Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Not on my dime! Using Register Rewards to shop for FREE!

Every drug store has them.  Target gives them. Even Save Mart started one.  It's rewards programs!
Walgreens has Register Rewards (RR)
CVS has Extra Care Bucks (ECB)
Rite Aid has UP's (Up's)
Target gives you gift cards (GC)
Save Mart savings card helps you save on gas (SS)

Walgreens:  Chances are you pass a Walgreens almost every time you are in town.  Visalia has 4. I love Walgreens.  They are coupon friendly and if you have ever really looked at their ad they even tell you if there is a coupon in the Sunday paper.  Their shelves are stock and if they don't have it on the shelves chances are they have it in the back.   Walgreens is great for all kinds of things.  My favorite MILK!  Yep..I said Milk!  With 5 boys we are always in need of milk.  Several times a month Walgreens has milk for $2.95 a gallon! We use to run to the gas station for milk all the time! We would pay $4 for a gallon of almost expired milk.  Check it next time you need milk.

Now to their RR program. 

What is a Register Reward?   It is a coupon that prints out at the register that you can use like cash.  You can purchase just about anything with these.  (No Alcohol, tobacco, prescription or lottery tickets)

Where do I find them? You will see in the Ad buy this sale item and get a RR.  

How is that saving me money? In the coupon world we do "rolling transactions"
Which breaks down to more than one transaction.  I try not to do more than 2-3 transactions and check out in cosmetics.

 Here is a example:
Transaction 1
Colgate Total Advanced (1)
Softsoap Body Wash (purchase 2)
_____________________________
Total OOP $9.00 (+tax) Receive $6.00 in RR

Transaction 2
Schick Hydro Razor (1)
Tide (2)
Coffee Mate (2)
________________________________
Use $1/1 coupon for Schick Razor
Use (1-2) Coffee Mate coupons
Use $1.50/2 Tide Coupon
Use $6.00 RR
____________________________________
Total $15.72 (+ tax) (Receive $4 in RR)
 Can you use RR with coupons?  YES! however your number of items can NOT exceed the number of coupons/RR. 
Example: If you are purchasing 6 items and you are handing the cashier 8 coupons/RR combine you need to purchase 2 filler.  Something on sale that doesn't require a coupon/gum/or candy.  9/10 you still save a ton using just a few filler items like mints/gum/candy.

Can I use my rewards to purchase the same item again?  Yes and NO. You CAN use RR from other items to reduce the cost and still receive the RR .  You CAN'T however use a RR from the same product to purchase it again to receive another one. 
 Example
Transaction 1
Schick Razor $9.99
______________________
Total $9.99 (+tax) Receive $4 RR
 
Transaction 2
Schick Razor $9.99
_________________________
Use RR $4
Total $5.99 (+ tax)  You will NOT receive another RR

You can:
A) Purchase them in two different transactions and use RR to reduce the cost of other items
B) You can use other item RR to reduce the cost of the razors (Like example above of "Rolling transactions"


CVS:  CVS GREAT deals.  Sometimes overwhelming.  It seems like every item in the ad is connected to a Extra Care Buck.  Their ECB are just like Walgreens RR.  Here are some tips for ECB.

* The amount you need to spend is BEFORE coupons.  Example.  If you purchase $30 in special marked items receive $10 in ECB.  They $30 is before coupons you CAN use coupons to reduce the cost and still receive the $10 in ECB

* They print out as one big ECB.  If you are doing one transaction and you get $20 in ECB.  You won't receive two $10 ECB you will receive one $20.  That must be spent all at once.

*Get their CVS card.  It keeps track of your spending and ECB print out at the register when you get to a set dollar amount.  Plus you get a % of the years total back in ECB also! You ONLY receive ECB if you have a CVS savings card

* Do multi transaction.  If any store is knows multi transactions it CVS.  If you have EVER walked into CVS, had a coupon and did one transaction the cashier probably thought to herself NEWBIE! 

*They restock Wednesday's after closing.

* You DON'T have to spend the $30 all in one trip.  Let's say they were out of an item you needed to make your $30.  You can go back Thursday purchase it and still receive your ECB. 

*Un like Walgreens, Target, Etc.  These are linked to your card.  You can't give them away unless you plan on handing the card along with them.

* As soon as you walk in there is a BRIGHT red coupon center that you can scan your CVS card to get more coupons! (Scan it until it reads no more coupons)


TARGET
Check out their Ad for the When You Buy sales.  A WYB sale is just that.  WYB select items you receive a gift card for a set amount.  I purchase all my items I get GC's for in one transaction and in the other use them to purchase my other sale items.  There is rarely a limit to how many coupons you can earn. 

Save Mart
Grab a Save Mart savings card next time you are there and swipe it every time you go.  For every $50 you spend you get a .05/gallon savings at select gas stations.


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