My $5 CVS Trip!

You better believe I hit up CVS this past week. There were some great deals!

Here's what I bought (pictured above):

1 Herbal Essences shampoo
1 Herbal Essences styling mousse
2 Cover Girl lip products
2 Right Guard deodorants

Coupons I used:

Buy one get one free Herbal Essences
$1/1 Herbal Essences
Buy one get one free Cover Girl product
$1/1 Cover Girl product
(2) $1.50/1 Right Guard deodorant
$7.50 in ECB

Total paid out of pocket: $5.11
Total saved: $31.45
ECB I walked away with: $8

Not a bad trip, if you ask me! =)

What About You: Grab any awesome drug store deals this week?

I played the drug store game this week...

Most of you know that I pretty much only shop at CVS and mostly avoid Walgreens (their coupon policy just stresses me out). Every now and then, though, Walgreens has a way of p-u-l-l-i-n-g me back in to their awesome deals. I gave in this week. ;)

I went to CVS and Walgreens this week for some awesome steals. Check it out...

Here's what I bought at CVS (pictured above):

2 Dentyne Ice (75 count)
1 gallon of milk
1 Soft Soap Nutri-Serums
1 Powerball Gel Bar

Coupons Used:

(2) $1.50/1 Dentyne Ice
(1) $1/1 milk
(1) $1/1 Soft Soap
(1) $7.50 in Extra Bucks

Total paid out of pocket: $2.87
Total saved: $15.87
ECB I walked away with: $6.50

So, I did lose $1 in ECB, but that's okay with me. I like what I was able to get for less than $3 (which is less than the original price of the milk)!

Here's what I got at Walgreens*** (pictured above):

2 Purex detergents
1 Lady Speed Stick
3 Kotex packages
3 Revlon eye shadows

Coupons Used:

(1) Buy one get one free Purex
(1) $1.50/2 Kotex
(3) $2/1 Revlon cosmetic
(1) $.75/1 Lady Speed Stick

Total paid out of pocket: $10.06
Total saved: $34.23
RR I walked away with: $6 (Which I then used at Publix the next day! Gotta love it!)

Overall, it was a pretty awesome drug store game week! I paid a total of $12.93, and saved $50.10!

***Note on my experience at Walgreens: There is this one cashier/manager guy that works there, and he is incredible. He is the most coupon-friendly Walgreens employee I have ever met in my life. This guy knows his stuff! A couple weeks ago when I went to do the Huggies deal, I couldn't find my good ole caramel chews that are only $.30 each. And he knew the tricks! He's like, "Oh do you need a filler so that your coupons don't exceed your items? Most couponers use the caramel chews. Let me find them for you." *GASP* It's nice to know there are coupon-friendly people out there in the world, even at Walgreens. He makes my shopping experience at Walgreens so much more pleasurable. He had no problem with giving me the BOGO Purex with the coupon to get both for free. I even told him he'd have to price-adjust the $2/1 Revlon coupon down to $1.99, but he said, "Nope. No biggie. It's just 3 cents!" and he miraculously pushed all 3 coupons through. I have never seen a Walgreens cashier push a coupon through for me. I wish I could remember his name, but thank you awesome Walgreens guy!!! You made my day...and I just might start frequenting Walgreens more often because of you.

What About You: Catch any great CVS or Walgreens deals this week? Share below!

My CVS and Walgreens Trips!

Aren't you proud of me? I finally made it to CVS and Walgreens this week! (oh, and side note - I ended up finding my lost ECBs, but now they're expired, of course!)

