green Bonus, Rite-Aid vv printable (no longer available)
= FREE + $3.05-$4.05 in overage

STOCKPILE
6 Pro-Foot Foot Care $5.00 ea. (sale price) - limit 1 rebate
$1/1 pro-foot printable (no longer available) or $1/1 peelie or $2/1 peelie
- prints $2 UP Reward wyb 3
- $10 SCR Rite-Aid rebate here
= FREE after UP Reward and SCR Rebate 

8 Jolly Time single bags of popcorn $.50 ea. (sale price)
- $.50/1 Jolly Time from 5/1 SS or $.35/1 printable
= FREE

4 Butterfinger Snackerz $.50 ea. (sale price)
- $1/2 Butterfinger Snackers printable (no longer available - zip 33733)
= FREE

4 Wonderful Pistachios 8 oz. $2.50 ea. (sale price)
- $1/1 Wonderful Pistachios from 3/20 SS
- $1/1 Wonderful Pistachios from Parade mag. from newspaper 5/1
= $1.50 ea.

4 Raisin Bran 15oz. $1.99 ea. (sale price)
- $.70/1 Kellogg's Raisin Bran printable
= $1.29 ea.

4 Sunchips 10.5 oz. $2.50 ea. (sale price)
- $1/1 Sunchips, Rite-Aid vv printable (no longer available to watch)
- $2/2 Sunchips Q from 5/1 Pepsi insert in Sunday Paper (regional; we received it here)
- FREE Sierra Mist Natural 2-Liter wyb Sunchips 
= $.50 cents ea. + FREE Sierra Mist

2 No Nonsense socks $1.99ea. (B1G1 - but didn't ring up B1G1)
- $1/1 No Nonsense, Rite-Aid vv printable (no longer available to view)
= $.99 cents ea.

THINGS I NEEDED
1 Duracell Batteries 20-ct. $9.77 ea. (sale price)
- $1/1 Rite-Aid peelie (found 2 months ago)
- $1.50/1 Duracell Q (expired yesterday)
- prints $1 UP Reward
= $6.27 ea. after UP Reward

2 Tide 50oz. $5.96ea. (sale price)
- $.35/1 Tide from 5/1 PG
= $5.61 ea.

1 Revlon Colorstay Mousse Foundation $9.99 ea. (sale price) - limit 1
- $2/1 Revlon makeup from 4/10 SS (regional; we didn't get it here)
- prints $5 UP Reward
- $2 SCR Rite-Aid rebate here 

2 Lipton Diet Citrus Tea 12-pack $4.99 ea. (sale price)
- $2/2 Lipton 12-pack from Pepsi "Moments to Save" insert 5/1
- $3/15 Rite-Aid survey coupon (added in free filler items to get to $15)
= $2.50 ea.

TOTAL: $514.35
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $0
SAVINGS:  100% 


NOTE: I didn't find the Sunchips manufacturer coupon until after I had already purchased my chips.  I will go back and see if they can do a "post coupon" transaction.  I'll see if I can throw in the Sierra Mist too since I didn't see that coupon either (I checked and they carry the Sierra Mist)!  When they do a post coupon they usually just ring up the coupons and then give you cash out of the register.  I'll bring my receipt in to show them that I purchased the chips; they will need the receipt to do the "post coupon" transaction. 

NOTE: I returned a few items today and received $22 in cash back.  I did a few deals wrong over the last two weeks.  I try to only return items when they don't generate UP Rewards or when I have a problem with a cashier accepting my legitimate concerns.  I try not to argue with the cashiers if they don't understand the coupons or the transactions Instead I just finish my "stress-free" transaction and think to myself.....I'll just return these the next week since the deal didn't work (I typed this yesterday and then I did the exact opposite today; apparently I don't follow my own advice)!  Rite-Aid will still be reimbursed for the coupons that I used in the original transaction so their policy is to just give you cash back for your items.

NOTE: The no-nonsense socks that I purchased were not B1G1 for some reason.  I will take them back next week to get my money back.  :)