Sunday CVS Bargains!!

Wow! I can hardly believe how well I did at CVS today! I really need to be sitting at my sewing machine right now, but I just HAD to share my excitement first!

I try to do my CVS shopping on Sunday afternoons since that's the first day of their sale each week (they run Sunday-Saturday). I'd studied this week's sale flyer for about a hour already (earlier in the week since our CVS will give you the sale flyer in advance if you ask) and spent another 20 minutes or so right before I went to CVS today (since my sweet neighbor who gives me all her coupons brought some over right after church!). It's a good thing I did as there were many coupons in today's paper that made this shopping trip very, very good!

I started todays shopping with $4 in ECBs (Extra Care Bucks) from my last visit, PLUS I also had a $5 off $25 CVS coupon that was e-mailed to me this week. My $5 coupon expired today so I wanted to use it without buying $25 worth of stuff I didn't need or wasn't on sale. Actually, I never do that anyway. Coupons are always tempting, but the money you save is actually wasted if you buy something you may never use just because you have a coupon for it. So I planned a little extra so I would make smart decisions - - and it paid off today! Here's the summary of what I bought (see photo above) and what I paid:

Oral B Vitality rechargeable toothbrush (on sale for $23 this week)
2 Lipton tea bags
3 Skippy peanut butter
Right Guard deodorant
Dry Idea deodorant
2 Mentos gum
Medicated Blistex lip ointment
Aussie volumizing shampoo

I did two transactions for these purchases, and using my CVS coupon, manufacturer coupons, my $4 Extra Care Bucks, and $13 ECBs from my first transaction today. I paid a total of $6.92 plus tax for ALL of it! To sweeten the deal, I left CVS with $7 in additional ECBs! My savings today was $68.56! I am sure there are some hard-core CVSers out there who did even better than me, but I'll take these kind of savings any day! Well worth the few hours a week I spend planning and snipping coupons!

If you're new to CVS shopping and want to learn more, go to www.simplycvsshopping.com for some great info!

Addicted to Coupons?

It's official. I've become one of those crazy coupon ladies. A friend of mine innocently mentioned how much she saves on her groceries (and all the other stuff we need to run a household) and I was immediately in awe of her savvy ways. I consider myself a conservative when it comes to money and spending (and most other things). I tried couponing many years ago and frankly, I just wasn't at the point in my life where I was willing to devote the few hours a week necessary to really learning the art... BUT now I am!

The website www.simplycvsshopping.com was the first source shared with me (also by my thrifty friend) that describes detailed information about saving money at CVS. From there, I found many other websites with coupon and thrifty shopping information. I'll blog about some of those when I have time as well (and as I learn more).

I am still new to the whole concept, but I've already saved hundreds of dollars in the last couple of months on groceries and other items we all use on a daily basis. Never again will I pay full retail price on most of the consumable stuff that comes into my home! It does require some homework throughout the week, but the more I do it, the faster and better I get.

I have grown to love shopping at CVS, and although their regular prices are usually not bargains by any means, their sale prices on the other hand, combined with coupons and the Extra Buck program can save you lots of money on many consumables. The CVS Extra Care Card is required for these savings, so if you haven't got one - run to your local CVS and sign up! www.simplycvsshopping.com will educate you on everything you need to know to get the best deals possible at CVS.

Just yesterday I shopped at both Wal-Mart and Kroger and wanted to share an example of what coupons and a little planning can do to make your wallet happier. Neither one of these trips produced HUGE savings, and I have done much better in previous weeks, but some weeks are certainly more fruitful than others. Speaking of uber bargains, make sure to get your CVS card before Black Friday (and read the www.simplycvsshopping.com website) to see all the FREE stuff you can get with a little planning and some coupons. Also start collecting coupons from the Sunday paper, and sign up on coupon websites so your coupon stash can be growing. OK, here's the info from my two little shopping trips this weekend (see pics above):

Kroger shopping on Saturday, November 13, 2010

Items I purchased:
4 - Campbell's Select Harvest soup
2 - Kroger peach halves
4 - Campbell's condensed soup
1 - Zesta whole wheat crackers
2 - Energizer batteries (4 packs)
1 - Nestle Toll House cookie dough
1 - pound of Kroger brand butter
Price paid (using sale information and coupons) - $10.34 Saved - $24.87

Wal-Mart Shopping on Saturday, November 13, 2010

Items I purchased:
1 - Black Flag spider killer spray (ick! This is the main reason I even went to Wal-Mart)
1 - Sun laundry detergent
1 - Sun fabric softner
6 - Hunts diced tomatoes
1 - Super jumbo pack of Huggies wipes
1 - Velveeta

I had coupons for the Sun products and the Huggies. Total paid $19.78

The Kroger savings are almost always better than Wal-Mart and I am so glad I finally caught on to this! Kroger always doubles manufacturer coupons (that have a face value of .50 or less) which can really make a difference. Kroger will also send you great coupons in the mail from time-to-time, and they have super great sales too. I'll blog more about Kroger in the coming weeks... I hear they have some great sales coming up for the holidays!