Dollars & Sense: Drugstore dollar dealers

When Paula Berge tells acquaintances how much money she saves at CVS, they assume she spends hours and hours racking up the savings. Not true. Last year she estimated 30 minutes a week gathering coupons, but the Woodbury resident saved about $8,000 at CVS alone. Still, skeptics might wonder what she spent to save $8,000.

About $200. How can she spend so little to get so much? Berge works CVS' ExtraCare bucks program like a pro. Two weeks ago, she noticed that Colgate toothpaste was on sale for $2.99. CVS also threw in $2.99 in ExtraCare bucks with each Colgate, which are given as store credit on a shopper's ExtraCare card (loyalty program). Berge bought five and had four $1.50 coupons and one $1 coupon. On just one purchase, Berge gained $14.95 in store credit, paying only $7.95, a net savings of $7, which she spent on milk and cereal at CVS (when it was on sale and with coupons).

"Even if I didn't have any coupons, I would have only needed to spend $2.99 to get five tubes of toothpaste because of the ExtraCare bucks," said Berge.

In her time-efficient system, the Woodbury resident asks for coupon fliers from family and friends, but she doesn't spend time clipping mounds of coupons, filing them and waiting for the items to go on sale.

(Serious couponers rarely buy an item unless it's on sale.) She keeps and saves Sunday's coupon fliers from SmartSource and Redplum in the paper and files them in date order.

When the CVS sale flier comes out on Sunday, she finds the items she wants and then goes to HotCouponWorld.com to see which flier has the coupons she's looking for. She might discover that the coupon for a Fusion razor is in the Feb. 15 Redplum flier.

"It's faster because I only clip the coupons I need," Berge said. Berge gets a lot of things free that she can't use, but she donates those items to charity. In the past 18 months she has donated $1,200 worth of cosmetics and feminine products to women's shelters, all free from the ExtraCare program.

Pat Beissel of Plymouth shops both CVS and Walgreens, but she prefers the deals at Walgreens. "They seem to mark more things down," said Beissel. Walgreens' clearance is a great buy, she said. She walks the aisles at Walgreens, looking for the orange Last Chance stickers indicating clearance. She recently spent only $2 for five eco-friendly household cleaners from Seventh Generation on clearance.

"I know prices," said Beissel. "I don't buy something just because it's free unless I really need it."

Kim Crumb of Bloomington also prefers Walgreens. He's no fan of the CVS loyalty cards. An impatient shopper, he got tired of waiting in line behind customers who forgot their card and had the cashier look up their number. Crumb also prefers Walgreens because it's closer to his home than CVS. Walgreens has nearly 100 locations in the Twin Cities area, CVS about one-quarter as many.

Jenny Rice of Rosemount used to be a CVS hoarder, but no more. With a new child at home, she doesn't get to shop as often. Plus, she bought items that she didn't need. Now she's finding the deals at SuperTarget can be nearly as good, though there are some items she can't resist buying at CVS.

"Toothbrushes and toothpaste are always a good deal at CVS with the ExtraCare bucks," she said. "My family of three has plenty of extras."