Here's what I got at CVS this week:

What I Bought:

2 single-serving Honey Nut Cheerios - $1 each
1 trial-size Herbal Essences shampoo - $.99
1 full-size Herbal Essences Mousse - $2.88
2 Reach flosses - $3.99 each

Coupons Used:

(2) $1/1 Honey Nut Cheerios
(1) Buy any Herbal Essences shampoo, get a styler free
(1) Buy one get one free Reach floss
(1) $1/1 Reach floss
$2 ECB from last trip

Paid out of pocket: $1.71
Total Saved: $12.28
ECBs received: $4

*Not bad at all! I only paid $1.71 total, and only had to use $2 ECB to get back $4 ECB! That means my ECB stash grew! =)

*************************************************************************

Here's what I got at Walgreens this week:



What I Bought:

(2) Huggies Jumbo Pack Diapers - $8.99 each
(2) Kotex Tampons - $3 each
(2) Orbit Gum Multi-Packs - $1.50 each
(1) Caramel Chew (filler item) - $.33

Coupons Used:

(2) $1/1 Orbit multi-packs
(1) $2/2 Kotex
(2) $2/1 Huggies
$6 Register Rewards from previous transaction

I did this in 2 separate transactions, so that I could take advantage of the Huggies rolling deal. Overall, here were my ending totals:

Paid out of pocket: $14.95
Total Saved: $25.36
RR I walked away with: $3

*I am not counting the Huggies diapers as part of my grocery budget this week, because those are gifts that I am putting away for a baby shower later on. Taking off the diapers from this transaction, I paid a total of $6.08 out of pocket, and saved a total of $15.36!

Therefore, at CVS and Walgreens this week, I spent a total of $7.79 towards my weekly grocery budget.

Let's see how I did at Publix this week...Super Savings Saturday is coming up!

What About You: Did you manage to score any sweet drug store deals this week?

Okay -- 'Fess Up!

All right...it's confession time.

CVS has always been known for their shelves not being very stocked with the deals. Every coupon queen knows that if you want to get the sweet steals at CVS, you have to go on Sunday or Monday. Well it just so happens that at my store, for some reason, not many people used to like getting the deals (notice I say used to).

I have always been able to stroll on in to my CVS store on Wednesday and find the deal items I need on the shelves still. Not anymore, my friends...

Fruit Covians - it's time for you to confess. How many of you are taking all of my deals on Sunday at my local CVS? I went shopping Sunday night, all excited about getting some sweet freebies...only to find almost all of the items already gone. =) HeHe.

I'm totally playing with you. I am happy to see that some of my neighbors, friends, and readers are starting to grab more CVS Deals each week. =) I just thought it was funny that all of a sudden the shelves are empty when I go in. I'll just have to stay on top of my game and get in there earlier each week!

Meanwhile, here is what I was able to snag, despite the shelves already being cleared out (pictured above):

2 Ousts (Bonus Pack Deal)
1 Electrasol (wanted 2, but I won't be greedy)
1 Johnson Head-To-Toe Wash (Bonus Pack Deal; for a baby gift basket)

Coupons I Used:
Buy one get one free Oust
$2.50/1 Electrasol
$1/1 Head-To-Toe Wash
$3/$15 purchase (thanks to my friend, Silvina!)

Paid out of pocket: $7.02
Saved: $12.49
ECB's Received: $8.00

Oh, and I forgot to tell you -- turns out, I could not print my ECBs from the website. They could only be viewed on my account, but not printed. =( So I had to start over. What a bummer.

So I spent $7 to get back $8. That should get me rolling again...

You can see this week's CVS Deals here.

What About You: Have any CVS luck this week? Share your deals with us!

Super Savings Saturday!

Crystal is not doing Super Savings Saturday again until January 2010, but I figured I'd still post mine as long as I find the time each weekend over the next couple of weeks. =)

I didn't buy very much this week. The sales just weren't that great. I picked up a few deals, and got some ingredients for the meals on my weekly menu...

