Walgreens: The Results

Based on the plan I meticulously crafted, I estimated that (not counting prescriptions) I would spend about $70 after coupons and would receive $9 in Jingle Cash plus $6 in mail-in rebates.

I ended up missing one product on my list and adding a couple more in-store, but my final result?

Spent: $70.16 RIGHT ON THE MONEY, BABY!
Mail-in rebate: didn't print! BOO! I may have picked up the wrong item. Probably will return it.
Jingle Cash received: $26!! JACKPOT!

How did this all work out? Here's the list I made prior to shopping, with notes from the actual store experience beneath each. If you don't want to bother with reading an in-depth analysis, and just want to know the outcome, here's what I saved (according to my receipt) AND a short list of important things I learned during this trip:

FINAL SAVINGS OUTCOME (not counting the prescription counter):
Wag Coupon Savings: $14.18
Wag Advertised Savings: $30.73
Mfg Coupon Savings: $35.69
My Total Savings: $80.60
Percent saved, based on that number: 54%
(That number takes into account the $11 Jingle Cash I redeemed from the previous week but does NOT account for the $26 in Jingle Cash I received this week. I will count that on next week's write-up.)

THINGS I LEARNED:
1) Prescriptions don't create Jingle Cash
2) Pay attention to your prices. Just because the card is sitting in the .99 section doesn't mean it's in the right place.
3) Know what triggers your deals well and pay attention / make sure you pick up the correct item. (Cortaid, possibly the greeting cards.)
4) Jingle Cash prints based on the pre-coupon price of your merchandise.
5) Many of the little free flyers in the pharmacy area have coupons hidden inside! I picked up free informational packets on things like 'vitamins and supplements', 'digestive health', 'sports medicine', and 'blood pressure', and they all had coupons within.

Now, here's that detailed analysis I promised:

Things I needed:
Neilmed Nasaflo Neti Pot solution packets - cost ??
-a 100-packet refill was $9.99 at Walgreens.
-I found a $2.00 off Wags coupon in the Dec booklet
-there was a $3.00 off manufacturer's coupon on the box!!
-total cost? $4.99 for nasal health! yay!

Peppermint mocha coffee mate - cost?? (but I have a $1 off coupon!)
-$2.49, not on sale
-buying the Peppermint Mocha variety makes my husband happy AND it keeps him out of Starbucks during the holiday season, so it is well worth it to me to buy even when it isn't on sale!

Prescriptions - cost $60 (I THINK)
-Actually $58.50. Close enough.

Dayquil - cost $8.99, get $2 Jingle Cash
- this was actually a 2-pack of Dayquil / Nyquil together

Christmas lights - cost??, on sale BOGO 100 pack
-$3.99 for two

file folders - cost ??
- $6.99 for 48. Probably overpaid. Needed them though.

Edy's Ice Cream - on sale BOGO, I think the cost was $3.49
-actually $6.29 for two. OUCH. But my husband promised ice cream to the kids, so...

Deals I wanted:
Cortaid Cream .5oz free after rebate - cost 5.99 (I think)
- my rebate didn't print. I actually saw this listed on a blog somewhere as costing $3.99, so I grabbed the tube that was on sale for that price (original Cortaid cream, 1 oz side). So I paid $3.99 and got nothing back. I will return this, and also see if I can find out which product WAS supposed to print a rebate form.

Skippy peanut butter, 2 (on sale 2/3), coupon .75 - cost 2.25
- Success!

V8 Fusion, 2/5 with in-ad coupon, man. coupon for $1 - cost 4.00
- success!

Crisco shortening sticks, $1.99 in-ad coupon, coupon for .50 - cost 1.49
- success!

Toll House morsels, in ad coupon 1.79, coupon 1.25 off 3 - cost 4.12
- success!

ziploc bags, 1.99 in ad coupon, coupon $1.00 off 2 - cost 2.98
- success!

revlon top speed nail color, $5 Jingle Cash - cost 5.99
- could not find this in my store. Throat was too sore to ask an employee for help. Just skipped it. May search it out later if I go back this week.

