Most purchases made at a Rite Aid drugstore from Nov. 22 to Dec. 24 qualify for the rebate. The biggest exception is prescriptions and prescription co-pays, but it is pretty easy to earn at least $5 back on the Gift of Savings promotions.

This is what you do: you go to RiteAid.com and set up your account. Then as you shop at Rite Aid during the next few weeks, log in and type the code that is on your receipt into the computer. That’s it. At the end of the rebate period, click on “send my check.” Yes, it really is that simple, and individual products can still qualify for their own rebate offers.

Now for those of you who like scenarios: I currently have a $10 Fall Gift of Savings rebate check and a $3.99 Rite Aid Single Check Rebate in my coupon box. I just haven’t had reason to get anything at Rite Aid since those rebate checks arrived a week or so ago.

But we are at Rite Aid quite a bit. That’s where almost all of our prescriptions are handled and it’s the closest drugstore to where I work.

So here’s what I will do during the next few weeks:

• Check the weekly sales fliers to see what holiday items are on special. For example, in the sales flier for Nov. 22-28, I’m interested in the boxed greeting card sale (buy one get two free), Russell Stover sale (buy one get one free) and the stocking stuffer candies (two for $1). These are typical purchases for me during the Christmas season. Obviously, I need to get my shopping list in order ASAP so I’m buying the amounts I need.
• If there are over-the-counter medications that we need to restock, I check my coupon box and match those to the sales. There are a lot of coupons in circulation right now for vitamins, pain relievers and cold medicines. Families who have access to Flexible Spending Accounts can then photocopy their applicable receipts to follow up on reimbursement procedures, but my family’s FSA funds are depleted for the year.
• Look up the Single Check Rebate catalog on line or at the store to see if there are any other deals I want to take advantage of. I try to keep the current rebate catalog with my weekly fliers. Depending on the final price, I sometimes follow up on the dishwasher soap deals. Families with little ones can also find diapers and infant formula in the November rebate book.
• Use my recently issued rebates and any applicable coupons to pay for those purchases so the out-of-pocket cost is as low as possible.
• Type in my receipts when I get home.
• After the rebate time is done, go to my account and click on “send my check.”

Yes, you can do mail submissions for Rite Aid rebates. But you then have to pay for the stamp and I’ve had a mail-in rebate for another store that was miscalculated. If you are reading a blog, you’ve got access to a computer. Do your rebate filing on line.

KitchenAid has a flier in today’s edition of The Monroe Evening News promoting cash back deals on many of its popular items.

Go to KitchenAid.com/gift for the details if you don’t have a flier in your newspaper.

More than 650 retailers are participating in the site.

CyberMonday is the nickname for the Monday after Thanksgiving, which has become a busy day for online shopping orders. In other words, it’s the Internet version of Black Friday.

This year, CyberMonday falls on Monday Nov. 30.

I haven’t seen all the sales fliers yet, but the timing is easy to predict. The week of Nov. 16 is the last full week before Thanksgiving. Besides, the grocery sales have been pretty good in recent months during the third and fourth weeks of the month.

Some of the items I’ve seen so far in the sales fliers have been featured in grocery coupons this month, so be sure to clip and sort your coupons, and take that coupon box or coupon binder with you to the store.

Now the really smart shoppers know to take advantage of the seasonal specials to stock up on products that can carry over into the Christmas holiday season or for everyday use. If you are running out of room in your freezer, do not panic. A lot of the sale items are boxed or canned goods that go on a pantry shelf.

Here are the grocery and drugstore fliers that were in my home-delivery edition of The Monroe Evening News today (I live in the 48162 zip code):

• Busch’s Fresh Food Market (sale starts Monday Nov. 16) will have turkey at 39 cents a pound with additional $25 purchase. Freshlike vegetables 88 cents. Campbell’s cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup 69 cents. Busch’s spiral sliced ham $2.49 a pound. Fresh Amish turkey is $1.49 a pound but you are asked to reserve a turkey at the meat department. Pillsbury crescent rolls three for $5. Cool Whip 99 cents. Buy any four General Mills cereal at four for $10 or Betty Crocker fruit shapes at four for $10, get $4 off at checkout.
• Wal-Mart (sale starts Sunday Nov. 15) has embossed stoneware four-packs or a serving platter on sale for $5. Better Homes and Gardens damask tablecloths are $9 each and the colors shown would work just as well for Christmas. Paula Dean roasting pan for $29. Frozen cooked shrimp cocktail ring for $5. Nestle Toll House morsels at $2. Kraft mini marshmallows for $1. Cheesecake sampler for $12.
• Rite Aid (sale starts Sunday Nov. 15) will have Campbell’s cream soup, Del Monte corn and College Inn broth at 99 cents each. There will also be buy one get one free on Andes and Mrs. Fields creme sticks. Russel Stover and Whitman’s Sampler candies also on buy one get one free. A variety of mini light sets, gift wrap and Christmas cards are in the flier. Other specials include buy one get second one free Revlon (coupon match in Sunday’s paper). Vo5 shampoo or conditioner 79 cents. Kotex on Single Check Rebate.

