Kicking butt at Walgreens

I finally convinced Daylan to go to Walgreens for the non-grocery shopping, but it was also because I found some awesome deals when I looked online. It's difficult because he hates going to the store and he doesn't get that Albertson's and HEB don't double coupons. I finally explained to him that we can get stuff for a lot cheaper if we were to go to another store, like Walgreens where I know they have a better coupon policy due to the testimonies of others.

A word of advice, don't go shopping with someone who truly doesn't understand. Daylan is pretty temperate but he was doing everything in his power to annoy me to the point that I blew up on him. When I am going through a store, where I am not familiar with the layout, I didn't want him pinching me or bothering me. I'm searching for something and he is trying to down play it, which wasn't what I needed. I needed him to help me find what it was that I was looking for. He finally had enough and I told him to just wander around and I would find him when I was ready. It's a small store, it wasn't like I was going to lose him.

They didn't have two items that I was looking for. There was the Ester-C gummy vitamins that was a a BOGO deal for the 60-90 count container. I also had a $2.00 coupon which would have meant that I got vitamins for almost $5. They also had a Mr. Clean scrubbing pad that was on sale and I had a coupon. Because they didn't have the item, and we weren't sure when we would be back again, we were able to get a rain check on the two items. For those who don't know, a rain check is the store's promise that you can buy the item that they were out of for the price that was advertised. By the time they get another order in, the promotion may be gone and it isn't always fair for the costumer, so in order to keep their loyalty, the managers can issue a promise in paper saying that they will honor the promotion they had since their customer came in and that product wasn't on the shelves or in the back of the store.

It was the first time I saved more than I spent. I spent more than I was hoping, but it was because I got a Swiffer Wet Jet starter kit and I bought four packs of coca cola for more than I was wanting. Regardless, I spent $56.96 and saved $64.41. Trust me, I may not have a whole lot of flooring that is tile, but I get tired of scrubbing it with my hands and knees so this was something that was way overdue. On top of that, I got $21 register rewards. $7 is for whatever I want, and the other $15 are between more coca cola products and candy products, which was disappointing but I do drink cokes.

My Walgreens spoils. Not horrible for my first time, but I will do better next time.

Sorry, I didn't feel like flipping the picture.

Here is the jist of what I spent. It's not exact because the receipt is somewhere in the house so I can't use it for reference. I also don't remember how much each coupon was or how much the tax was. I'll start with the two big items first.

• The Swiffer Wet Jet was something I needed and kept wanting to buy for the past year. I had a coupon that said if I bought a starter kit, I could get refill pads for free up to a $7.99 value. I think it was actually a dollar less, but the Swiffer was on sale for $17 dollars and some change. Inside the Swiffer, I ended up getting even more coupons.
• The coca cola products weren't something I needed but here is the reason why I got it. I collect Coke Rewards points which could all add up. I can redeem them for other prizes. I get points from other friends as well. The weekly promotion said that if you spent $15 on coca cola products (or other products like Reeses), then you would get $15 Register Reward Points. Those are pretty much coupons you can use for whatever you want in the store. If you decide to buy beer, you can use your register reward points/coupons for it. The 12 pack cokes were 4 for $14 so I bought a 2 Liter bottle to equal the $15. Most of the rewards points went towards more coke or candy, which was unfortunate, but I can use half of them to buy more coke and get more points.
• The Oxy Clinical Care products were $8.99 each retail, but they were advertised as BOGO. I also had a coupon for $1.50 off. I've been ordering more free samples in hopes that I would get more, and get another manufacturers coupon, but it hasn't come in, so I just used the one I did because who knows when this promotion would happen again. 
• The Nexxus products were buy one get one 50% off. I went with the two cheapest products they had, which were 1oz bottles. One shampoo and one conditioner. I also had a coupon for $3 off ANY Nexxus product, so I got one bottle free and half price on the other, so it was a little over $2 for salon quality products.
• The always pads were on sale for $2.99 and I had a coupon for $2.00 off, plus I got $2.00 register rewards.
• The tampons were $3.99 and I had a coupon for $1.00 off. 
• The Raisin Bran was on sale for $1.99 per box and I had a coupon for $.75 off. The Special K wasn't originally part of that promotion, but because I had issues while I was in the store, the manager decided to give me those boxes as part of the deal. I also had a coupon for $1 off of 3 boxes. Now we have enough boxes of cereal to last us a month.
• The coffee creamer (which wasn't shown because it was in the fridge) was a BOGO deal for $2.64 a small bottle. I combined that with a coupon I got in the mail for a free bottle of creamer up to a certain value so both creamers were free. 
• The Fabreeze air effect was on sale for $2.50 and I believe I had a coupon for $.75 off.
• The aleve was the only item I had double coupons on. The advertised price was $9.49 for 100 count bottle. I had a store coupon that I happened to find at the last minute for $3.00. I also had a printed manufacturer coupon for $2.00 that I used which made 100 pills for $5.49. It was almost half price with my coupons. 
• I also bought a bottle of Melatonin, which is in a separate picture, but Daylan picked that out for me so I don't know how much it was. The Twizzlers was also something he got for me. Both were probably full price. The Melatonin is a natural sleep aid.

One thing you have to remember is that you must go for the smallest item you can for the maximum savings. If you can get the right deals with the right coupons, you can get the smaller item for almost free, if not completely free. I think you can deal with a bunch of smaller items for free than to save the space and get the economy sizes.

When you are able to see the products, it makes it easier to realize exactly how much you save. So let's recap. Total spent: $56.96. Total Saved: $64.41. Register Rewards to use on the next shopping trip: $21. Yes, I could have gone without the coke and the swiffer, but whatever. Now that I know what to expect, I can do better. I can organize the coupons better and get more. I can make my trips better.