The Drugstore Bootstrap Challenge (join me!)

Each month here at Frugal Follies, I plan to do a challenge related to frugality, organization, shopping, cooking, etc. I like doing challenges because it forces me to concentrate on one goal, and it makes me be more creative.

In January, I did the Clean Out the Cupboards Challenge. It was easy at first, got more challenging during the middle of the month, and then seemed a bit simpler toward the end. But now, my shelves are quite empty, so I'm ready to fill them back up.

One problem with not doing any deal shopping during the month is that I ended up spending most of my Extra Care Bucks (from CVS) and Register Rewards (from Walgreens) back in December; as a result, I have no RRs at all, and $4.99 in ECBs ($3.99 from this deal and $1 from using my green bag tag a fourth time while doing that deal).

So in February, I'm starting the Drugstore Bootstrap Challenge!

Bootstrapping comes from the phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" - meaning to start a process without external help. When you start up your computer, a small program hard-coded in your computer's memory starts a much longer process to allow your computer to run programs - you are bootstrapping, or "booting up," your computer.

Similarly, my goal for the Drugstore Bootstrap Challenge is to increase the amount of Register Rewards and Extra Care Bucks I have on hand, putting as little of my own money as I can into it. I'll do this by doing as many deals as possible which are money-makers or free to create more Register Rewards or Extra Care Bucks.

So here are my rules:

• I can spend up to $10 of my own money per store on products.
• Money paid in taxes does not count toward the $10.
• I can use coupons from inserts, printable coupons, and in-store or emailed CVS coupons.  I can also purchase coupons (though I have never done so in my 1.5 years of serious couponing), but the purchase prices of the coupons will go toward the $10.
• I can buy things that my family doesn't need, but I will give them to friends or family or donate them to charity.
• I can use the $4.99 that I already have in ECBs at CVS; this does not count toward the $10 limit.
• Last week, I did a deal where I purchased a $10 gift card to CVS for $4; the $4 cost will count toward the $10 limit, but the $10 on the card does not.

So, here we go!  Having already looked at the CVS deals and Walgreens deals for this week, I can see that I'll be able to get things rolling along easily at Walgreens - assuming I can find products in stock at my local stores -  but that CVS will be more of a challenge.

Each week on Monday, I'll post about how many ECBs and RRs I have, how much I've spent in cash, and what I got at each store.

Please join me!  Of course, if you'd like to use Rite Aid as your store instead of CVS and/or Walgreens, feel free to do so - I don't have that store in my area.  Leave a comment below if you'd like to join the challenge!