It recently came to my attention that even though I talk about all of the deals I get at Walgreens or CVS, I really have never talked about how to shop these stores the right way. Initially I thought I would write about it but in the process of researching this I found two people who have done a great job at this.
- First I want to direct you to Cathy’s post on Creative Strategies for Coping with Rising Costs. In Part Two of these series she talks about how to play the drugstore game (a term she coined) and resources to help you play it right. Also check out her second blog CFO Reviews and everything she has written about her experience playing the game here.
- One of the people she recommends reading and that I also recommend you read is Crystal at MoneySavingMom. She has also written two primers on how to shop CVS and Walgreens as well. Make sure to check out her entire beginners guide that can be found on the right bar on her blog.
- A final resource that I want to share is the forums at HotCouponWorld. There are many things that I like about these forums but what stands out to me is the community itself. Here you will find thousands of people sharing helpful tips to help you save money. That is the main focus of the boards and the majority of the topics are centered on that. I also enjoy that the moderators are really good about maintaining the integrity of the website. There are many ways to use coupons and many opportunities to abuse them. Here you will find the right way to use coupons. You can also find about deals sometimes weeks in advance and you can also use their forums to trade coupons and take your savings to another level. Finally I like that you can find forums for the stores that interest you. The thing about blogs is that you usually are reading about the savings trip for that person in particular at the store that interests that person. At HCW you can choose your store and read how many other people shop at that store.
I hope this list of resources is helpful in getting you started in this journey of saving money. I really can’t believe how much my shopping habits have changed since I started using coupons and shopping Walgreens or CVS. At the beginning I was happy just to save money, then I was ecstatic to get it free, now if they are not paying me to take it from their stores it doesn’t interest me. I hope you will take a look into this way of shopping and benefit from it.
