Save With Drugstore Rebates
Easy Drugstore Rebate Programs
I will be honest—I have never been a big fan of rebate programs. In spite of knowing that rebates can be lucrative, I just don’t have the patience to save receipts, fill out forms, and meet deadlines. Even when I have tried to complete rebates, I have been disappointed when I received a polite postcard in the mail explaining that I just didn’t fill the form out correctly or had overlooked an important piece of documentation.
But since I have discovered the relatively new, easy drugstore rebate programs I have a new attitude about rebate programs. With just one form, one shopping trip, and one receipt I can get lucrative rebates for several products at once, making all of them absolutely FREE to me! In some cases, I can even use grocery coupons for items to net an overall profit on getting free rebates. If this sounds too good to be true, keep reading!
These drugstore rebate programs are monthly, all-in-one programs that allow you to redeem rebates for several products at one time. Major drugstore chains such as Eckerd, Rite Aid and Walgreens create monthly booklets that list all of the products with rebates available in that month. Shoppers can buy one or several items and send in the completed rebate form for all of the products at once.
Some of the items are actually free after the rebate, and the drugstores make it very easy for shoppers by clearly indicating which ones are free. One chain, Eckerd, even calls their free items “Freebates” which I thought was pretty clever.
Shoppers can save even more at these drugstores by being strategic with grocery coupons. Not only do the stores accept manufacturers’ coupons such as the ones found in the Sunday newspaper circulars and on printable coupon sites, but they allow shoppers to combine manufacturers’ coupons with store coupons (for the same items) found in their monthly rebate books and/or their weekly advertising circulars. You can only use one store coupon and one manufacturers’ coupon per item, but you can use both types of coupons together on the same item.
More details about these drugstore rebate programs on the stores’ websites at eckerd.com, riteaid.com and .walgreens.com .You can either browse and print the rebate offer booklets for the month or look for them in the stores. Be sure to review the weekly advertising circular to be able to time your rebate purchase in the week the item is on sale to maximize your savings. You can also download and print the rebate forms directly from their site, but you cannot download the weekly ad’s coupons from the site. You receive those in your newspaper or find them in the store.
The Coupon Mom website lists the best coupon deals and rebates for Walgreens and CVS every week in the Grocery Deals by State section of this site, updated every Sunday.
To get free items easily, be sure to check on the “Freebate” logo on Eckerd’s site to see which items are free after the rebate. They typically feature one item per week. You will find the free rebate items at the top of Walgreens Easy Saver catalog list. Rite Aid does not always list free items but be sure to check each month. You will pay for the items when you buy them but will receive the full price refund when you send in your rebate information.
Although there is not a stated policy regarding rebate amounts when additional coupons are used, I found that even when I used a $1 coupon on the $4.99 item, I received a $4.99 rebate. I do not think that is unusual, although I would have expected to receive a rebate of only $3.99 since the coupon amount showed on the receipt. I won’t argue!
This rebate game is pretty easy to play (easy enough for me to do!) because drugstore chains make an effort to point out rebate deals in each week’s circular. For example, one week my drugstore ad this week showed a twin pack of toothbrushes on sale for $1.99, and then had a chart next to the item subtracting the $1.00 mail-in rebate, showing a final cost of 99 cents. Because I had a grocery coupon for that item for $1.00, I realize this item was essentially be free to me (although shoppers will pay the sales tax for the item’s full price).
Each program works slightly differently. For example, Rite Aid allows you to enter your receipt information online so you don’t have to mail in your information if you’d rather provide it online.
You can track your rebate status online with Walgreens Easy Saver rebate program. If you elect to have your rebate amount put on a Walgreens gift card instead of taking it in cash, you will get a 10% bonus on the card, making your $20.00 cash rebate worth $22.00 when you elect to receive it as a Walgreens gift card. If you do the Walgreens rebates every month, it makes sense to earn an extra 10% by having the rebate amount put back on a card, which you can use to pay for my rebate purchases the following month.
You can also donate more personal care products to charities by using these rebates. Local charities, shelters and food pantries always need toothbrushes, deodorants, toothpaste, shampoo, body lotion, dental floss and any other products we all use every day. Save your bargains and freebies in a special “charity box” and donate them to your next food drive or take them to a nearby charity.
Stephanie Nelson shares her savings tips as a regular contributor on ABC News’ Good Morning America. You can find more of her savings tips in her book “Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom” and on her website at www.couponmom.com. Copyright 2006 Stephanie Nelson
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