Yes. Pick up the Sears ad that’s in your newspapers today. I’m looking at the one in the Detroit Free Press that shows a variety of winter coats for $19.99 on Saturday morning. Toys R Us also has doorbuster specials this weekend.

Now, let’s talk about that situation.

I know the retail industry created the Black Friday buzz. The Detroit News explained in a feature story last year that Hudson’s held a sale on the day after Thanksgiving in 1981 and opened the store one hour early. That sale became the start what we know now as Black Friday shopping promotions.

But while the TV stations and newspapers do Black Friday stories featuring the long lines outside the mall or whatever store is hosting the deal of the day, many other stores don’t get that boost in retail business. Some, in fact, get lower traffic than usual that day.

I was a reporter for The News Herald in Port Clinton, Ohio, in November 1997,  when my editor told me to go do a local story on Black Friday shoppers. I discovered a very empty downtown at lunchtime as compared to the regular business day traffic. That scenario was most certainly NOT fitting in with the buzz of the day.

The following year, I planned my news article based on where the local Black Friday shoppers could be found. They were at Wal-Mart a couple of miles out of the city limits, waiting for a 6 a.m. opening.

And if you live in Monroe, Mich., these days, you know that the downtown Monroe district holds its Christmas festivities and tree lighting ceremony on the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving.

The stores that schedule early sales are being practical. They would like to get some of your shopping dollars. Waiting until Black Friday for a promotion makes absolutely no sense for stores that won’t be able to compete for attention with lines at the mall and big box stores.

It’s smart for even the big guys to spread out their sales promotions over a few weeks so that their employees are not so overwhelmed on Black Friday.

Cyber Monday is also a factor these days, with a noticeably huge spike in Internet purchases made on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

So if Black Friday shopping is part of your traditions, fine. Have fun!

But don’t assume that will be the only day in which you can find the Christmas deals. It’s not. You need to be watching those sales fliers now, and pay close attention for a few weeks.

Family Balance Sheet has this post: After-Holiday Clearance Sales aren’t Just About Christmas.

A snippet:

Search all around the store, not just the holiday themed aisles and the end-caps. The paper products were found in the paper product aisle and they were unmarked. Keep those eyes open.

Now, the Sunday School teacher in me is rolling her eyes. This is still harvest time and Thanksgiving is the next holiday on the calendar. My home won’t be decorated for Christmas until Thanksgiving weekend.

But frugalista in me is watching those sales fliers. There’s nothing wrong with buying stuff whenever you can find a good price for merchandise for your own family, for a gift, to celebrate a holiday, or for a special occasion. It’s smart stewardship of your money to be a smart shopper.

So I will expand my sales flier reports during the next few weeks to include the department stores and Christmas merchandise.

First, starting with the grocery, discount and drugstore fliers that are in my newspaper stack this morning (I live in the 48162 zip code and most of these fliers are in the Monroe Evening News):

