Finally after weeks of reading various blogs, studying the CVS "followers", and strategically planning - I did it! I went to CVS and got $33 worth of stuff for about $2.00! WooWho. The best part of it all, Jason was in shock about what I managed to do. I was very proud of myself and walked out of those doors with my head high! I made him go with me, because I needed to make 2 transactions and I did not feel like making two trips. He was so nervous it was funny. He kept asking "what if they see me give you back the card?? what if they know we are together??" I kept reassuring him that we were not doing anything wrong. When we got back into the car, he said he felt like he stole everything because we saved so much money!!
Here is what we got.
1st transaction:
1 bottle of Irish Springs body wash for 4.99
1 pack of 8 bars of Irish Springs 5.99
1 box of Alavert (normally 11.99) on sale for 6.99
Total came to $19.xx
I had a coupon for $5 off of a $15 or more purchase plus
-.30 Irish Springs wash
-.50 Irish Springs bars
-4.00 for Alavert.
This made the total 8.95 that I had to pay out of pocket **not bad, half off but the best part is hat I earned $8 in ECB : ($3 on the Alavert and $5 on the Irish Springs)
So in reality I only spent .95 cents.
2nd transaction:
1 8ct of Bounty Paper towel (normally 8.99) on sale for 5.99
1 bottle of shampoo 2.99
1 tube of Colgate toothpaste 2.99
1 bottle of Pro Health Crest Mouthwash 3.50
total was $16.xx
I had another $5 off of $15 purchase coupon plus
-1.00 on Bounty
-1.00 on shampoo
-1.50 on toothpaste
this made a total of $7.xx
So I used my $5 in ECB making my total $2.29 out of pocket.
in addition to that I made back $5.50 in ECB
3.49 for the mouthwash (free after ECB)
$2 for the shampoo (making it free after my -1.00 coupon)
So all in all we spent around $10 out of pocket but walked away with $8.50 in ECB for next weeks trip!!! That is a total purchase cost of $1.50
**I did make one error. For my second transaction I could have used my full $8 in ECB but my total was just under $8.00 so the cashier would not let me use it. They cannot take "overage" in ECB. I could have bought a "filler" item such as the candy Olena was begging me for and it would have taken to to just over $8, therefore allowing me to use all of my ECBs. Then my out of pocket would have only been a few cents for this purchase.
NBD, I can use the $3.00 next week. At first I was madder than heck because she wouldn't take my full $8 ECB and I didn't know why. When I got home I logged on CVS and read the terms and realized what I did wrong. Hey, I don't think I did bad for my first trip. Stay tuned for next weeks deals! I am so excited I can hardly wait.
Happy Shopping and hopefully someone else has just as good luck as I do. Feel free to share your savings stories, or if you know of any good deals! This is fun and very addicting. I am on a new mission to save as much as possible. I am tired to throwing my money away. I would much rather use it for "better" things.
Here are a few things that I will be doing to help cut some costs:
Here is what we got.
1st transaction:
1 bottle of Irish Springs body wash for 4.99
1 pack of 8 bars of Irish Springs 5.99
1 box of Alavert (normally 11.99) on sale for 6.99
Total came to $19.xx
I had a coupon for $5 off of a $15 or more purchase plus
-.30 Irish Springs wash
-.50 Irish Springs bars
-4.00 for Alavert.
This made the total 8.95 that I had to pay out of pocket **not bad, half off but the best part is hat I earned $8 in ECB : ($3 on the Alavert and $5 on the Irish Springs)
So in reality I only spent .95 cents.
2nd transaction:
1 8ct of Bounty Paper towel (normally 8.99) on sale for 5.99
1 bottle of shampoo 2.99
1 tube of Colgate toothpaste 2.99
1 bottle of Pro Health Crest Mouthwash 3.50
total was $16.xx
I had another $5 off of $15 purchase coupon plus
-1.00 on Bounty
-1.00 on shampoo
-1.50 on toothpaste
this made a total of $7.xx
So I used my $5 in ECB making my total $2.29 out of pocket.
in addition to that I made back $5.50 in ECB
3.49 for the mouthwash (free after ECB)
$2 for the shampoo (making it free after my -1.00 coupon)
So all in all we spent around $10 out of pocket but walked away with $8.50 in ECB for next weeks trip!!! That is a total purchase cost of $1.50
**I did make one error. For my second transaction I could have used my full $8 in ECB but my total was just under $8.00 so the cashier would not let me use it. They cannot take "overage" in ECB. I could have bought a "filler" item such as the candy Olena was begging me for and it would have taken to to just over $8, therefore allowing me to use all of my ECBs. Then my out of pocket would have only been a few cents for this purchase.
NBD, I can use the $3.00 next week. At first I was madder than heck because she wouldn't take my full $8 ECB and I didn't know why. When I got home I logged on CVS and read the terms and realized what I did wrong. Hey, I don't think I did bad for my first trip. Stay tuned for next weeks deals! I am so excited I can hardly wait.
Happy Shopping and hopefully someone else has just as good luck as I do. Feel free to share your savings stories, or if you know of any good deals! This is fun and very addicting. I am on a new mission to save as much as possible. I am tired to throwing my money away. I would much rather use it for "better" things.
Here are a few things that I will be doing to help cut some costs:
- Making my own cleaners:
- carpet cleaner for our steam cleaner
- furniture polish
- "all purpose" cleaner, which I use when I wash the floors and clean bathroom
- laundry detergent
- baby wipes, (this turned out great - I love them a lot better than the store bought and it makes Olena skin so soft - I use wipes for everything.) this version is made with reusable clothes though. I have read that I can use paper towel so that they are disposable but that could add up to as much as standard wipes. I don't see the savings. I bought a pack of 10 "blue" rags from Big Lots for .99 cents. and each one can be cut into 4 pieces. They last about 10 washes, then you have to throw them away.
- making home made bread: this is nice because it is cheaper, more full filling so we eat less, tastes better, makes the house smell great, and no preservatives :)
- Planning weekly meals and shopping for ONLY what I need. I did great this week and only spent $37 - though I went over my budget $2.00 I went with the goal of spending $35.
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