Walgreens-Beware

O.K. many of you know I have become a Walgreens fan-free or almost free stuff is very exciting. I use moneysavingmom.com to help me figure out the great deals for the week and my coworkers and I happily go to Walgreens and collect our great deals. Many bloggers will take pictures of their deals and post about them, but I have a hard enough time posting about Cayden that I will not be posting my deals anytime soon. However, I did want to share some lessons I've learned in case any of my friends have started to enjoy Walgreens b/c of my excitement. At first I couldn't figure out how Walgreens could make money when I was getting bags of items for free. (Not junk either-Tylenol, Herbal Essence and Garnier Fructise Shampoo, Colgate toothpaste, etc.) I was afraid they would realize they were giving things away for free and change their coupon policy. That won't be the case anytime soon because...

They count on people coming into Walgreens because of their great deals and
1.) Buying other things while they are there. It is so easy to say, "oh I need..." and get everything in one place-DON'T. If you start "couponing" to save money you have to be very careful to actually save money. I do not purchase things if they are not on my list-unless they are on clearance and/or I have a coupon that makes them an incredible deal. Many times I take my other coupons to Walmart. It isn't good enough to just use your coupons at Walgreens b/c they have such a large mark up. Often times Walmart is cheaper without coupons-so use your coupons at Walmart and save even more. So I encourage you-stick to your list. When Walgreens has B1G1, Register Rewards and their own coupons added to Mfg coupons-their deals can turn out awesome-just beware of buying items you did not intend on purchasing.

2.) They advertise an item at the after Walgreen coupon price. For instance. Razors were $8.99 after $2.00 Walgreen coupon $6.99. I had a mfg $2.00 coupon and they were giving away 4 free refills. So I would only pay $4.99 for a nice razor and 4 refills. Great deal! It is easy to see in your mind that the razor is only $6.99 and run in to get it armed with your Mfg coupon-however-make sure you USE THE WALGREENS COUPON. Otherwise you are paying a higher price. They count on people forgetting to use their coupons. I have returned to the store on more than one occasion to adjust my receipt using the coupon. Otherwise I wouldn't have purchased the item. If you are going to coupon-you have to be diligent and organized or you will end up losing money.

3.) I have a feeling they charge more than the are allowed. I have a Dove B1G1 free coupon and it says, "up to $4.50" I have never had a problem with that until now. Walgreens has Dove on sale for B1G1 free, but the bottle is $5.99. I was wondering if that was even allowed-can they charge more than the mfg allows? After reading other women's comments it sounds like Walgreens is charging $2.99 for one bottle and $3.00 for the other bottle. So it's not really B1G1 free. The ad makes it look like a good deal b/c you get a free item, however the orginal price is ridiculous. Make sure you know "real" prices of items so you are truly getting a deal.

4.) There are many FAR (Free After Rebate) items. These are great and if you choose to get the money back on a Walgreens gift card you get an additional 10%. However, Make sure you photocopy every single thing you send to them. My coworker, my mom and I, all sent in for rebates last month and they found something on all of our receipts that they said did not qualify. We all called in and they apologized and sent us our money. They knew immediately we were correct. It said, "Was not found on receipt" as the excuse. Every item has to be circled and numbered-what do they mean it wasn't found? They need to get glasses I think. We believe they do that on purpose because people tend to either A.) forget to send in their rebate B)Don't send it in correctly-with all the required items or C.) if they do send it in they do not follow up to be sure they received all of their rebate. Again-Be diligent!!

We have noticed that the ads will make it look like an item is an awesome deal-when it is actually at regular price-it's just being "featured" in the weeks ad.

I say all this b/c I want couponers to be careful. Walgreens does have good deals-just make sure you are only getting the deals and not the "extras." Have fun shopping!

Finally, "Laughter" Has Arrived

This was about a month ago when my mom, aunt Vickie, Cayden and I went to Brainerd to go shopping at Kohls. Cayden laughs a lot and is a very smiley and happy baby, but since he was in my womb he has known when a camera is around! There was one night when I was pregnant that he was going crazy and my tummy was bouncing all over. I turned the camera on and there was no more movement! This happened on more than one occasion! It continues to be true even now. So that is why the camera is not centered, I had to hold it off to the side and hope I was catching his face in it, otherwise he sees the camera and stops whatever he is doing!

6 Month Pictures

This one is my favorite!
Our little man:)
Getting bigger...

"Woah, slow this thing down!"

The Proud Parents

This was taken in Duluth at the Glensheen Mansion on our 6th Anniversary. For those of you wondering who Cayden looks like, I would love to hear your opinion. Acutally I should post a picture of his Grandpa Gale, because that is who I think he looks like.

Experiences

I had the privilege of watching Madison the other night/day while her parents went to the hospital to have their baby boy, Noah Nathan. Boy was it an eye opener! There is so much more work with two! I have no doubt that Kristin will adapt quickly and it will soon become no big deal, but I am not yet to that mind set! It was fun, don't get me wrong, but I must have looked like quite a sight walking into the hospital with an infant car seat (weighing a lot) hanging on my left arm, a diaper bag overflowing with items for 2 kids hanging on my right arm along with my purse and a little toddler holding my right hand. I wasn't sure if I was happy we were taking tiny steps or if I wanted to get to the finish line to onload! :)

Then we headed to McDonalds-what was I thinking?! :) I get inside and I was like ok, now how do I order and carry my food to the table, I don't have enough hands! Brandon to the rescue! I called him at work, "Honey, how would you like to have lunch with your wife-you would-great, meet me at McDonalds!" So he watched the kids while I ordered, after a quick bite he was off to work again. Ok, No Problem, I'll hold Cayden while Madison plays...

New experience: what to do when the kids start sizing each other up?! I had read about this in parenting magazines-bully kid, uncaring parent, proper etiquette, oh why couldn't I remember what to do? Thankfuly it wasn't too much of an issue, we simply played somewhere else and eventually the problem child went away!

New dilemma: how do I take Madison (who is potty training) to the bathroom when I have Cayden and the car seat and her juice and unfinished food? Mom to the rescue! I called her at work, "Hey mom, how would you like to take a break from work and have lunch/play with your grandson-you would-great! Brandon is just leaving you can take the 2nd shift" :) So she helped with Cayden while I helped Madison go potty. Eventually we bundled them all up, mom returned to work and we all went home and napped! Yes, it actually worked where we could all sleep at the same time! I know it doesn't always work this way, but thankfully it did yesterday:)

I know some of you veteran moms are laughing and saying, "Oh Lyndi, we do all that without our husband's/mother's help and are planning the grocery list and making supper in our heads as well!" Let me just say-You women are awesome! Some day I may join you in the ranks of superwomen, but for today I cherish my slower pace of life. :)

Pictures

I've been asked to post some pics of Brandon and I so you can see who he looks like. I will try and do that this week, but in the mean time-he looks like his dad, very much an Odegard. Let's just say I'm glad I had him or I'd wonder if he was really mine! :) J/K actually it looks like he might end up with my green/hazel eyes. At first I wanted a blue eyed boy like his daddy, but when I realized that might be the only part of him that looks like me I started to want the green eyes! :)