RiteAid ~ Weekly Ad: Rite aid: 01/31 - 02/06

[petergabrielfan]

Originally Posted by iluvwine WOW. Thank you so much for the super quick replies! And you're right, I do need to breathe! My 4th is arriving in May and I'm not returning to work (woo hoo) so I'm using company time to try to figure out how to cut my food budget in half! So every bit helps! I can't believe they'll give me a $10 G.C. if I only spend 2.98! wow. Do they hand it to you right there? In all of your expert opinions, what is best? CVS, RA, or Wags? Or do you do them all?

The GC comes in the mail after a few weeks.

I do all the drugstores but my advice is to start with one.

[mbella77]

Originally Posted by iluvwine WOW. Thank you so much for the super quick replies! And you're right, I do need to breathe! My 4th is arriving in May and I'm not returning to work (woo hoo) so I'm using company time to try to figure out how to cut my food budget in half! So every bit helps! I can't believe they'll give me a $10 G.C. if I only spend 2.98! wow. Do they hand it to you right there? In all of your expert opinions, what is best? CVS, RA, or Wags? Or do you do them all?

You have to enter your receipts online with the SCR program. At the end of the month or purchases you can request them to mail it to you. It takes 4-6 weeks usually. With GC I request them as soon as it clears. For rebates I wait a few days into the new month.

[petergabrielfan]

Here is my assessment of the drugstores to give you an idea.

Wags pro: instant gratification of RR. Can do RR deals multiple times if store allows or you go more than once per week. OOP can be kept low by rolling.

con: rolling can be tricky, fillers are a PITA and can be a waste of $ if you do not choose carefully. Initial OOP can be high if you are not careful. If there are several slow weeks in a row you may have to just use RR so they don't expire.

CVS: instant gratification of ECB, longer exp. date than Wags. If an offer has a higher limit than one, you can use ECB from item x to pay for a 2nd item x. No fillers needed! OOP can be kept low w/ ECBs.

cons: must have card, most offers one per hh. Again, if ads are slow you may just have use ECB to not have them expire.

RA: only store with CASH and gc rebates. Very lenient on what qualifies & coupons do not count against.

cons: OOP can be high if you do not play your cards right, limit one on most offers, waiting for SCR check can be torture. :) Coupons can drastically cut OOP.

Feel free to PM with questions.

[taylordvd]

Originally Posted by petergabrielfan RA: only store with CASH and gc rebates. Very lenient on what qualifies & coupons do not count against. cons: OOP can be high if you do not play your cards right, limit one on most offers, waiting for SCR check can be torture. :) Coupons can drastically cut OOP. Feel free to PM with questions.

The biggest reason I like RiteAid the best is my ability to fly under the radar. You may pay $12, but get back $15 in rebates and the cashier has no clue. In my experience it makes handing over all those coupons still look like I'm paying a decent sum of money and thus not cheating RiteAid, from the cashier's perspective. JMHO. Other than that, I think petergabrielfan summed it up very well.

[petergabrielfan]

Originally Posted by taylordvd The biggest reason I like RiteAid the best is my ability to fly under the radar. You may pay $12, but get back $15 in rebates and the cashier has no clue. In my experience it makes handing over all those coupons still look like I'm paying a decent sum of money and thus not cheating RiteAid, from the cashier's perspective. JMHO. Other than that, I think petergabrielfan summed it up very well.

ITA with this too. In fact, I have had transactions at RA where I've spent $15 but have gotten back $30 or more in SCRs. Plus, RA can be great for overage and that rocks too.

[johnfdeluca]

It's funny....before I started couponing (almost a year ago), I don't think i ever stepped into a RA. In fact there was a drug store at the corner a few blocks away from my house...I passed it every day for years and went in a time or two....but when I started couponing and found the drug store deals,I knew there was a drug store at the corner but I had no idea which one it was. Well...it was a CVS. Funny because now I know where all the CVS, Wags and RAs are nearby. My head still spins at all the awesome deals and money makers....they were there the whole time and I never knew it!

So now, nearly a year into this, I have a boatload of extra supplies....toothpaste, bodywash, shampoo, etc. I ended up taking a small room in the basement and putting up shelving and pegboards for my stockpile. I give away so much to friends and charity but I still have tons. For me, I'm just itchin if I know there's a money maker out there or a freebie...so almost daily, I make a small tour of my supermarket (Publix), Walgreens, RA and (less lately) CVS and get all the deals. I just have to be careful I don't turn into one of those people on that A&E show Hoarders...I mean I know I am a hoarder but not like the people on that show...they are crazy!