Mission Possible Walgreens, 05/20

• She is like the merchant's ships, she bringeth her food (and other things!) from afar
• She looketh well to the ways of her household

$47.80 for $11.24 net OOP

Have you heard about the new $5/$25 coupon that Walgreens has out, good today and tomorrow (Wednesday and Thursday, 20th and 21st)? There is a catch on this one--the total has to be $25 after any coupons, including Register Rewards.

I wasn't sure I wanted to tackle that, but I decided to take my coupons and my register rewards, and see what I could come up with. With the week half over, I knew some stock might be depleted, so I looked through my weekly circular in advance and made of list of possible items to look for, noting down the price, especially sales prices, and marking a Q if I knew I had a coupon, and a RR if the deal included getting back Register Rewards. My goal when I got to the store was to be sure I reached $25 after coupons, but went as little over as possible, to keep my final out-of-pocket as close to $20 as I could get it, all while buying things my family needed or could use.

This is what I found:

Brawny paper towels, 8 pack, regular $9.49, $6.49 with in-ad coupon

4 pkgs Deerfield Farms cheese, $2.59 each, $1.50 each with in-add coupon

Right Guard Professional Strength , on sale $5.99, this generates a $5 RR (note: the spray comes in a box, most of which have $2 coupons printed on the inside of the box--good if you want to go back later and do this deal again, making this a money-maker after the RR)

Scotch brand papercutter, on sale for $1.50, (these are usually $3.99-5.99!) less a $1 MQ (manufacturer's coupon) I think got from some scotch tape I bought on sale back at Christmas, or $.50.

2 Bandaids, on sale $2.50 each, less 2 $1 MQs (these are not the ones in the recent inserts, these are from some older inserts), or $1.50 each

1 Neosporin, on sale $5, less $1 MQ, or $4; there's a $4 RR if you buy $10 of Neosporin and Bandaids, making the bandaids net of $.50 each, and the Neosporin net of $2

Totals:

Although I never would have paid full price for it, technically I got $47.80 worth of merchandise, with $10.46 in sales discounts, $7.36 in-ad coupons, $4 MQs, and the $5/$25 Q. My total after tax came to $22.24, so I decided to try a $2 RR I had from last week to bring my out-of-pocket down to $20. The register beeped, but it took the $2 off, so my OOP was $20.24. I received $9 in Register Rewards, making my NET OOP $11.24.

One thing I've noticed about a lot of the drugstores, of all three major chains--they don't always mark all the deals on the shelves, and they don't always mark them clearly. It pays to look at the weekly ad circular ahead of time, and take it around the store with you while you shop! If I didn't have my list of "possibilities" with me, I would have been lost when one the items I was going for was sold out. I try to always have a back-up item or filler in mind--no "scenario" that you design in advance is 100% fail proof. Sometimes you have to just do the best you can and accept that some deals may not be possible.

So how did your Mission Possible go this week?

Until next time...