Here's what I bought at Publix this week (thanks to Julie for being an awesome shopper friend!):

2 boxes Cocoa Puffs cereal
2 boxes Domino powdered sugar
2 packages Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers
1 package walnuts
2 boxes Klondike ice cream bars (yum!)
2 packages Sargento shredded cheese
2 Glade soy candles
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 bag Gala apples (3 lb)
1 Avocado
1 dozen eggs
1 tomato
1 container Alfalfa sprouts
1 pineapple
1 package Angel Soft toilet paper
1 Jalapeno pepper
1 package Mission tortillas
2 Phazyme medicines
1 water (2.5 gallon)

Total Before Sales and Coupons: $79.10
Total saved from sales: $17.53
Manufacturer coupons used: $16.50
Store/Competitor coupons used: $20.79
Total amount saved: $54.82
Total paid after all sales and coupons: $24.28

*I also made a CVS trip this week (pictured below). I spent $3.58 out of pocket, saved $34.97, and got back $5 ECB. I had to get a couple of rain checks, as they were out of many items. But this is what I ended up getting!


***Therefore, with Publix and CVS combined, I spent a total of $27.86 this week. I saved a total of $89.79!

December Totals:

1st week: $36.15
2nd week: $29.73
3rd week: $27.86

Total spent for month of December so far: $93.74
Total savings for month of December so far: $346.49

We're under budget for the week and the month so far! =)

New to saving money on groceries? Try this series for helpful information on how to save.

Not sure how to use coupons? Try this post for couponing basics!

Want to start saving at Publix? Check out the Publix Basics post to learn all about it!

What about you? How did you do this week? Share your deals and scenarios below! If you are new to saving money, I invite you to e-mail me with a picture and explanation of a great deal you got, so that I can share it with all of the readers! Go here to see some readers' savings! They all do so great! We're all in this together!!! =)

I'm Back In The CVS Game! Oh Yeah!

As many of you know, CVS has been STINKING with their deals lately. Used to be, I could get free everything each week. Now-a-days, it's like I can barely find a week where there's anything worth buying! Because of this, my precious little Extra Care Bucks (which enable you to roll the deals and pay nothing out of pocket at CVS for all your household items) expired! Yep, you heard me...EXPIRED. All $30 worth!!!

I can't believe I let it happen, but I just didn't go to CVS enough to even notice that they had expired! By the time I noticed, it was too late. So I've been waiting for a "good week" at CVS, so that I could start back up again on gaining a nice stash of Extra Bucks.

The first time you always have to pay out of pocket, to get your first set of Extra Bucks back. After that, you just continue using your Extra Bucks on purchases that give you more Extra Bucks! I really didn't want to have to pay a lot out of pocket, and I when I saw the deals this week, I knew it was a great week to try to pay a little out of pocket and get a nice beginning stash of ECBs to start rolling some deals once again!

Here's how my transaction went down:

I bought:
1 Bayer Contour Meter (I will donate it)
2 Essence of Beauty Body Washes
1 Trial Sized Johnson's Baby Shampoo
1 Trial Sized Aquafresh Extreme Toothpaste

Coupons I used:
(1) $30/1 Bayer Meter (price adjusted it down to $14.99)
(1) $1/1 Johnson' item
(1) FREE trial-sized aquafresh toothpaste
(1) CVS coupon for buy one get one free EoB body wash!!!
(1) Spend $20, get back $4 ECB from Season to Save booklet

ECBs Received:
$5 for Bayer Meter
$4 for each body wash = $8
$4 for spending $20
Total = $17 ECB!

I was really excited about the Essence of Beauty coupon. I walked in and scanned my card at the machine, and that was the first coupon it gave me! What an amazing surprise! It made my night, because that meant I could buy 2 body washes for the price of one, and still get back ECBs for both!

Also, I wanted to pass on the info about the Spend $20, get $4 back. It was very simple. I just handed them the card before I gave them the rest of my coupons. No problem at all! They said as long as the total was over $20 before coupons, I was good to go!

Overall:
Total Spent out of pocket: $5.64
Total Amount Saved: $89.96 (huge chunk was the Bayer meter)
Extra Bucks I got back: $17!!!

So I spent $5.64, and received back $17! I would say that's a great way to get rolling again! I was very pleased at being able to spend so little out of pocket. =)

...And I'm back in the game!!!

