Best Week at CVS Yet!

Wow! Last week's CVS deals were great! In two trips and four transactions, I got all of this...



...for 6.73. That's-
1 Venus razor
2 Pantene hair gel
2 Swiffer dry sweeper cloths (large box)
1 Glade flameless candle
2 Glade candles
3 Garnier shampoo/cond.
2 Tresemme shampoo/cond.
1 Tresemme hair gel
5 Colgate toothpaste
2 Oral B toothbrushes

I only have 7 ECBs to roll over on account of the fact that I bought a third bottle of Garnier not realizing that it was limit of 2 on earning ECBs. Not only did I not get any ECBs, I paid for it in ECBs and used one of my coupons. I also had some issues with the toothpaste. Two of the tubes I bought were mentioned in the ad as being on sale with ECBs, but they rang up at a different price and I didn't get the ECBs. I've been contemplating calling Customer Service about it. I used ECBs to pay for them, so I can't get anything back by returning them. Grr...

The Garnier deal is running again this week, and so is the Venus razor deal. Those are probably the only deals I'll do this week, but I might add the Irish Spring deal just because I got a CRT (cash register tape) coupon for Irish Spring which will make the deal even better.

Grocery Deals!

Wow, there were some good deals this week at my local stores! I did some major price-matching at Walmart. I think pretty soon the cashiers are going to start running when they see me coming! Here's a few of the good ones. The original price is what it normally costs at Walmart.
1. Boneless, skinless Chicken breasts- 6.00 (3 lb. bag), PM to 4.47! This deal was amazing! I bought two bags, and I think I might go and get at least one more to stock up!
2. Secret deordorant- 3.48, PM to 2.19+50 cent coupon!
3. Various Pilsbury rolls, breads, bisquits- 1.93, and 2.00+, PM to 1.00+ coupons!

My friend Shelley told me about this site that helps you find all of the deals in the weekly circulars from your local stores. Every Thursday, I take the weekly circulars, go through and circle the items I'm interested in, and then later I will write them down and decide which ones I will actually add to my shopping list. Once I'm at the store, I will compare it to Walmart's price to see if I'm actually getting a bargain. If I'm not, I don't buy it unless it's something that I was planning to buy anyway. Since I've really been focusing on saving money, I've really started trying to plan my meals around what is on sale and also to stock up on things when they're at a good price. Case in point, the infamous rump roast from last week (which is going to give me four meals) and the chicken from this week. By doing this, I may be spending more on this week's (or last week's) grocery bill, but I'm spending less in the long run. However, with the assistance of this new site, I was able to find a few deals that I had initially overlooked. I also like that you can add the items you want to your list and then print it out.

I still spent more money today than what I eventually want to do on a weekly basis, but I'm not stressing about it. Number one, I figure there's a learning curve. Number two, I have acknowledged the fact that it takes a little extra money up front to stock up so that eventually you'll be spending less.

Recently, I've also been motivated to start looking into buying things like produce and meat more direct. My neighbor, whose in-laws operate a natural foods store, sent me this article, which really kind of alarmed me a little bit. That combined with the recent revelation into the beef industry and the recall of thousands of pounds of beef have got me wondering about finding a local farmer to buy from. Meat is not a major part of our diet, but I would like to know that what we are eating is of good quality. I also really like the idea of supporting local farmers. I'm looking forward to spring more than ever because it will bring the new season of farmer's markets. I'd also like to consider getting involved in this program.

I'm probably taking a week off from CVS this week. There weren't really any deals that grabbed my attention, and my ECBs have a couple of weeks before they expire.

I'm really thankful for all the ways God has provided for us, especially in just the last two days. I received a new assignment for some freelance work that I do (which is excellent money!), and we got our taxes back from the accountant tonight. God is blessing us with a very good refund, and we are so happy!

You Can't Beat Free!

Or can you?

Yesterday, I went to Walgreens to take advantage of their deal involving the newest Venus razor. They were offering a mail-in rebate for the entire purchase price of one of these razors, and yesterday was the last day to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, when I went in last night to buy one, the store was out of them. Thankfully, the manager offered to pick up one for me from another store, and to compensate me for the rebate, he said he'd just give it to me for free and completely bypass the mail-in rebate! Of course, I was happy to be getting the razor for free; however, I was planning on an even better deal. I had a $2 coupon, plus I had $4 off coupon to use. So, I was only going to pay $4 out of pocket, then get $9.99 back as a rebate. I was actually going to make $6! In bypassing the rebate, I bypassed my opportunity to make money.

Tonight, I went back to the store to get my razor. When the manager "rang" it up (to remove it from inventory), to our suprise it triggered the printing of a $5 dollar off coupon! Yeah! But now, I can only think of how sweet the deal would have been had I been able to do what I initially planned! I'm so crazy about saving money!

And the moral of the story is...Check your receipt!

I ventured out to Walmart for my weekly shopping trip. I decided this week to try just shopping for one week's worth of food. However, I was prepared that I was going to need to spend a bit more money because we were out of things that cost a bit of money...a couple of spices, olive oil, a few toiletry products that I couldn't work in at CVS, and filters for our humidifiers. However, I was also looking forward to scoring some deals by price-matching, namely on some beef- rump roast, reg. 3.50ish a pound; price-matched to 1.68/lb. It was going to cut the price in half. I also had some produce items to price-match.

