Saving Money At Kroger & CVS - Lessons Learned!

I haven't missed one week of thrifty shopping since I started using coupons at Kroger and CVS. It seems like each week I learn something new, usually from making a mistake that reverses a little of my savings. In the last couple of weeks since I last blogged, I've saved never less than 50% off my grocery bill (often much more).

Black Friday at CVS was awesome, and I missed out on some of the great deals only because some of the items were out of stock (and still are - yep, I am learning to ask for rain checks now). CVS had many items that were FREE after Extra Care Bucks. I am learning that it's usually beneficial to buy anything FREE after ECBs as long as you can use it or donate it. And of course only if you plan to use those ECBs in the month (they expire one month after you get them).

Anyway, I am learning the hard way that you DO have to pay attention to your transactions, and to the items you are purchasing that are supposed to be either on sale, or an ECB deal. There are times at my local CVS that some merchandise is not labeled on the shelf as to which is actually on sale or an ECB deal. One example recently was a laundry detergent that was one sale in the ad, but no sign was present on the shelf to identify that it was. After studying the sale ad (I hate to keep asking the nice cashiers at our store too many questions) I was lucky enough to select the right product and got the sale price. Another example was another sale item (Mentos gum) that was advertised in the ad. I chose three varieties of the on-sale gum because I had three coupons for that gum that would have made them free. CVS was busy that day, and I was distracted at the cash register and didn't pay attention to the prices as the items were scanned. I knew my total was a few bucks more than I expected, but I paid and left the store. I noticed (when I got home) that I got the sale price on one gum, but paid full price for the other two. CVS regular prices are not usually prices I'd ever pay, so I was very disappointed.

The same thing happened to me at Kroger recently. I spend a while looking at the Kroger sale ad (I pick up a new one each week on Sunday after church) and I always go in to shop with a plan. One particular sale that Kroger has often is a "buy 10 items" and get a certain amount reduction (like $5.00 off). In order to get those sale prices (or the $5.00 off your total) you must buy 10 items (which can be mixed and matched among the sale items). If you buy less than 10 you will pay the price before discount. If you buy 11, you will get the discount for 10 items, but pay the non-discount price for the 11th item. In other words, when you see these sales, you must buy in multiples of 10.

I love the buy 10 sales. Yesterday I purchased 10 packets of Bumble Bee tuna that normally sell for $1.49 each for only .49 cents each. I got this price using only my Kroger card, no coupons. Hard to beat those kind of sales. I also got 4 boxes of Cheerios for $1.25 each (sale price plus 2 coupons), Wesson canola oil for .80 cents (sale price plus coupon), and 5 boxes of Kleenex for .60 cents each (sale price plus coupons). If you combine coupons with Kroger sale prices, you can save big. You've just got to pay attention to the sale ad, and even ask a Kroger employee to explain it to you if something is not clear. I've only encountered one unfriendly and non-helpful Kroger employee where I shop. Everyone else has been very helpful. One young lady was working the register last week when I went in for batteries that were on sale that I had coupons for. She got so excited when I got 6 packages of Duracell batteries for .25-.50 each! She thought that was so cool!

CVS shopping makes me a little nuts some weeks. I always go in there with a plan too, and never, ever has my shopping gone as planned. Seems that something is always out of stock, which will throw off your plan if you're trying to reach a certain $ amount in order to use a $4 off $20 coupon (which I get from CVS frequently). You can use those coupons as soon as your subtotal reaches the $20 amount (before other coupons, or offers, or ECBs). I try to always use those coupons as it's essentially 20% off, and I usually have plenty of coupons and ECBs to cover all or most of the balance.

When planning your shopping trip at CVS, scan the sale ad and look at all the FREE after ECBs offers (sometimes there are not any). Then look for items that are priced good (with or without ECBs). There are some rip-offs in every sale ad (sorry CVS but it's true). For instance, last week there was a deal for $2 ECBs when you buy Ban roll on deodorant. No price was listed in the sale ad - only the ECB deal. These are usually not good deals. I had a coupon for Ban for .50 cents off so I thought I'd do that deal. When I got to the store and saw that that product was priced at $5.99, even with the $2 ECB and my coupon, I would still be paying $3.49 plus tax for Ban deodorant (a brand that I don't usually even use). I do not consider this a good deal - so I passed on that one.

Rolling Extra Care Bucks is neat. I am still not proficient enough to teach someone the details of this, but I am starting to catch on. Rolling your bucks will help you pay little out of pocket cash (use your ECBs) when you purchase items that offer ECBs. You basically just roll them over and over. In order to get good at this, you need to plan to shop at CVS weekly, and never miss the good ECB deals. www.simplycvsshopping.com is a great place to learn about CVS shopping.

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!