CVS

This deal didn't quite work out as well as I'd hoped. Oh well. I still didn't spend an exorbitant amount of money. One of the benefits to shopping the CVS way is that I plan my trips very carefully. Most of the time it is for things I need and sometimes stocking up. So there isn't a down side. However, some days are better than others.

This picture of for transaction #1 and #2. I had planned to buy all of my products at once but I had a $2 off a CVS brand purchase. So I decided to use that for the wipes and the two bottles of pain reliever. The total was just over $10-$2 off and $8 ECB's. Total for that transaction was like 5 cents. Then I had the guy ring up the diapers and the shampoo. I had a $2 off CVS coupon for the diapers, plus $1 off the shampoo and $0.75 off Huggies mfr. My total for that transaction after ECB's was $1.48. The bummer was I only ended up with $3.49 in ECB's left after that transaction. That's why it didn't work out as well as I had hoped. I wanted to get all the Huggies in one transaction with my coupons so my oop was less. Oh well. Its not like we don't need diapers around here.




For this transaction I only had the $3.49 in ECB's and I had $4.00 in mfr. So my total oop for these items was $25.60. I did get $15 ECB's though. So I still feel like I did ok. I would have liked to have ended up with as many ECB's as I paid out in cash but I was going to buy the diapers, wipes and soap anyway. Now I have ECB's for the next sweet deal. I probably will not be going back next week. The deals are not things I really need. So, I'll take a break until the following week from CVS.

More CVS

Ok, so I'm a little obsessed. CVS is such a cool place! I have been greatly pleased at my ability to stock my cabinet in my bathroom. This is such good peace of mind. I'm trying to tighten the belt, fit in the things we need to store with the budget for the things we need now. This is a huge blessing. Plus I'm trying a few new things as well. So, for a total of .61 this is how yesterday went.

First run:

Dove lotion $6.99
Degree deodarant $3.49
Dove deodarant $3.49
Dove bar soap $2.50
Total before coupons $16.50

Coupons used: $5/$15, $2.25 manufacturers, $3/$15 beauty, $5 ECB's

Final total: $0.22 and I got $5 ECB's back

The next trip was kind of random. I've been trying to stock up on razor's but they run out of them really fast. I have to try another CVS today and see if they got some in.

2 Glade air fresheners $1.98
5 Speed Stick deodarant $1.99 each
1 kids mouthwash $2.99
2 packs plastic eggs $1.98
2 bags jelly beans $1.98
Total before coupons about $19

Coupons used: $5/$15, $3.50 manufacturers, $10 ECB's
Final: $0.39 plus $13 ECB's

So, I am good to go on Ladies and Men's deodarant for a year. I feel very good about this. I will keep an eye out but I think I'm good for now on that. I also added to my friend's birthday basket and I have the needed items for our easter egg hunt next week. This has been a great week and I'm not done yet.
I did also head over to Tom Thumb for their deal on cereal. I looked for formula everywhere I went yesterday and just wasn't feeling it. The last can of enfamil I bought was only $4.50 so I am a little spoiled. I decided to just wait for the right deal. It came. At Tom Thumb if you spent $10 you could get three boxes of cereal for $3. Plus a dozen eggs for $0.99. So, I bought my formula (generic there was $13.49) and got the cereal and eggs. Plus, it printed me a catalina for $3 off my next purchase. So my total there was $16.16 out of pocket after manufacturers and I got the $3 coupon. So I got the cereal and eggs for free. I have realized that for baby items in particular it may not be that I get an awesome deal on those things (although sometimes I do). What is cool is that I pay for those things that I have to buy and get additional items for little to no extra cost. This has enabled me to stock up on things that I wouldn't be able to otherwise.

