Reaping my (rebate and register) rewards

Total value of above products: $156.60 

What I spent:  $43.97

Today I spent some time putting my couponing *skilz* into practice.

First, please let me say that it is absolutely absurd that the above products cost over $150. Can you believe that? I didn't even get anything fancy, nothing organic or green, just stuff we use and need that I could get a discount on. This is ridiculous, and exactly why I am trying to learn how to use coupons and learn sales. The diapers alone would have normally cost me around $80. Things just shouldn't be this expensive.

Today I went to both Rite Aid and Walgreens. At Rite Aid, I had a $25 gift card for transferring a $5 Rx a few weeks ago, which was a great start. At Walgreens, I stocked up on some Aveeno products that I like (facewash I already use and some lotion with sunscreen that I'll use for for sunscreen this summer) that were %20 off, got $10 back in Register Rewards (which is like Walgreens Money) for doing that, and applied that along with some other RR's, coupons, and in store sales to my purchases.

I mainly stocked up on diapers, and should not have to purchase any for a while! Diapers seem to be pretty much the same price everywhere I go-there is no one place that just has them super cheap, and I do like to use good diapers because they fit well and don't leak. I normally prefer Pampers, but today I bought Huggies, too, since I could get them at a discount. So anyway, it's best to get them when they are on sale, and today I saved about 50% on them. I'm learning it is much better to stock up while things are both on sale and you have coupons; you get more for your money, which allows you to SAVE money. It's also nice to know you've got a supply of basic things built up so that you aren't on the verge of running out the majority of the time or having to make more frequent trips to purchase them.

Here's what I did:

Rite Aid (3 separate transactions):

Total Value of Purchase BEFORE coupons, discounts, and gift card: $73.91

Total spent =$56.41

Savings from coupons= $17.50

Rebates I will receive in the mail = $5

Rx perscription transfer Gift card used during transaction = $25

Visa gift card I should receive in the mail from rebate program= $15

Total out of pocket spent once all rebates/discounts are received will be: $11.41

Total savings: $62.50

Percentage saved: 84.56%

Walgreens (2 transactions):

This one gets a lot more confusing, because in the flurry of things, I forgot to use a coupon I had with me for 15% off my total purchase, so I had to get a refund and repeat the process after my second transaction, but thankfully each refund ended up getting applied to this one.

I hope I'm explaining this right. Here goes.

Transaction #1: I spent $25.57 but I got $10 in RR to use towards my next transaction.

Transaction #2: I used those 10 RR's, plus $7 other in existing RR's along with some coupons towards my second transaction.

As I've already mentioned, just after I paid for the second transaction, I realized I had forgotten to use the 15% friends and family discount I had printed off line. I (timidly and mildly embarassed) went up to one of the employees and asked if I could still apply it. Thankfully, she asked the manager and he was SO kind to go back through, refund everything, ring it back up, and apply that 15% discount to the transactions. I totally felt like THAT coupon lady in the store. By the time he did this and refunded me for 15% off of my first transaction (he just put both towards my second transaction), my total for the second transaction, which was worth $41.82, was...

$6.99!

I was totally not expecting that! I was so excited... Can you tell?

I was so encouraged to see that if you do your homework beforehand, you CAN really save a lot.

My total out of pocket spendings at Walgreens today was $32.56.

I got 3 RR back for the future, which really brings it down only $29.56

The total I would have owed before savings was $82.70

I saved $53.14, which is 64% of $82.70

Transaction #1: Saved only 24%(but got back RR's towards the second transaction)

Transaction #2: Saved  93.4%

All in all, I spent only $43.97 on $156.60 worth of goods between both stores. 

That is a total savings of: 

72%!

Not bad, especially since I'm still learning.

Be encouraged, people-if I can do this, so can you!