Walgreens paid me...AGAIN!

Walgreens must be really serious about stealing my CVS love. Yesterday they handed me a refund for $5.17 when I had only spent $4.92 for everything (effectively paying me $0.25 to take a Preparation H, a chapstick, and 4 eyeshadows), and today I got all of the above for free with a $22.88 profit after rebate. Oh, and I got a garden gnome too:

He was on sale for $2.59, and my husband (and his whole family) has a weird obsession about gnomes. He actually made me buy a gnome and send it to his brother as a birthday present last year. Not to mention hubby is crazy about turtles too, but unfortunately this turtle turned out to be a snapping turtle and snapped off the gnome's ear. So next week this waltzing pair is going back to the store. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Breakdown of my $22.88 money-maker
Buy 1 one-eared gnome: $2.59
Buy 1 Walgreens Acid Control: $7.99
Buy 1 Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste: $3.79
Buy 1 Chemistry Hair Care product: $7.99
Buy 1 Revlon Nail Color: $4.79
Buy 1 Nivea for Men Body Wash: $4.99
Buy 1 LypSyl LypMoisturizer: $1.99
Buy 4 Glade Plugins ($4.79 each): $19.16
Buy 1 L'Oreal RevitaLift Anti-Wrinkle: $12.36
Merchandise total: $65.65
Use $0.75/1 Crest coupon: -$0.75
Use $3/1 Chemistry coupon (from August EasySaver): -$3.00
Use $2/1 Revlon coupon: -$2.00
Use 1 B1G1 Glade coupon: -$4.79
Use 1 $4/1 Glade coupon: -$4.00
Store promotion Glade B1G1: -$9.58
Use $10/$40 Walgreens coupon: -$10.00
Grand Total: $31.53 + $2.82 tax = $34.35

Rebates
Walgreens Acid Control: $7.99
Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste: $3.79 (spent $3.04 after coupon)
Chemistry Hair Care product: $7.99 (spent $4.99 after coupon)
Revlon Nail Color: $4.79 (spent $2.79 after coupon)
Nivea for Men Body Wash: $4.99
LypSyl LypMoisturizer: $1.99
Glade Plugins: $4 (spent $0.47 for 4 after promotion and coupon)
L'Oreal RevitaLift Anti-Wrinkle: $16.49 (they had it on sale for $12.36! If you have that $3/1 coupon you would make a profit of $7.13 for this!!!)
Total rebate check: $52.03 (with 10% gift card bonus of $5.20 it'll be $57.23)

That's a profit of $22.88!!!

My rebate total will probably rise because the store didn't have any of the Excedrin Express Gels and filter replacement catridges, I'm also considering buying the 29inch rocking horse (#26) for my little princess. It has a $10 rebate, so I'll just have to see how much it is. They didn't have any of the horses either, so what I'll probably end up doing is waiting until another $/$$ coupon comes out this month and take it to buy the missing two freebates and the horse.

Last month I said that I would not be doing the gift card option because I wanted to have my money instead of being dedicated to spending it at Walgreens, but at the rate I'm going, I wouldn't mind dedicating it to Walgreens spending. Besides, last month we were talking about a difference of two bucks. This month it's at LEAST five dollars.

Also, my view towards freebate spending has changed. I am willing to spend the money towards freebates, especially if I can make a profit off it, but I'm still only willing to do for things we have an actual use for or know someone who could use it. I know that I could just buy it all and donate what I don't need, and as great as that would be, I need to draw a line somewhere because I really don't want to get in the habit of buying things because they're "free". That's a very dangerous habit to get into and soon I could be spending more than I'm saving, not to mention having my clogged up with more junk.

I don't forsee putting every month's rebate on the gift card, because I seriously doubt I'm spending $60 in October. I'll probably end up making the decision based on how big the 10% bonus is and what my needs are. But September's freebate trip was certainly a VERY profitable, and the month hasn't even started!!