How a couponer spends her birthday

So many other bloggers and couponers RAVE about the saving at Rite-Aid. I have to admit that I am not a fan of Rite-Aid. Overpriced items, incompetent cashiers, and promotions or sales that just don't make any sense to me really just made me avoid the store at all costs, unless I was picking up my Rx's. I saw a few great match-ups today on The Krazy Coupon Lady's website that would make products either really cheap or FREE. I even had a few small MM (money maker) items. I have a Rite-Aid within walking distance of my house, so I decided to test the waters with a small haul and my arsenal of coupons.

Softsoap was a great deal. It was regularly $5.29 at the Factoria Rite-Aid. It was on sale for $3.49, and Rite-Aid had an ad with an in-store coupon for $2.00 off, which brought it to $1.49, and I had a $0.75 Softsoap body wash coupon, so I got it for $.0.74 each! I had to do 2 transactions, since they limit the in-store coupon to one per transaction.

The Colgate was another great deal: FREE. It was $3.99 regular price, on sale for $2.99, I had a $1.00 off coupon and Rite-Aid gave me a $2.00 Up Reward (See below for Rite-Aid details on Up Rewards).

The final goodies were Wet & Wild Products. In today's Sunday paper inserts (SS 9/21), there was $1 off any Wet & Wild product. No limit! I only bought 8 sunday papers today, so I had 8 coupons. Rite-Aid started running a promotion for 40% off any Wet and Wild Product, so the nail polishes were $0.59 each and the lip glosses and eyeliners were $1.19 each after the 40% discount, using my $1.00 each coupon resulted in half of the products making me $0.39 each, and the other 4 costing only $0.19 each. That was a great coupon. I want more!

I also added the lunch bag because it was 75% off at my Rite-Aid, and, well, I needed a lunch bag! My total cost after taxes was $5.63, and I will get $2.00 Up Rewards. So total OOP (out of pocket) is $3.63 after tax. Probably my most successful shopping trip yet as far as % savings. Happy Birthday to ME!

So, here is the daunting thing about Rite-Aid that has deterred me from shopping there. Up Rewards. What are Up Rewards? Why don't they just give me money back, or take the discount off at the register? What's the point of putting money back onto your account that expire. I never realized the cost significance of using Up Rewards combined with coupons. Wow, major savings.

Here is the full Rite-Aid coupon policy:
https://www.riteaid.com/customer-support/coupon-acceptance-policy

Here are the details on the Up Rewards:
https://www.riteaid.com/wellness/up-rewards

Other ways to save at Rite-Aid:


Adperk.com coupons
http://live.adperk.com/riteaid/frame/ravv?channel=9186933a02c14b7c8666b694

These are short videos that consumers can watch, and afterwards you can print a coupon for that product. These coupons CAN be combined with other manufacturer coupons and/or store coupons and sales. It does require you to create an account, but they have great coupons!

In-Store or In-Ad coupons
Often, Rite-Aid will have a flyer at the front of the store that you can look though and there are coupons inside that you can use in conjunction with an in-store sale, manufacturer coupon, or adperks.com coupon. When all the stars align, you can use up to 3 coupons at Rite-Aid per item.

Load2Card
This feature allows you to load some manufacturer coupons onto your Wellness Card. These coupons can be combined with Adperks.com coupons, and in-store coupons, but not any other manufacturer coupons.

Price Matching
Rite-Aid will price match an item that is in current printed ad from a local competitor. You must bring in the ad to price match. It can not be an online price or a Buy One, Get One promotion. The benefit of the price matching is that Rite-Aid will price match, you can redeem your Up Rewards, earn new Up Rewards, utilize Rite-Aid in-store coupons, and your own manufacturer coupons ON TOP OF the price match pricing. Its pretty incredible actually. It can pay to do your homework and shop around when weekly ads come out.  

The benefit of the shopping consistently at Rite-Aid is that your purchases are tracked, and you can reach bronze, silver, or gold status and receive 10-20% off of your entire purchase for one year. That savings alone can be quite significant. 

I will most certainly be shopping at this store for great bargains more often!