Earlier this week I stopped into my local Huntley Walgreens (Village Green Drive) to pick up some Aunt Jemima pancake mix. It’s $1.88 per box through the end of the week, and just $1.38 per box with the $1-off-2 from the 2/12 SS. Did I mention we’re currently out of pancake mix and I’ve been making pancakes from scratch the last few weeks? Yummy, of course, but when mix is this cheap, I’m up for a quicker route to weekend pancakes.
My local store was sold out of pancake mix, so today I headed to another Walgreens (Randall Road in Carpentersville) to look for Aunt Jemima. If you live up in my far northwest suburban area, I’m about to share a tip with you: I consider this Walgreens location to be the”secret weapon” of Walgreens shopping. Even during hot, empty-shelf deals, this store nearly always remains fully stocked. I have long suspected this is due to the crazy, high 9% sales tax in Carpentersville, but I was willing to brave the high tax for some pancakes, baby!
Reader MarkSS1 also tipped me to the fact that many Walgreens stores are resetting right now and have lots of grocery items on clearance. At my Huntley store, I found a few items on clearance — .49 Stove Top stuffing and Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen (presumably from last year) for $3.75, as well as some spice shakers.
At the Carpentersville store today, though, I found more clearance items. At both stores, I noticed that none of the clearance items are together in one specific spot. They’re just on clearance in their regular spots on the shelves, so if you’re headed to Walgreens, take a little time to browse the aisles and see what you might find.
I was happy to find a well-stocked shelf of pancake mix in Carpentersville, and then I browsed around for more bargains. I saw .79 Swiss Miss hot cocoa, .69 Nice syrup, and .69 Nice marshmallows in this aisle.
I picked up two bottles of Nice garlic salt for .49 each. The minced onion was already sold out. At my Huntley store, I had picked up Nice black pepper for this price. There really seemed to be no overlap between the clearance items at either of the two stores I visited.
I picked up the last can of Bush’s red kidney beans for .69. The sold-out slots at right formerly belonged to Bush’s baked beans and Van Camp’s.
While I was shoping, I spotted another deal that wasn’t in this week’s ad — 4ct. GoGo Squeez applesauce pouches are $2.49 each or 2-for-$4. I had a couple of $1 coupons from the 1/8 SS1 in my coupon wallet from a past sale where my store had been sold out, so I picked these up too.
Not only was I hunting for pancake mix today — I was also hoping to find the Pure Silk shave cream in stock as well. (Hey, there are a lot of couponers in my town, which I’m sure I’ve had something to do with over the years..!) The Carpentersville store had plenty in stock. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was an unadvertised Balance Rewards promo on Pure Silk and Barbasol too that wasn’t in the weekly ad: Buy $5 worth and get 1000 Balance Rewards points.
If you have four .50 coupons from the 2/26 RP, you could buy four ($5.56.) Use four .50 coupons. Pay $3.56 and get 1000 points back ($1.) That’s $2.56 for four, or .64 each! As this is good on any Pure Silk or Barbasol, you could do a similar deal on the razors too, which are also on sale this week.
I had one more secret weapon to help combat the higher sales tax at this store: Last week I got a postcard of Walgreens coupons, including this one for 3000 Balance Rwards points with a $15 purchase.
All in all, I bought:
- Six boxes of Aunt Jemima pancake mix: $1.88 each ($11.28)
- Four cans of Pure Silk shave cream: $1.39 each ($5.56, now $16.84)
- Two Nice garlic salt: .49 each (.98, now $17.82)
- Two GoGo Squeez applesauce: $2 each (now $19.82)
- One can Bush’s kidney beans: .69 (now $20.51)
I used:
- Three $1-off-2 Aunt Jemima coupons (now $17.51)
- Four .50 Pure Silk coupons (now $15.51)
- Two $1 GoGo Squeez coupons (now $13.51)
I paid $13.51 and got 3000 Balance Rewards points for my postcard coupon and another 1000 points for buying Pure Silk. That’s $4 back, dropping this to $9.51 for everything!
Have you spotted anything good on clearance at Walgreens this week?
SSMark1 says
I love clearance shopping.
Visiting each store is like a treasure finding adventure.
Each store is different.
Some store managers really do discount better than others, so those are the stores to check more often for the best deals.
I found some Nice brand brown sugar for 99 cents for 2 pounds. (some stores had it for a little more)
I also bought some Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar for 69 cents a bottle.
Cans of Hunts tomato sauce for 29 cents.
And Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs for 89 cents a container.
The also had some of the large delish candy bars marked down to 59 cents in the candy aisle.
Libby’s canned pumpkin down to 62 cents a can as well. Date expire 2018, so good for next holiday season!
And 20 oz boxes Crisco Baking Sticks for 89 cents each!
So many deals at Walgreens, most Valentines Day hit 90% this past Monday.
Lots of winter & gift items also hit 90%.
With the winter being pretty much snow deprived & warmer than normal, LOTS of stuff to pick from at many stores!
Some stores have endcaps, so have the stuff still in place thoughout the store on shelves.
Happy hunting everyone!
-Mark
seachicago says
Had to chuckle about your “high tax at 9%” comment—here in the city we pay 10.25%!!! It’s always sticker shock at checkout time, it takes me a minute to remember why my bargains are not as cheap as I think they should be. :-(
Coupon Maven says
Yes, I shouldn’t have glossed over the even-higher tax downtown..! Sorry about that. :( Here, though, the difference between nearby Walgreens and this one is 2% — the other local stores are at 7%. I only go to this one when I can’t find something in stock in the lower-tax locations :)
wolverine70 says
They tax food in Illinois?
Coupon Maven says
Yes. According to my receipt from this Walgreens transaction, I was charged 9% on “A” items (non food) and 1.75% on “B” items (food.)
Chicago mom says
Jill, love your site! bought a Glade decorative plug-in air freshener starter kit with two fragrance refills included for 69 cents this week at a Walgreens on the north side of Chicago. Original price was $6.99.
Coupon Maven says
That’s a great price! :)
Maggie says
.69 bottles of Ragu meat sauce!! and 1.19 jar of Nice peanut butter.
Coupon Maven says
SWEET! :)
soapboxtray says
69¢ sardines and peanut butter, and no, we wont eat them together, for some reason my 16 yo son loves sardines. Also a BUNCH of 90% off Valentine and Christmas or gift type items that was on 90% off for our PTO Holiday Shop next year for the kids. The giant stuffed bears were only $2. Great finds. The kids love them.
PatriciaTabor says
Good thought…