I was in high school when the Coca-Cola company decided to introduce New Coke. It was awful. I can't put a finger on what exactly made it awful but I didn't like it. No one liked it. It lasted 79 days before the "old Coke"(renamed Coca Cola Classic) was brought back. But again, it wasn't the same. It was during this time that high fructose corn syrup came to replace cane sugar in soft drinks. It was never going to be the same again. I became a Diet Coke drinker during this time.
We all crave familiarity. It's been 539 days since I felt like the world was "normal." I chose 539 days because in my mind that was the last day before covid shut down my world. My husband and I went to see IU play in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament that day. College basketball was canceled for the rest of the year after that game. The NBA canceled their season that night. Air travel came to a halt a couple days later. The entire world seemingly shut down.
Now, 539 days later, I hear of people adjusting to the "new normal" all the time. My brain resisted. I don't want a "new" normal. I was holding out for normal. Since that time, I've been vaccinated 3 times, I've been back to basketball games, football games, indoor concerts and flown in planes but it's still not normal. Maybe next year? said the voice in my head... and then Omicron reared its ugly head. No, it's never going to be the same again. At least not anytime soon. And soon is such a relative term.
A switch turned in me this week and I started doing something I hadn't done in almost 2 years. I went couponing... and it was fun. I think I've reached that stage of acceptance. I don't want a new normal but for better or worse the world is moving on...
Obviously, all couponing stopped at the start of the pandemic. You couldn't make a bazillion trips to the store during a stay-at-home order, then there was limited product to buy and couponers by nature are organized hoarders (at least that's what my husband says) so really, couponing was not feasible or, well, moral. But after almost 2 years I got the itch again. I started hanging out in all my deal forums in November, mainly for the Black Friday deals... but then peeked at what was going on in the grocery store and drug store world with the people that can make forts out of toothpaste boxes and all... and got lured in headfirst by chocolate this week.
I'm a sucker for sweets. I went to go play at Walgreens...
Part 2 - Skip this if you don't care about couponing!
Walgreens Facts (because I needed a refresher too)
Register Rewards (RR) is fake Walgreens money that usually expires in 2 weeks
Walgreens Cash (WC) is also fake Walgreens money that lives in your digital rewards account for up to a year
Instant Value Coupons (IVC) are Walgreens store coupons that are in a booklet at the front of the store or you can load them digitally into your account. If you have a physical booklet you can use the coupons an unlimited number of times. If you load it digitally it will disappear after you use it once.
So here's the deal...
Godiva currently has a Catalina out (Register Reward at Walgreens) where you can get a coupon for $1 off your next purchase with the purchase of 1 item, $2.50 for 2 items, and $4 for 3+ items. The boxes of Godiva domes are included in the offer. Walgreens has them advertised as 2 for $7 and there is a $2 off 2 IVC. In reality, the boxes ring up $3.50 each as long as you buy 2 or more, and the coupon will take $1 off each box. So, buy 3 for $7.50 total after coupon and get a $4 RR.
Also at Walgreens, there is a Crest toothpaste deal where you get a $5 RR when you buy 3 Crest Toothpaste. The Crest is on sale for $3. There are digital manufacturer coupons available for $2 off 1, $3 off 2, $5 off 3, and $6 off 4 that you can load to your Walgreens account. These are single use coupons.
So...
Walgreens Trip #1
3 Crest @ 3.00 = 9.00
3 Godiva @ 3.50 = 10.50
19.50
-$5 off 3 Crest
-$3 off for 3 Godiva
$11.50 + tax = $12.87
I had an offer in my Walgreens account for $3 WC when I spent $12. They count the total BEFORE manufacturer coupons but AFTER Walgreens store coupons (IVCs) so I got credit for $14.50 spend and earned $3 WC, as well as a $5 RR for the Crest and $4 RR for the Godiva.
Walgreens Trip #2
I should note here that now I am "rolling" my RR by using them to get more RR. Rule of thumb for this is that the register will NOT print out another RR for the one you use, even if you satisfy the purchase requirement. For example, if you buy more Crest and use your Crest RR to pay for it, the register will not print out another Crest RR. However, if you use the Godiva RR (or other brand RR) then you can get another Crest RR as long as you satisfy the buy requirement.
4 Crest @ 3.00 = 12.00
- $6 off 4 Crest
- $4 RR from Godiva
$2.00 + tax = $2.84
I got another $5 Crest RR and I also had another offer in my Walgreens account for $7 WC when I made 2 purchases of over $10 this month. This counted as my second purchase because both the Crest coupon and the Godiva RR were manufacturer's coupons so I got another $7 WC.
I also want to note that when the cashier tried to scan my $4 RR from Godiva it did not want to scan and she finally ended up putting it in manually. I then figured out that the $6 off 4 Crest coupon must have attached to all 4 items therefore the register thought I didn't have enough items to accept another coupon. When you use a $x.xx off y item coupon sometimes the register will attach it to only one of those items but sometimes it will attach it to all of those items - I just know this from prior experience but hadn't thought about it until it happened. The cashier didn't have a clue on why it wasn't scanning.
Walgreens Trip #3
So here is where I started thinking about my exit strategy. (Everything in life needs an exit strategy)
RR usually expire in 2 weeks so if you don't have a plan on how you're going to use your fake money it will go to waste. You can buy things with your RR to try and convert its value to either WC that has a longer expiration date, or "cash." I decided to use Ibotta to "cash out" my fake money.
Ibotta is an app where you get cash back for buying certain things and scanning your receipt. Sometimes they have free offers or offers you can combine with coupons to get things free.
3 Godiva @ 3.50 = 10.50
2 Core Bars @ 2.99 = 5.98
$16.48
- $3 off for 3 Godiva
- $5 RR from Crest
$8.48 + tax = $9.28
I had an offer from Ibotta for $2.99 back for each Core Bar plus $0.20 and $0.25 for simply scanning a receipt so I got $6.43 back in cash in my account plus another $4 RR from Godiva
Walgreens Trip #4
3 Crest @ 3.00 = 9.00
1 package of Ramen noodles 0.49
$9.49
- $3 off 2 Crest
- $2 off 1 Crest
- $4 RR from Godiva
$0.49 + tax = $1.12
I bought the Ramen noodles because I remembered from Trip #2 that I needed 4 items for all my coupons to scan. Got back another $5 RR from Crest.
Final Tally
6 Godiva
10 Crest
2 Core Bars
1 Ramen
$26.11 out of pocket spend
Earned: $10 Walgreens Cash
$6.43 Ibotta (that I will cash out)
(2) $5 Register Rewards that I will use for next week's deals
In summary, I still have $26.43 in cash equivalents from spending $26.11 out of pocket so all the stuff I bought this week is essentially free.
This game is not for everyone. I enjoy the mental gymnastics. I have free toothpaste for the next couple months and some fun chocolate for the holidays. I did my deals on Wednesday and Thursday so it's not like I went to the store on Sunday morning and cleared the shelves either.
Another step towards normalcy for me.
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