Wisk 48 loads, $2 Jingle Cash, $1.00 coupon - cost ??
- on sale for $6.99
- success!

Nyquil, on sale $8.99, $1.50 off coupon plus buy 2 get free Puffs (buying Dayquil above) - cost 7.50
- I only needed to buy two Nyquil's to a) stock up for the winter and b) get my free Puffs. So instead of buying the $8.99 pack from above twice, I bought a bottle of Nyquil that was on sale for $6.99. Used my coupon AND got the free box of Puffs for $1.69 value.

Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice - Wags coupon $1 off 2, Man. coupon $2 off 2 - cost ??
- original cost 2/$7, final cost after coupons 2/$4

L'Oreal Lipgloss, on sale 2/$13.49, coupon $5.00 off 2, $4 off from Wags Dec coupon book - cost 4.49
-success!

Things I added while in the store:
4 Hallmark cards
-I read right before I left that cards were on a Jingle Cash special this week: buy 2 cards, get $2 back. Buy 5 cards, get $5 back. I was going to ignore this because cards are usually expensive and I don't really need to stock up on them, UNTIL one intrepid person pointed out that Walgreens has an entire section of cards for .99! Which would mean that you could stock up on cards a couple different ways:
1) buy 2 at $1.98, get your $2 Jingle Cash
2) buy 5 at $4.95, get your $5 Jingle Cash
3) do the "buy 2" in multiple transactions, buy 6 (or more!) at $5.94, get $6 Jingle Cash back
-Since I had to do two different transactions anyway (one at the pharmacy and one at the front counter), I figured I'd pick up four cards for the heck of it and stock up on kids' birthday cards for next year. So I did.
-I rang up 2 cards at the pharmacy counter along with my prescriptions, and received my $2 Jingle Cash for them. (I also learned that prescriptions don't count for Jingle Cash, which will be relevant in a little bit.)
-I rang up my other two at the front counter with the rest of my groceries and did NOT receive any Jingle Cash for them. BOOO. I also accidentally, in looking at my receipt, picked up one card that cost $2, even though it was in the .99 section. DOUBLE BOO. So I paid a net of $2.97 for four greeting cards I didn't need. Contemplating whether or not it would be tacky to return two of them (since I'm going back to return the Cortaid anyway). Are you allowed to return greeting cards?

BONUS FUN:
This week at Walgreens it's SUPER JINGLE CASH week! You get $5 in Jingle Cash for every $25 you spend, up to $100 (or a printed return of $20 Jingle Cash) per transaction! Good thing I had a big week there, eh?
-This is how I learned that prescriptions don't create Jingle Cash. I spent $60 at the pharmacy counter but did not get cash for that, though I DID get the Jingle Cash for the greeting cards, so the pharmacy counter DOES print Jingle Cash. And yes, I asked the pharmacist if prescriptions counted, and she said no.
-I also learned that evidently Jingle Cash is triggered by the pre-coupon amount you spend because... I GOT $20 JINGLE CASH AT THE FRONT REGISTER! My pre-coupon total was $110, and even though I brought it down to $70 with coupons, I still got the full amount of Jingle Cash. Next week at Walgreen's is going to be super fun!

These sales run through Saturday December 11th, so if any of them appeal to you, you can run to your local Walgreen's and take advantage of them too! Let me know if you need help tracking down any of the coupons. If you're a new EXTREME COUPONER and you haven't yet subscribed to the Sunday paper or started saving all the coupon inserts, DO IT. You could be saving a LOT of money!

FINALLY, don't forget to call the feedback number on the bottom of your receipt(s) when you get home! You only have a few days to do it, it's a short survey, and you get entered in a drawing. Walgreens' drawing this month is for $3,000 cash. That's worth a couple minutes of my time, for sure.