so on saturday night around 6 pm, in the midst of a torrential (although unseasonably warm) rain storm, i realized that i had neglected to do my rite aid deals for the week. i was sitting on my couch, checking out my coupons, and feeling like a jerk for passing up all those good deals… when i found myself digging around for my wellies and umbrella.
i got drenched completely, and got there half an hour before closing (double drunks!), but my deals went off without a hitch, and the cashiers weren’t even mad at me for going all coupon lady and shit right at the end of their shift. it was pretty kick ass.
but something i noticed as i performed my wet and frenzied (porn-tastic!) race through the store, was that even on the very last day of the sale- everything i was looking for was still there. not a single item was sold out.
if you’ve ever watched the miss america pageant, you’ll notice that miss maine NEVER makes it to the top ten. we don’t really do beauty pageants in maine. it’s not the new england way. similarly, i don’t think maine is a coupon state. i mean, people use them- but not the crazy deal-mongering that happens in other places. i recently read a post on the most beloved coupon goddess’s website where she was defending her honor from another local couponer who had accused her of “shelf-cleaning”. outrageous! then i read this post at coupons deals and more. the idea of getting up at the crack of dawn to guarantee the deals that i want is unthinkable. if i don’t get to my weekly deals by thursday, friday, or saturday, 90% of the time they’re still there. apparently, there are no shelf cleaners in portland maine. we may not have kroger, or meijer, or miss america- but we don’t have shelf cleaners, and i will take it.
broke 207 
Of all places, you should come to Bath…quite often at Shaw’s and CVS the deals are GONE within days or even hours in some cases! Or maybe you shouldn’t…’cause there won’t be anything left!
that’s crazy. maybe it’s just that city mice don’t do the coupon thing? or that there are so many drugstores in the area that they don’t clean out as easily? the shaws that i go to seems to be a little more cleaned out than the drugstores, but i definitely never have to get my deals on the first day.
Our Rite Aid gets cleaned out fast of all the good deals because we get a two-week truck AND we have a shelf cleaner I call “The Coupon Guy”. The only reason I call him a shelf cleaner is because he will go to every local store and buy excedrin, shampoo, reynolds wrap, and several other random things by the cartload. He is impressive though. He once got a $60 order for 50 cents. I was about ready to faint.
shelf cleaners are like coupon celebrities! as much as i don’t want to be them (and curse them when they take all the good stuff), there is a certain amount of admiration there. i need one to be my mister miyagi or something. i’ve scored some deals in my time, but never that good!