CVS and Kroger

CVS is so great for things like birthday gifts. I have been picking up a few things here and there to make a basket for a dear friend whose birthday is coming up. By using ECB's and coupons you can add items without increasing your budget. For this transaction:
2 Scented oil candles 6.99 each
Tresseme about 6.00
Glide flossers 3.99
Total: $22
Coupons: $5 off $15 purchase, Glade buy one get one free, flossers $1 off
I had $13 in ECBs so I had to add a chapstick to be able to use them all. Total oop: $0.60
I did only generate $10 in ECBs so there was a defecit but I'm realizing that that works out. I will use those ECB's this week to generate more.

I bought a lot more at Kroger than just these two things. I saved $54 on my $120 transaction. I had $25 in manufacturers coupons. I wanted to showcase the toothpaste because this is a good example of how to make coupons work in your food storage. Colgate was on sale for $1 this week. I had $1 off of 1 for the toothpaste and $0.75 off of the toothbrushes bringing the total for these items to $.50. This was a great way to build my stash. I have a lot of toothpaste actually. But it doesn't go bad and is wonderful to have on hand. I also have a lot of toothbrushes. I feel that it is important to keep these things around. I will post a picture of my stash later. As I'm getting to full stash on these items I will begin to look for other things. One of my next goals is to stock up on deodarant and razors. By doing this I can increase my stock pile of things we use all the time as well as cut our budget.

CVS trip

I did pretty well last night and today at CVS working the deals, despite some glitches. For anyone not familiar with CVSing go to Money Saving Mom and read up. Last night I braved the snow to go out and grocery shop. We were hitting critical points with toilet paper and dishwasher soap so I decided I should stick to my Monday night run. I haven't been buying as much at Costco as I normally do because I'm trying to make the grocery stores closer to my house work better. I still have to go to Costco for a couple of things but I'm not spending as much. So, back to last night. First, I went to CVS. I bought a night creme and some face wipes and some eggs. Total before coupons: 23.50. I used a $15 ECB, a $5 off coupon and a $3 manufacturer. Total out of pocket: 0.33 Then I headed over to Kroger for their sales. Here's the rundown:

3 boxes lean pockets
2 calzones
2 peter pan peanut butter (these are a food storage item)
3 lb pears
3 lb broccoli
1 Naked smoothie (I'm feeling quite sick)
1 box gogurt
Total before coupons: $35
Total after: $20.20
Plus I have a $2 off coupon for my next purchase there.
This run was for lunches and snacks.

Next I headed to Albertsons. This shopping trip was a little disappointing. I paid almost $10 for a gallon of milk (this was the correct price because it was organic)! I didn't realize it until later and I'm really bummed. Take that out of the equation under stupid tax and I did ok. My total before coupons was about $65 and I paid $38.85 out of pocket. If you subtract the stupid tax I did ok. This is my household budget for the week. The total is only about $60. This is an improvement over my previous weeks. However, I did not buy formula, diapers or wipes. This really bumps up our bill. I have been able to work in diapers to my CVS deals for the most part but formula is a killer.

Ok, now to explain the picture above. I went to CVS this morning to pick up the razor that's on sale and some easter candy. The razor was $10 and I had a $4 coupon, then you get 6 ECBs. This was really cool. So I got the men's razor (still have to go back another time for the women's), and the candy and my total that time was $.051. Then I went to another CVS for the toothpaste and got some more candy. My total that time was $0. I was frustrated because the candy was marked $2.99 and I needed $10 worth of candy to print a $5 ECB, when I went to pay I realized the candy was only $1.50 so I didn't have enough candy to get my ECB. I'm only $2 from getting that $5 and I have more Hershey's coupons so I should be able to swing that for free. Hopefully, I can work in a few more free or almost free deals for stocking up. One of the reasons I feel like this is worth my time is because from a storage perspective I am picking up items that we use regularly (or in the case of Easter, expensively) for very little money. One of the basic principles of food storage is to buy things you don't need so you have them when you do need them. Because these items are consumable they get used up and need to be picked up regularly. Making CVSing a habit has become a way to increase my storage capability without dramatically increasing our budget. I'm going to shave my legs, why not do that for free!