What most people don’t realize is you can get a LOT of things cheap or even free at the drug store. Things you need everyday like shampoo, deodorant, makeup, paper products and even cereal and snacks for the kids lunches. No one says we need to buy everything in the food store. Yes, it does require stopping at two or more stores each week but if you plan ahead of time, you can stop when your in the neighborhood of the stores while you there for other reasons. For instance, if you have a doctor’s appointment and you know CVS is near there, then check out the CVS ad and see if there are some good deals and then stop on your way there. You may find that you don’t even have to go out of your way much most weeks.
If you save money on these basic items that we all use every day, then you will have extra money for the things that rarely go on sale or perhaps to go out to dinner once a month, if that’s what you like to do.
In order to get the most bang for you buck at the drug stores on these products, you will need to do some homework before hand. First you need to find out what’s on sale this week and what the best deals are. Then you need to locate the coupons that are available to maximize your savings. You also want to take advantage of the store discount programs. Each store does something different. CVS has Extra Care Bucks (ECB), Walgreen’s has Register Rewards (RR) and Rite Aid has Single Check Rebates (SCR).
Once you start finding all the great deals, you can begin to build a stock pile and then you’ll never pay full price for the items you and your family use everyday. Still not sure where to begin? Visit my blog and read this post which will explain it just a bit more.
Happy Saving!
Karen is a stay at home mom of 2 girls and she loves finding the best deals around and sharing them with her readers on her blog, Koupon Karen.
Faythe
January 13, 2010I like being able to compare things at different stores, I do not have many close by. Recently a Wal-greens opened up in my nearest local town & gave the the old fashioned pharmacy a run for the $$ on lots of things. I read Karen’s blog & love the Wal-greens posts on how to save more.. it saves me some time, as I do not shop every week.
Lynsey Jones
January 13, 2010I am guilty of looking at the ads, seeing the savings, and STILL not going there to shop! I am going to try to get in the habit of going there FIRST, then getting the rest from the grocery. Great post – thanks for the reminder!