Plotting the Deals.....

The Con Agra sale at Albertsons', that starts on Wednesday, is going to be tremendous. The stores in the greater Spokane area are ordering vast amounts of inventory to cover the super shoppers' needs. There is going to be a lot of great deals that don't require a handful of coupons-so don't feel like you can't get in on the great deal that breaks Wednesday morning.

But I saw some deals in the Walgreens and Rite-Aid circulars that are worthy of mentioning here. The items that are included in the Register Rewards (Walgreens) and the Up Rewards (Rite-Aid) programs are almost always a great deal, especially when combined with coupons.

For how to use the rewards program at Walgreen, follow to these links and see how it works:

http://couponing.about.com/od/beautyandhealth/a/walgreens.htm

http://www.wisebread.com/dealista-tip-getting-free-stuff-at-walgreens

At Walgreens--some of the great deals I saw are:
Hershey's Candy--Sale Price: 2/$5-$2 in-store coupon=2/$3. [I need to check if the "in-store" coupon is a manufacturer coupon or not, because if it isn't, there is a $2/2 coupon available, making the bags 50 cents each.]

Register Rewards--Get $5 in Register Rewards at checkout when you buy $15 or more of participating products (good on your NEXT in-store purchase). There are five things that are included in this deal--but the two items that you could really get a deal on are Skippy peanut butter and Ragu spaghetti sauce because there are coupons available on both of these items. You would have to buy a total of 10 items to reach the $15 mark to generate the $5 register reward, and that $15 is prior to coupons. I found coupons for Skippy that range anywhere from 40cents to $1 off each bottle. If you had the $1 coupons, combined with the register rewards $5 OYNO--the peanut butter is free. The coupons for the sauce are not as high as the peanut butter, but still make for a good deal. Some are $1.25/3. That's for a total of $6.25 in coupons for a 10 Ragu purchase, bringing the total to $8.75 (with coupons) and then receiving the $5 off for your next purchase. However you look at it, 88cents a jar for Ragu with $5 to still spend, is quite an improvement on $1.50 a jar. I saw some coupons that were Save $1/2. With the combined savings, they would end up being 50 cents a jar. Bigger savings is the goal, so definitely search for coupons with higher values for individual items. Remember: you are not limited to just one or the other in this kind of scenario because it's only for a total of $15 from any of the advertised items. So, theoretically, you could have 4 peanut butter and 6 Ragu--or any number of combinations.

Some of the other things to look at in the Walgreens ad (http://www.walgreens.com/):

--Ocean Spray 64oz Juices--Sale Price: $2.99-$2 Register Reward-$1.00/1 manufacturer's coupon=negative 1 cent.

--Gillette Venus or Fusion ProGlide Razor System--great coupons available

--Kotex Feminine Care (tampons, pads, pantyliners)--great coupons

--Colgate Toothpaste--coupons available for tremendous savings. **The store has printed a Limit 1 coupon printed per offer. That means that you can only get one register reward for the two toothpastes purchased in any given transaction, even if you have numerous toothpastes. So if you are looking to generate more than one register reward, you will have to purchase only 2 tubes per transaction and NOT use the Colgate register reward to pay for the next set of 2 tubes of paste.

--Aquafresh Toothpaste--99cents with in-store coupon. Apply a manufacturer's coupon for bonus savings.

--Huggies/Enfamil--$5 register reward for $25 purchases. Layer with high dollar coupons for a great deal.

There are lots more deals, depending on your needs and coupons. The key to extra savings is to not be limited to the advertised price. See if there is a coupon that can be stacked on to the sales price and if it generates a register rewards. Register rewards can be used on anything in the store and act as cash in purchasing them. So if you are super thrifty, you can do several transactions paying for a few items at a time and paying for them by only using the register rewards. You "roll" the previous register reward onto the next item that also generates a register reward. Purchasing things this way reduces the cost of the individual item significantly and is further reduced by a manufacturer's coupon.

