My best Walgreens Day EVER!

The deals don’t get much better than this. Today I bought over $125 of merchandise from Walgreens, and paid $0. It’s rebate overlap day at Walgreens again. Today and tomorrow, both the October and November EasySaver rebate books are in effect, and several of the September rebate items carried over to October. (You won’t see these on the form, but if you enter your rebate receipts online, they will show up later.) In addition, Walgreens published a printable coupon on http://www.walgreens.com/ for $5 off a $20 purchase today and tomorrow only.

Here’s what I got for a grand total of $0.10 (yes, that’s right…TEN CENTS) after coupons, rebates and Register Rewards:

1. Pepsi (bought 3): Reg. $4, Sale 3 for $11, Register Reward (-$2), Paid: 3 for $9.00 ($3.00 saved)
2. Benefiber 16pk Kiwi Strawberry Sticks (bought 3): Reg. $8.49 ($25.47), Sunday paper coupon -$2 (-$6), EasySaver Coupon -$5 (-$15) Register Reward (-$8), Profit: -$3.53 ($25.47 saved)
3. Loreal Revitalift 1.0 Concentrate (carryover from Sept.): Reg. $16.49, Sunday paper coupon -$2, October ES rebate -$16.49, ES 10% bonus -$1.65, Profit: -$3.65 ($16.49 saved)
4. Loreal Reviatlift Eye Cream (free w/puchase of #3 above): Reg. $16.99 each, Sunday paper coupon -$1, Profit: -$1.00 ($16.99 saved)
5. Loreal Cleanser: Reg. $6.99, October ES rebate -$6.99, ES 10% bonus -$0.70, Profit: $-0.70 ($6.99 saved)
6. Alka Seltzer Cold 20ct: Reg. $4.99, Register Rewards -$5, Paid: $0 ($4.99 saved)
7. Lypsyl Lip Balm (carryover from Sept.): Reg. $2.99 each, October ES rebate -$2.99, ES 10% bonus -$0.30, Profit: -$0.30 ($2.99 saved)
8. Rimmel Foundation: Reg. $7.49 each, Sunday paper coupon -$1.00, Oct ES rebate -$7.49, ES 10% bonus -$0.75, Profit: -$1.75 ($7.49 saved)
9. Oral B Vitalizer Toothbrush: Reg $5.49, Sale $4.49, Register Rewards -$4.50, Paid: $0 ($5.49 saved)
10. St. Ives Elements Cleanser: Reg $7.99, Sale $4.99, Beauty Counter coupon -$2.00, Register Rewards -$5, Profit: -$2.01 ($7.99 saved)
11. Quilted Northern Ultra 6pk: Sale $4.00, Sunday paper coupon -$1.00, ES coupon -$1.00, Paid $2.00 ($2.00 saved)
12. Walgreens saline nasal spray: Reg. $2.99, W card 10% -$0.30, Paid $2.69 ($0.30 saved)
13. Nivea Men’s Body Wash (carryover from Sept.): Reg. $5.49, Sunday paper coupon -$1.00, Oct ES rebate -$5.49, ES 10% bonus -$0.55, Profit: -$1.55

The total for all of the above came to roughly $71 with tax after coupons and the $5 off $20. I received a total of $27.50 in Register Rewards for future purchases. (I got an extra $3RR from Bayer – not sure what for. I plan to use the $27.50 in RRs the week of November 2nd to stock up on diapers, as Walgreens will be running their “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” diaper deal again that week.) I will get back $43.40 in October Easysaver rebates from this purchase.

Grand Total for this purchase: $71.00 - $27.50 - $43.40 = $0.10

That’s right. All the items above cost me a grand total of TEN CENTS!

But that’s not all. For most people, that would be a pretty satisfying shopping day…but not for the Deal Diva. Let’s back up a bit and look at how the Deal Diva put her own spin on the deal.

Spin The Deal Strategy

I knew that the purchase above would require a large cash outlay upfront in order to get the money back through Register Rewards and Easysaver rebates to be used later for future purchases. Before making the purchase above, I grabbed a bottle of St. Ives Elements and purchased it along with a $100 Walgreens gift card. Currently, Walgreens gift card purchases are included in the 10% W card bonus. So, I will receive a $10 credit on my W card for buying the gift card. I also knew that the St. Ives deal would only generate one Register Reward per transaction, and I wanted a few, so I bought one off the bat in my first transaction ($4.99 - $2c - $5RR = -$2.01 profit). Total for my first transaction was $103, and I got a $5RR and will get $10 on my W card. The profit from the St. Ives and W card total $12.01.

Grand Total for today’s trip: $0.10 + -$12.01 = -$11.91 Profit

Now that’s spinning the deal!

Stay tuned...in a few days I'll post tips on how I prepared for this trip and how to make your next trip a success.