Unfortunately, the cashier was new, had a little trouble but once someone explained it to her, she seemed to be doing okay. Then she hit the total button, and I almost choked. I know my eyes visibly bugged out of my head. It was 198 dollars! I was so discouraged, because I had really tried to be careful. I was sure that something wasn't right. I didn't want to make a scene, so I quietly paid my bill, took my receipt and pushed my cart out of the way to study it. Sure enough, as I was scanning down, I came to the realization that she had charged me full price for my reduced-price meat, not just once, but four times! That was $44! She had also double charged me for another item.

I remained calm as the manager at the customer service desk took FOREVER to figure out how the cashier had rung the meat up incorrectly. She was super-nice about it the whole time, though. In the end, I walked out with an additional $45! I still spent a lot of money, but $150 is much more acceptable considering all the extra items I had to buy this week. Plus, the chicken and beef that I bought will be used for 3-4 meals next week, so next week's bill should be much less!

Pay attention to your receipts!

Choice: Disappointing Day at CVS...or...I've Never Been Good at Thinking on My Feet!

Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. I actually completely planned out my trip to CVS, knowing exactly what I was going to buy, what coupons I needed and how many ECBs I would get back. I even had the items broken into three transactions to better maximize my ECB usage and therefore minimize my out of pocket (OOP) expense.

Here is how I had it planned:
Transaction #1:
(2) Huggies diapers- 8.99 ea
(4) Palmolive dishsoap- .99 ea
(1) Cottonelle TP- 5.99
(2) Cottonelle moist wipes- 2/$4

Coupons:
(2) $2 off Huggies (printed from internet)
(1) $1 off Cottonelle (printed from internet)
(2) $1 off 2 Palmolive
(1) $1 off 2 Cottonelle wipes
(1) $4/$20 CVS coupon
9 ECBs from previous visit
Total OOP (before tax): 10.93
Return ECBs: 15

That was the plan...however, I learned as the lady was ringing up my coupons that they only accept ONE internet coupon PER transaction. Not per item purchased, but per transaction. So, I couldn't use one of my Huggies coupons and my TP coupon. Now, anyone who knows me well from having spent extended amounts of time with me knows that I don't think well on my feet...at all. The exception seems to be when I'm teaching. Had I been able to think on my feet, I would have broken the transaction up and built up to the $30 I was required to spend to get the 15 ECBs. I believe that you are allowed to do that. Additionally, I discovered as I was ready to leave that the cashier also forgot to use my Palmolive coupons. Thankfully, she gave me the cash back for the coupons!

Actual OOP total (before tax): 15.03

Transaction #2:
Sambucol- 12.99
Fructis shampoo- 3.33
Fructis conditioner- 3.33
Tresemme conditioner- 3.34
(2) Colgate paste- 2.39

Coupons
(2) $1 off Fructis
(2) $1 off Colgate (both printed off internet)
$4/$20 CVS coupon
15 ECBs from previous transaction
Total OOP: 4.77
Return ECBs: 14

I got hung up with the one internet coupon on this transaction, too, so I kept out one of the toothpastes. No big deal. The big thing on this one was that when I went to give her my CVS coupon, I gave this one coupon I had that triples ECBs earned on money spent at CVS. It also took 0.01 off my order. As a result of giving that coupon, I couldn't use my $4/$20 coupon! What a ripoff! Had I known that, I would have bought a piece of candy and used that triple ECBs coupon in a separate transaction. Additionally, again I didn't realize until I was on my last transaction that the toothpaste wasn't printing any ECBs, and it was costing me more than 2.39! Thankfully, the cashier gave me back the money that I overpaid, and told me to call the customer service number to get my ECBs. The best thing about this transaction is that I still have a mail-in rebate for the Sambucol, so I will get all of my money back.

Actual OOP total: 9.46
Actual return ECBs: 10 (with 2 more coming)

Transaction #3:
Covergirl powder: 7.99
Covergirl blush 5.99
Covergirl eyeliner 5.29
Covergirl mascara 4.99

Coupons
(4) $1 off coupons
$4/$20 CVS coupon
14 ECB from previous transaction
Total OOP: 2.26
Return ECBs: 10

This one didn't end up being too bad. Only difference was I only had 10 ECBs from previous transaction because of the toothpaste goof. Plus, I had to add in one of the toothpastes to this transaction so I could use my coupon and get my ECBs.

Actual OOP: 8.25
Actual return ECBs: 10 (with 2 more coming)

In all, I got all of this:

...for $33.64, and I have (or will have) 14 ECBs for my next visit. Plus, I have a mail-in-rebated for 12.99. I had planned to spend $22.06 and leave with 10 ECBs. I missed out on saving $7. Oh, and I threw in that stuffed lion because it was only $2...

According to my receipts I saved 74.46 off of CVS's original prices (which are over-priced IMO) on my three transactions.

So, lesson to learn from my experience-- If you have internet coupons, plan accordingly for only one coupon per transaction.