Some of the savings opportunities/deals I see at Rite-Aid:

Know the Program. (http://www.riteaid.com/) You can earn a lot of the Up rewards to use like cash if you pay attention to what the store has marked with the "Buy and Save" blue labels. All you have to do is spend $100, prior to the discounts with coupons and previous Up rewards. The $20 Up Reward for $100 in items marked with the blue "Buy and Save" label in the ad and by the product in the store. Some of these items that are marked with the blue label also generate additional Up rewards. Pay attention to the dual savings. This $20 rebate program runs through the month of February, and expires on the 26th. Purchases between now and then accumulating to $100 (prior to manufacturer's coupons) will generate on $20 reward to be used on any purchases at Rite-Aid. (I love this program!!) I have been able to buy so much stuff on the cheap and generate my rewards cash already.

Just yesterday, I purchased 12 large 48 ct packages of Stayfree Feminine Care products and 10 tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste for 35 cents. Now--I know what you're thinking...35 cents!! Yep. But here's how it went down. Each Stayfree package was $6.99. Do the math, times that by 12. [$83.88 before tax]. The toothpaste was $3.79 each on sale for $2.99, generating $2 Up rewards each. I had coupons for both items. For the Stayfree, I had "Buy One, Get One Free" manufacturer's coupons and Save $1 on each tube of Colgate. The cash register automatically takes $6.99 off of each set of pads (x6 sets). I hand over the coupons and the cashier takes $6 off per set (that is the max the coupon would allow per set as per the manufacturer), and $1 for each of the 10 tubes. I still have a pretty significant cash total even after the coupon discounts are taken. But I use the $2 Up rewards from the toothpaste deal last week to pay for the tubes this week (that way it generates the new rewards this week) and 2 of my $10 Up rewards...bringing the $30.35 total down to 35 cents. Euphoric!! And I generated a lot of dollars towards the $100 bank to earn my $20 Up reward that I can use on next week's deals.

So for some good deals I see this week:

--Covergirl Cosmetics, Olay skin and Bath care, Pantene products, and *Secret products--a $5 Up reward is generated when you buy $25...play with the numbers ahead of time and get come great coupons because they are on sale too--Buy 1 and Get the second 1/2 off! **Ok. There's a coupon in this week's ads that is for Secret (Buy 2, Get 1 Free). What you would do is buy 6 deodrants--with 3 at regular price, and 3 at half-price (the register will automatically do that) and then hand over the coupon at the end. The cashier should mark the price in the box of the first deodrant that is regular price, making it "free" as well. This could add up to the $25 you need to get the $5 back and it could be very, very inexpensive overall for a bunch of great products!

--Maybelline Cosmetics/Physician's Formula Cosmetics--same type of deal but you only have to spend $20 to get the $5 back, and the second product is also half off!
--Gillette razors--great coupons available [like $3 and $4 off of each package!] to use in addition to the high dollar Up rewards

--Gillette and Old Spice Body Wash--2/$8-$3/2 Up reward=$2/5 minus 2 manufacturer's coupons for $2/1; making the grand total $1 for 2 bottles. **Rite-Aid stipulates that there is a limit of 2 Up rewards for this deal per household. But hey! Four bottles for $2, who's complaining, right?

--Colgate Toothpaste--2/$5-$2 on 2 Up reward=$2/$3. There are coupons available but this deal is also limited to 2 per household. (It also is marked with the blue Buy and Save and helps generate the $20 off Up reward).
--Arm and Hammer toothpaste--Buy one, get one free (also has blue "buy and save" label). There are $1/1 coupons available.

--Lysol spray cleaners--2/$5-$1 Up reward=$2/$4+$1/1 coupons=$1 each

--Scope Mouthwash--$2/$5 on sale and there are $1/1 coupons that came in the 2/6 paper! [Just in comparison, the same mouthwash is advertised at Walgreen's this week at $3.99 a bottle. Ouch! That's a no-brainer.]

Remember to think outside the box when you are looking at the ads and see if there is really a better deal going on. Coupons create a golden opportunity to stock up for the same price that you would have already spent and never have to pay full retail price again. Be aware, be smart, and it will pay off in green!