RANCHO SANTA FE NEWS
MAY 4, 2012
Save on personal-care items than you would at Wal-Mart. Websites are the place to go for higher-end brands. If you’re looking for Aveeno instead of Vaseline, or a natural brand like Burt’s Bees, you might find the best deals online. But you’ll pay extra for shipping if you don’t spend at least $25 at Amazon.com and Drugstore.com or at least $50 at HarmonDiscount.com. Supermarkets aren’t so bad. ShopSmart was surprised to see that their prices were pretty competitive. So if you’re in a pinch, don’t worry that you’re paying a premium for the convenience of grabbing a bottle of shampoo along with your groceries.
It’s easy to overspend on personal-care products. Costly necessities add up quickly, and before you know it, you’re walking out of the drugstore with a tiny bag and a giant bill. ShopSmart, the shopping magazine from the publisher of Consumer Reports, recently came up with a how-to guide for saving on everyday personal-care items. The magazine also highlighted the most rewarding store-loyalty programs. “Knowing what stores have the best values on personal-care products can help you save big,” said Lisa Lee MORE WAYS TO SAVE — Stock up when stuff Freeman, editor-in-chief of is on sale. Instead of waiting ShopSmart. until you run out of someMONEY-SAVING thing or start to run low, load up on products when LESSONS LEARNED Wal-Mart can save you they’re marked down. Ad big bucks. It had the lowest circulars and websites like prices on the most items on SundaySaver.com can help ShopSmart’s shopping list — you plan ahead. — Max out coupons. similar to what its shoppers have found in previous price Read the retailer coupon scans. Target was often a policies. Most supermarkets close second but rarely had allow stacking — using store and manufacturer coupons the absolute lowest prices. Drugstores can cost you. together. Some stores, such CVS and Walgreens had the as Stop and Shop and Piggly highest prices on the most Wiggly, double coupons. If products. They might be con- you hit a sale, you have a venient, and their loyalty coupon and the store will cards can net you some good double it, you may end up discounts, but you could pay paying a lower price at a as much as 112 percent more supermarket than some-
where else. — Try store brands. Many store-brand products are just like their namebrand versions, and you might even like them better. Wal-Mart’s Equate brand, for example, got high marks in ShopSmart’s most recent body-lotion test.
STORE CARDS THAT PAY — CVS ExtraCare Rewards Program (Free). Earn 2 percent back on all purchases and ExtraBucks Rewards for select items. Use ExtraCare Coupon Center kiosks in stores for extra savings, and get special offers via email and on your receipt at checkout. What’s new: Rewards can be sent automatically to your card so that you don’t have to print and remember your coupons.
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