• Super Kmart in Southgate and Taylor (Detroit Free Press) has buy a ham, get a turkey free deal. Pillsbury flour is two for $4. Nestle Toll House morsels are three bags for $7. Value Choice peanut butter $1.99.
• Kmart in Monroe has Xtra laundry soap at two for $11. All cold weather accessories for the family are 40 percent off. Joe Boxer women’s fleece $5. A Proctor-Silex roaster is $29.99. All skateboards on sale.
• Dollar General (you’ll find this flier inside a coupon book) has Crisco shortening at $2, Libby’s canned veggies at two for $1, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce at $1. Nestle Toll House morsels are $2.35 a bag. Jell-O pudding mix 70 cents. 20-inch wreath $3.50.
• Meijer has a two-week sale on selected gift items include assorted Barbie dolls for $7.44, Webkinz at $9.99 and Imaginext Dragon World Fortress at $34.99. Buy $10 in any combination of Nabisco cookies and crackers, get $10 off selected Mattel games. The grocery flier has milk at $1.75 a gallon. Buy one get two free Dynamo laundry soap (this deal always goes fast). Pioneer sugar $2.49 for 5 pounds.
• CVS has Tide 2x at $5.96, see coupon in today’s Sunday papers. Buy one get one free Revlon lipstick. The 10 for $10 items include Gold Emblem toffee popcorn. Buy $50 in iTunes cards get $10 Extra Care Bucks back. Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree 18 inches tall $7.99. Spend $20 in selected colf and flu relief such as Ricola’s and Dayquil get $10 Extra Care Bucks back.
• Kroger in Monroe, Milan and Dundee (sale starts Monday) has a 10 Mega Sale that features items such as Coke 2-liters, Edy’s ice cream, Carnation evaporated milk and Kraft singles. Milk is $1.75 a gallon. Del Monte canned veggies two for $1. Buy one get one free Bob Evans rolled sausage.
• Big Lots has mini light sets at three for $10. 13-piece cookware set is $49. Open stock dinnerware pieces $2 each. Harvest floral 30 percent off.
• Walgreens has buy one get one free on NatureMade vitamins. Coupon in flier for Russell Stover boxed candy. Campbell’s chicken soup 50 cents each. 3 cup rice cooker $7.99 (we have that one, my daughter likes it). Coupon in flier for 12-month photo calendar. Milk is $1.89 a gallon.
• Crafts 2000 flier is in the Monroe newspaper today. I already did a roundup on it because I caught the flier at the store. But do note the coupon on the back and the variety of supplies to make handcrafted Christmas ornaments.
• Target has buy two get one free on Wii games with more than 80 titles available. All floor care deep cleaning solutions on sale (think cleaning before the guests arrive). Buy three boxes Kellogg’s cereal get one free.
• Aldi has milk at $1.69 a gallon. Friendly Farms marshmallow mocha and pumpkin spice coffee creamer $1.49. Beaumont gourmet ground coffee $3.99. Kids’ playhouse tent $16.99 assorted designs. Belmont pumpkin pie $2.99 each.
• Toys R Us has buy $75 worth of “qualifying purchases” through Nov. 26 (read that fine print) get $10 gift card. Free Toy Story backpack with purchase $30 or more Toy  Story items. Featured items include Playmobile Pyramid at $83.99 (this and the related pieces look cool.)

Items I noticed in the other store fliers this morning include:

• Best Buy has assorted cameras and computers on sale. Get a $5 Best Buy gift card when you buy two selected holiday title DVDs.
• Sears has a Craftsman tool sale this week. A Rival Duo Crock server is $53.99. All men’s jeans are on sale.
• Dunham’s Sports has sale on assorted basketball shoes.
• Menards has mini shatterproof ornaments 24 count at $1.49 each.
• Dick’s Sporting Goods has selected kids’ basketball shoes are on sale.

This is a good week to start on my 8-week grocery shopping plan, which is timed to begin on the first Sunday of the month. After all, you’ve got a good stack of coupons to start with this week.

There also are typically a LOT of food pantry drives taking place during November and early December in Monroe, Mich. I imagine a lot of other communities see the same situation.

Don’t worry so much yet about WHO is taking donations because the requests and announcements from the workplace, school, civic clubs and businesses have already started crossing my desk at The Monroe Evening News. There are many food drives that don’t get announced to the newspaper until after the organizers want to report how many groceries they have collected.

Just start picking up items that you can get at a good price that would be welcome at a food drive. Put them aside in a box or bag in your kitchen or pantry, so you can respond quickly to the food drive requests.

Here’s a list of suggested items.

I haven’t compiled my own list. But I’ve been posting reports two or three times a week for more than two years about what’s on sale in Monroe, Mich., and her list is pretty much on target.

You do want to stock up as much as possible during the seasonal sales. It will seem at first that you are spending more money than before at the grocery store, and you probably are. But eventually, this settles out and you are spending less per week or per month because you already have some of what you need at home.

Some examples:

• I only buy blueberries when they are in summer season, and freeze the berries so I have them available for breakfast for a few weeks yet.
• A box of bandages bought during the spring promotions will very likely last me all year.
• If you fuss that cook-from-scratch products are “never on sale or coupon,” then pay attention during the Thanksgiving and Christmas promotions – because that’s when you do find those products cheaper than usual.

I do my family’s disaster supply inventory and updates in March or April when tornado season starts in Michigan and Ohio. Tornado warnings are the most common scenario that my family actually has to deal with, so that’s how I ended up on that schedule.

But if you do not already have an annual routine, it’s a good idea to make and review your plans in September when there are a lot of resources and promotions aimed at disaster planning.

Here is one: A 10 percent coupon on selected Red Cross Emergency Radios sold at Radio Shack.