Today's Trip To CVS!

Sorry I didn't get a pic of the results of today's shopping trip to CVS, but here's a summary:

What I bought -
6 two-liters of Diet Coke
12 pack Charmin Basic
13 ounce Tone body wash
32 loads Tide
Mega large Aussie hairspray
Dawn dish washing liquid

Here's what I paid - $7.24 (and that includes tax!!)
Every item I purchased was on sale this week, and I had coupons for every item except the Diet Coke. My coupons totaled $4.25. I then used $14.00 ECBs and paid $7.24 out of pocket! Then the nice register printed out $5 worth of ECBs for my next purchase!

Nice deals this week! I noticed my receipt says the quarterly ECBs start printing January 1, so it will be interesting to see how all that works. I've only been CVSing for a couple of months now and I am still learning. I can see a huge difference in how I shop there, and my savings are always good. I encourage anyone trying to save $ on their household consumables to give it a try! I am not getting many good grocery deals at CVS, but I know there are others who do. I spend time each week with the Kroger sale flyer, and that's where I am saving big on my groceries.

Here's where I started learning about CVS shopping: www.simplycvsshopping.com

Even if you're not interested in being a die-hard CVSer, their sale on Charmin Basic is great this week (12 double rolls for $4.99 plus you get $1 ECB) and Coke products (.88 cent for a 2 liter, limit 6). You will need a CVS card to get these deals.

Happy Shopping!!!

Embroidery Anyone?

Well, what do you think? Sleek, sexy, super marvelous! She's my new combo sewing/embroidery machine that I hope to bring home tomorrow!

I've wanted one for a while now... and frankly, I'd gotten sick of dealing with assorted dealers... so I went to the Internet and just starting researching on my own again... reading reviews and "talking" to people who own different machines. I concluded, pretty much on my own, that the Brother Duetta 4500D was the machine for me. True, I was initially drawn to the Brother Quattro, but it was just out of my price range.

So what will my new machine be able to do? Embroidery for starters! I've never had an embroidery machine and I'm still not sure why I am drawn to the thought of embroidery, but yes, I want one. This machine will also be the ultimate in piecing quilts (which I do as often as possible) and with gazillions of decorative stitches - there's just no telling what I might create!

My sweet hubby is off work tomorrow (thank you UPS) and he's driving me to pick my new machine up. He actually made this statement earlier - - "Karen, we are not driving to Lexington only to come home without this machine!" He knows how much I really want a new machine, but he also knows my tendency to talk myself right out of purchases for self. More often than not (actually I should say pretty much 99% of the time) I will decide not to spent money on me. So we'll see...

It will be hard to sleep tonight :-)))

Saturday, Dec. 11 CVS Shopping

My shopping trips just never look as awesome in a photo as they do in person.

Here's what I got at CVS Saturday:

Tide 96 loads
Dial soap, 6 bars
Edge Shaving Gel
Turtles, 2 boxes
King size candy bars (Reese's, Heath, Kit Kat), 10 total
Renpure Organics Shampoo, 2 of these
Playtex Tampons, 2 boxes
Gain dish detergent
Venus razor

Paid out of pocket (including tax): $28.32
This is more than I usually spend in one trip at CVS, but I got $109.62 worth of stuff (keep in mind that's CVS regular prices and their regular prices are not bargains). I used rain checks on the shampoo and candy bars and got all those items free after ECBs. I had coupons for up to $1.00 off each of the other items, and I (of course) used several ECBs. After paying, the nice register printed me another $23 in ECBs for future purchases. And oh, I made these purchases in three separate transactions. That's another key to paying less out of pocket cash when you are using ECBs.

Hope (one of the managers at my CVS) is so wonderful. I just love shopping when she's working. She's patient with us crazy coupon ladies, and she always teaches me something new. The CVS employees can make your bargain shopping experience either great OR something you don't want to waste time doing. The girls at our local CVS are always top-notch and I am so glad they are here!

This week's CVS deals don't much appeal to me, so I think I'll wait to see what next week's bargains are. I am guessing the clearance deals might be good through the end of the year. I wish I had time to visit CVS a few times a week!