New to CVS'ing, and need a little hand-holding? Go check out my CVS Basics Post, and you'll learn everything you need to know in order to start getting all of your household items for free!

Re-building my stash of Extra Care Bucks at CVS...

After last week's fiasco with Walgreens, I decided to focus on CVS and Target this week...

Last week at CVS, I used up my Extra Bucks that were about to expire. I bought six 8-pks of Pepsi products for $.98 out of pocket. It was nice not to have to pay anything for them, but that meant starting all over with trying to build up my ECBs. Every now and then, this will happen to me, when the deals are slim for weeks at a time. Before I know it, my ECBs are about to expire, so I have to use them on something I need...and then start all over with building them back up. So that's what I hoped to accomplish this week at CVS.

Here's what I did...

1st Transaction:

2 Accucheck Aviva Diabetes Monitors on sale for $14.99 a piece

*Used (2) $10/1 manufacturer coupons

*Used a $5/$25 CVS coupon

*Used a $2 ECB coupon

PAID: $2.98

ECBs received: $10 ($5 for each monitor bought)

2nd Transaction:

1 Fusion Power Razor on sale for $9.99

1 Vaseline Sheer Infusion lotion at $7.99

1 Covergirl blush at $7.99

1 Covergirl foundation at $9.49

Coupons used:

$4/1 Fusion razor

$1.50/1 Sheer Infusion lotion

$1/1 Covergirl makeup

FREE CG item when you buy a CG foundation (Value of $7.99)

$3 ECB (remaining from those that hadn't expired yet)

$10 ECB received from transaction above

PAID: $9.92

ECBs received: $17

Overall Totals:

PAID: $12.90

Total savings with sales and coupons: $65.49

ECBs I walked away with: $17

***So, I basically paid $12.90 for $65.49 worth of items. Plus, I now have $17 in ECBs to help me get started on rolling the CVS deals once again! Not bad, for having to pay out of pocket and start all over with my ECBs!!! If only I had known about the 3 different links for the $5/$25 coupon. Would have brought my second transaction total down to $4.92! Bummer! Oh well. =)

How about you? Snag any great deals at CVS this week? Share about it in the comments section! Or link back to your blog about it, if you have one!

My weekly CVS trip!

I will be posting my deals every week, so that you can get an idea of how it all works out in real action. Like I said on my CVS deals post for this week, I think it's a pretty bland week. I didn't buy very much, but I got a few freebies! Here's how my deal went down:

What I Bought:

1 CoverGirl Clean pressed powder - $4.99
1 CoverGirl True Blend blush - $7.99
1 Schick ST3 triple slim razors (10 pack) - $6.99
2 Quattro for women razors - $9.99 (bogo)

Total before coupons = $29.96 (and that's with the sale price of the buy one get one razors!)

Coupons Used:

(1) $1/1 CoverGirl product
(1) Buy one CoverGirl foundation, get any face makeup free ($7.99 blush)
(2) $4/1 Schick Quattro razor = $8 total
(1) $3/1 Schick disposable razors

ECBs Used: $10.48
Total amount in coupons (including ECBs) = $30.47

I had a subtotal of -51 cents. This is not usually possible. Now that I'm looking at it, I didn't even realize that happened, because normally the cashier lets me know that I have gone below the tax amount. Weird! Maybe she pushed the last coupon through for me, and I didn't know.

Total paid out of pocket: $1.29 (all tax)

Amount of extra bucks I received back: $6.00

So, let's summarize: I spent $1.29 out of pocket, and got back $6.00 in ECBs. So that's really good! However, I don't consider this making money, because I had to use $10.48 in ECBs to get my total down that low. So I lost about $4.00 in ECBs, but that's okay! I still have a nice stash of them on top of the newly acquired $6.00! I just didn't need to use them all for this transaction. =]

I hope that helped you see how much you can save, by seeing a real example played out step by step.

How about you? Snag any great deals at CVS this week? Share about it in the comments section! Or link back to your blog about it, if you have one!