Friday, April 30, 2010

I really do heart Walgreens


I never really shopped at Walgreens before I discovered couponing. However, in the last few weeks I have been there so many times that I think the employees are starting to either love me or hate me, I'm not sure which. Did you know that you can actually make a profit there? Earlier this week I made a profit TWICE!

Now when I say made a profit, I don't meant that they actually hand you cash - usually. In this case, they actually did. Walgreens has a system called Register Rewards - they are kind of like reverse coupons. If you buy a certain item, a coupon will print for a certain amount off you next purchase at Walgreens. For more info on this, I highly suggest the blog http://wildforwags.com/
The Schick Intuition razor was a register rewards item. It was on sale for $8.99, and printed a $3.00 register reward. I also had a $4.00 off coupon from the paper a few weeks ago. After I made the purchase, my register reward did not print. The manager came over, tried the transaction again. It still did not print. So, he returned it, re-rang it for $5.99 - and handed me $3.00! My overall profit for this transaction was $3.25 - including What I spent and got back in register rewards.

Thank you

Before I really get into this blog, I wanted to stop and take a moment to thank everyone that has helped me through the last 6 months. When I left my horrible insurance job and took an enormous pay cut six months ago, I thought I knew what I was getting into. And I still don't regret it. I don't care how much you get paid, it isn't worth being miserable. Despite the economy, I really did think that I would be able to find a better paying job within a few months. Naive, maybe. But I needed to tell myself that in order to have the courage to leave the safety net of my decent paychecks and company car. Fast forward to now, when I literally can't scrape together 2 bucks for a cup of coffee, have to make my car payment 2 weeks late (sorry Mom), and perpetually have negative dollars in my bank account. I really think that I would go crazy without you guys!
So, to those of you who have bought me a coffee, a glass of wine, a Starbucks gift card (I love you), lent me 20 bucks, reassured me that I did not make the wrong decision by leaving my job.... I don't think I could have made it without you. Thank you.

Welcome to the Broke Files

Having recently had my income cut in half, I am always striving for ways to get what I need for less. This blog will be about the things that I do to get through the month. I have recently discovered the wonders of "couponing", and so will be posting some of the deals that I find. I might also post little stories about ways to enjoy the little pleasures in life, even if you are broke. I am in no way a coupon expert - this will probably be more like a story about how a coupon newbie learns from her mistakes. I hope that I can provide some inspiration, or at the very least, some entertainment, as I find ways to enjoy my life on the cheap.