Drug store 101: Getting the Most Out of Your Rewards

If you didn't see my first post about drug stores, you can find it here.

I want to clarify something from that post that might be confusing. The limit of products that I mentioned was for that particular product. So, if the reward was for Pantene, I could only buy the limit of Pantene that they set. This is not, however, a limit to how many rewards I can earn by buying several different types of products. Even though I bought my limit of Pantene, I can still earn rewards for Colgate, for example. The limit is on type of product that can be bought. It is not, however, a limit on how many rewards you can earn by buying different products. I hope that is a little bit clearer. Like I said, drug stores can be confusing!

Okay, now how to get the most out of those rewards that printed on your receipt. When I first started doing this, I used the rewards on things that I didn't have a coupon for or wasn't on sale. It seems logical, right? The more I have been doing this, though, the harder it is for me to buy something without a coupon and it be on sale. Something inside of me cringes when I have to do that. So, needless to say, I avoid doing this type of transaction at all costs. It was kind of by accident that I found out what I am going to share.

There are 2 important things that you need to know about these rewards:
1. Always give them to the cashier before you hand them any coupons. You have to be at a certain total before you can use that reward. This way you'll at least be at that total before you use any of your coupons. For example, for a $5 reward, you must be at $5 before tax.

2. You can roll them! So, if for one week I get a reward for toothpaste, next week I can use that one to purchase deodorant that will print off rewards too. I'm using their money to get more of their money. The key is to use them instead of your own cash. It will take that initial investment of buying the first product to earn them, but after that, you should be set.
           ~The only caveat I have to this, is if you have multiple rewards, you can use one to buy a Sunday paper for free, or something that you just can't ever get for free elsewhere. I bought 5 12pks of Coke using three rewards from a previous transaction, and then $1.91 out of my own pocket. I couldn't find a deal like that anywhere else.
          ~On a lot of forums, they talk about breaking up your items into multiple transactions to lower your out of pocket cost. I absolutely see why you would want to do this. Please be courteous when do it, though. If there is a line, go to the back after each transaction. :)

Please let me know if you have any questions. This was probably the most confusing thing when I started.