Extreme Couponing Tip: What to buy at a Drugstore

What to buy at a Drugstore

Shopping with coupons can be tough if you don’t know what stores usually have on their “regular sales” list. It didn’t take me long to figure out that a good portion of my Health, Beauty, Toiletries, and Personal Care items would come from drug stores. They simply offer the best sales that match my coupons. Knowing what to buy at a Drugstore can really make or break your weekly budget! It can be the difference between paying $3.50 for Shampoo at Walmart – when you could get it for $1 or less – keep reading to find out how!

The most important thing you need to remember about Drug Stores is that most of their items are overpriced – SHOP THE SALES AND USE COUPONS – this is how you are going to get the best deals! That is the most important thing to remember about shopping with coupons – COMBINE YOUR COUPONS WITH THE SALES AND REWARDS – and you will have an awesome stockpile in no time!

What to buy at a Drugstore:

• Toothpaste and oral care items (toothbrushes, mouthwash, floss etc)
• Shampoo /Conditioner
• Hair Styling products
• Hair color
• Lotion
• Sunscreen
• Razors and shaving cream/gel
• Razor Cartridges
• Makeup and cosmetic items
• Nail polish and nail care items
• Feminine products
• Cleaners
• Air fresheners
• Over the counter medication
• Diapers
• Facial care products
• Deodorant
• Body wash
• First aid items
• Lip care items
• Gum
• Snacks and Candy
• Laundry care items
• paper plates and other tableware

I am sure that this list could go on – I have even been able to get a pretty good deal on food items before! I have highlighted the items that you can get for under $1 on a regular basis – or even FREE.

Here is how to shop at Drugstores with coupons:

• First things first – SHOP THE SALES!
  • I have so many people tell me that they can save more money just by buying the generic brand (store brand) at Walmart and not use coupons – I am calling you out – yes you – because I know for a fact – that you CAN NOT save more money just by buying the generic brand at ANY store than you can by using coupons THE RIGHT WAY. Of course you can’t walk into Walmart with your coupons and expect to pay less than you would if you bought the store brand – but this is NOT the right way to coupon. It is a way to coupon, but not the one that will save you lots of money and fill your basket up for an inexpensive cost. So the first step here is to shop the sales.
• Second – Match the sale with your coupon (or vice versa)
  • If you see a sale on Shampoo for $3 each – that is not a great price – but if you have a coupon that will take $3 off when you buy 2 – that gets them down to $1.50 each – that’s not too bad.  You can use our free coupon database to quickly look up coupons to see if there is anything to match the sale items you are looking at. We also do coupon matchups for several stores – making it easy for you to simply make your list and find your coupons.
• Third – Look for Rewards
  • If you see an item that  has a great sale price, and especially if you have a coupon for it – it may very well have a “reward” attached! These come in all different forms (+Up rewards at Rite Aid, Register Rewards at Walgreens, Catalinas at Grocery Stores, Extra Care Bucks at CVS, etc). Let’s continue with the Shampoo deal from the last step – You see a sale on Shampoo for $3 each, and you have a coupon good for $3/2 – So you get 2 – use your coupon – and realize that you get a reward – $1 reward when you buy 2 – making them only $1 each! That is a great price for hair care products. This is how you combine the SALE with the COUPON and the REWARD to get a STOCKUP PRICE!

Other things to remember – you may often find deals that are FREE with your coupons, and you will get a reward back, turning it into a “moneymaker”. These are a great way to offset the cost of items that you need to buy but don’t have coupons for! Here is an example:

Buy (1) Bic Razor $3
Use the $3/1 coupon in the paper
Pay $0.00
Get back a $2 reward (when you buy 1 item)
Final Cost is FREE and a $2 money maker

Rewards are basically coupons (good only at that store) for money off of your next shopping trip. So the first time you go couponing at a Rite Aid, Walgreens, or CVS you will not likely have any rewards. You may pay a little more out of pocket the first time – but if you shop the sales with the rewards – you will get a bunch back – making your next trip very inexpensive out of pocket, because you can use the rewards to help pay for everything. Then you will get more rewards back for your next trip.

It can seem confusing if you haven’t done it before – but don’t get discouraged. Even if you only do one deal just to get your feet wet, you will quickly pick it up.

Make sure you watch the limits of the sales. Most places have a limit of 2 or 4 for each reward (sometimes even just one) – so you can only do the deal that many times and get a reward back. This is great to help control shelf clearing (although it doesn’t always work). Get as many as you can with the limits and coupons – say 4 items –  and add those to your stockpile.  The next week you will get more items to add and it will eventually be the perfect example of  a pristine stockpile! 🙂

If they don’t have enough of the item you want, you can very often get a rain check and get it the next you are in – even WITH the reward!

Be sure to read our Getting Started with Rite Aid and Getting Started with Walgreens shopping guides to learn more about them.

What tips do you have for what to buy at a drugstore?