How the??? Who the??? Wha???

I have a huge smile on my face right now.  Really.  You should see it.  Big shit-eatin' grin (I never quite "got" that phrase... think about it for just a second or two...)


Anyway.  I just went to two Walgreens stores, spent a couple hours and $6.34+tax on 8 transactions totaling over $230 (when I total it, it's less... must be sale prices is all I can figure) worth of merchandise.


Yeah.


Feelin pretty darned good.


So let me tell you how I did it.


I started this week's shopping with 10 Register Rewards (RRs) from my purchase of Joint Juice last week.  Found out this is a deal running the entire month!  Yay!  I love this stuff and I'm hoping it will help with the joint swelling I get when my illness flares up.


Key-- 
store Q: Walgreens ad coupon
man Q: Manufacturer coupon, generally from the newspaper or printed from online
RR: Register Reward, Walgreens reward system, issued by the manufacturer for promotion
B1G1 Q: Buy1 Get1 coupon


Question-- Why all the Valentine pencils/pins?
                    When shopping at Walgreens, one of the most important things to know is that their RRs count as manufacturers coupons.  And even though they will accept 1 manufacturer coupon AND 1 store coupon per item... The total number of coupons used must not exceed the total number of items purchased.  SO, all those itty bitty purchases are my "fillers."  Simply cheap items to boost my product number so that I can pay with all those delightful little coupons, aka other people's money!  So.... read on and then get out there and do some shopping!  And if you won't use the Joint Juice, you can always pass it along to someone who will *wink wink nudge nudge* (I will gladly trade some toothpaste or tabasco sauce!)

Question-- Why the rotating transactions (razors, joint juice, razors, joint juice, etc)?
                  This is the other important thing to remember when shopping at Walgreens.  Because Walgreens has no loyalty card, they have to have safeties in place to attempt to limit the number of deals you can take advantage of.  Let's say you make the Joint Juice purchase and get $10RR back.  If you go back and make another Joint Juice purchase and attempt to pay with the $10RR you received from the previous Joint Juice purchase, another RR WILL NOT PRINT.  In fact anything within that manufacturer family will have the same outcome.  So pay attention to your transactions.  Line everything up ahead of time so you know what you're doing.  And relax!  If you mess up a time or two in the learning, it's not the end of the world.  Chalk it up to experience and go back the next week armed and more ready for the game!

Question-- Do you have no shame???
                  Apparently not.  See, here's the thing.  I know that when I pay with manufacturer's coupons and RRs (which remember are manufacturer's coupons as well), Walgreens is getting paid the face value of the coupon PLUS $0.08 handling.  SO.  No, I am not ashamed to wait in line 8 times to score enough body wash, razors, toothpaste, whatever! to last my family a year and still have enough left to give away... In fact, you can thank me and people like me (people with no shame) for boosting the economy!


Transaction #1:
Gillette Fusion Razor 8.99
Dove Body Wash 5.99
Valentine Pencils 0.59
                             0.41
                             0.50
-.90 store Q
-10.00 RR
-4.00 manQ
-1.50 manQ
Subtotal: $0.08-- got a $6RR and a $4RR back


Transaction #2:
Valentine Pencils 0.59
                             0.41
Joint Juice 10.00 SALE
Joint Juice 10.00 SALE
-0.60 store Q
-6.00 RR
-4.00 RR
-10.00 B1G1 Q
Subtotal: $0.40-- got a $10RR back


Transaction #3:
Gillette Fusion Razor 8.99
Valentine Pencils 0.59
                             0.41
                             0.50
Dove Body Wash 5.99
-0.90 store Q
-4.00 manQ
-1.50 manQ
-10.00 RR
Subtotal: $0.08-- got a $6RR and a $4RR back


Transaction #4:
Joint Juice 10.00 SALE
Joint Juice 10.00 SALE
Valentine Pencil 0.39
                           0.39
-10.00 B1G1 Q
-6.00 RR
-4.00 RR
Subtotal: $0.78-- got a $10RR back


Transaction #5:
Dove Body Wash 5.99
Gillette Fusion Razor 8.99
Valentine Pencil 0.59
                           0.41
                           0.50
-0.90 store Q
-4.00 man Q
-1.25 man Q
-10.00 RR
Subtotal: $0.33-- got a $6RR and a $4RR back


Transaction #6:
Gillette Fusion Shave Gel 4.29
Gillette Fusion Shave Gel 4.29
Joint Juice 10.00 SALE
Joint Juice 10.00 SALE
Valentine Pin 0.69
                       0.31
                       0.50
-4.60 store Q
-1.00 man Q
-1.00 man Q
-10.00 B1G1 Q
-1.50 RR (left by the guy in front of me)
-6.00 RR
-4.00 RR
Subtotal: $1.98-- got a $10RR back


Transaction #7:
Dove Body Wash 5.99
Gillette Fusion Razor 8.99
Valentine Pin 0.69
                       0.31
-1.25 man Q
-4.00 man Q
-10.00 RR
Subtotal: $0.73-- got back a $6RR and a $4RR


Transaction #8:
Pull Ups Jumbo Pack 8.99 SALE
Valentine Pin 0.69
                       0.31
Gillette Fusion Shave Gel 4.29
Gillette Fusion Shave Gel 4.29
Gillette Fusion Shave Gel 4.29
-6.90 store Q
-1.00 man Q
-1.00 man Q
-2.00 man Q
-6.00 RR
-4.00 RR
Subtotal: $1.96-- got back $3RR