My Lucky Days

Sarah & I went to do some pharmacy shopping last night and this afternoon. It was a terrific trio! Let me explain…

First was Rite Aid. We went to a Rite Aid that we don’t frequent too often. We usually like to stick with our favorite store and favorite cashiers, but this one was right across the street from Christian’s karate, and we had just dropped him off for class and had some time.  When we walked in, we checked to see who the cashier was, and recognized her as one that had given Sarah a hard time a while back- this did not look so good. Well, we decided to walk around and see what we could come up with that wouldn’t be too complicated. So, we finally get our items and coupons figured out, which was the easiest since we had Rebekah, Noah & Matthew with us, and go to check out. The cashier scans about half my items and then sees my coupon folder and asks if I have any coupons. I say yes, and she just stands there and stops scanning my items. So, I just stand there waiting for her to continue. Then I realize that she isn’t going to continue until I give her my coupons. This is never a good sign in my experience. So, I give her my coupons and she lays them all out and put them in piles and checks them all out. She did have a problem with one, and called over the manager. The manager wasn’t sure and I was trying to explain why it was ok to use it. Finally she says “If it scans, then take it” – WHEW! I hate having to put items back, it messes up my totals! (I just printed out my Rite Aid coupon policy tonight to keep with me just in case this comes up again!) So, she finishes scanning all my items and scans all my coupons, and my total came to $1.87. I thought that was high, since I usually have my orders figured out to be under $0.50, but I paid with my gift card and was done. Then while Sarah was checking out, I was looking over my receipt. Well, a shaving cream was scanned twice, but I only purchased one. So, when Sarah was done I took my receipt over and told the manager. So, she looked over it and decided to give me a refund. The shaving cream was $3.21, and I was wondering how they were going to handle this since I only paid $1.87 for everything. Well, she saw that I paid with a gift card, and then put $3.21 on a gift card and gave it to me. WOW! I walked out of there with a bag of stuff and $1.34 more than I came in with!

Then, later that night we went to Walgreens. It was very late, and I was very tired. Also, very late on Friday nights once a month, the catalina machines that print coupons out go down for maintenance. This had happened to us once before and we had to wait almost a hour for them to come back up (why we waited I do not know, it must have been a good money maker!). So. the only thing I was buying last night was two toothpastes, which I had to pay for separately.  So, I paid for the first one and I used a $3 coupon and $0.99 on my gift card. Well, after paying a $4 coupon is supposed to print out but it didn’t. So, the cashier calls over the manager. He tries it again, and it still doesn’t work. So, he decides to just refund my money and give me the toothpaste for free. Ok, sounds good. Well, he hands me $4 in cash! That was pretty good since I paid with a coupon and gift card. So, then he decides to ring up my second toothpaste as $0.00 so I would get it for free. Just as he is finishing up, I hear the catalina machine click back on.  Then after my receipt prints, would you believe the $4 coupon prints out! Well, he didn’t know what to do. He already gave it to me for free and then the coupon prints. So, after thinking for a few minutes he just gives me the coupon and says that it would just be easier that way! So, I left with 2 toothpastes, $4 cash, and a $4 coupon! He is now my new favorite manager! Sorry Mr Gruenetzler (I know I spelled that wrong), but Mr Superman wins!

Today we go to our favorite Rite Aid. I had two simple transactions and a good cashier was on, so I was feeling good! Well, when I was checking out, my wellness discount come off of some sale price items which I wasn’t counting on, so my coupons were too much for what I had bought. So, I didn’t give her all my coupons, but my last coupon was a buy one get one free coupon.  When she put in the amounts, it sent my order into a negative. Usually when that happens I have to look around for something close to the negative amount to bring it back to positive. Well, not today, she just ended my transactions with negative balances. That was certainly easier and cheaper! So, I walked out of there with 2 bags of stuff and spent no money at all, plus I will get $17 in rebates! Not bad for a spur of the moment shop with no real intended purchases.

Sometimes those Saturday shops where you just walk around the store really looking at everything produces some great deals. My only regret is that by then, it is too late to post them because there are only a few hours left!