It's a Chreeetmas Meeeracle!

When things go decidedly against "Murphey's Law," I tend to get excited.  As I thank God, I usually exclaim, it's a "Chreeestmas Meeeracle!"  I don't know why.  I probably got it from a sibling who got it from some movie....    Anyway, I had two "Christmas Miracles" when I went to CVS this week.  On Sunday, I went to CVS and spent far less than I was expecting (which was the only reason I stayed on-budget this week).  As it turns out, I had been the benefactor of a ($9) cashier error.  When I used my BOGO coupons, I got credit for the full price of each item instead of their sale price.  I had to add a candy bar and take away 7 ECBs to get my total back in the positive (50 cents!!).  Here's what I got:

(3) Dove Shampoo $3 ea.
(3) Dove conditioner $3 ea. (I needed to get that many for the sale)
(1) Edge gel $1.99
(1) Schick Hydro 5 razor $8.29
(1) Huggies Jumbo Pk. $8.99
(1) Sinus medicine $5.99 (*gasp* retail!)
(1) Reese's Pieces $1.19 (see above)

-$8.50 quarterly ECBs
-$2 ECBs (b/c I promised not to trash my ECBs)    =D
-FREE Huggies jumbo pk. (store coupon for buying 6) ($11.99 <-- the full price)
-(3) BOGO dove haircare coupons (3x$4.89 <-- full price)
-$5/1 Schick Hydro
-$0.75/1 Edge shave gel
-(2)$1/1 Dove hair care (ymmv on using $$ off coupons with BOGO coupons)
-(1)$0.75/1 Dove hair care (I actually had another $1/1 Dove in the car, but I decided it was worth exactly 25 cents of trouble to get it, seeing as I had everything ready to go)    =D

Subtotal:  -$1.21
Tax:         $1.77 (gasp!)
Total:       $0.56
ECBs:      5 (Dove), 3 (Schick), 1 (Huggies), 1 (Green Bag Tag)


When I got home and saw why my total had been so low, I honestly wasn't going to do anything about it.  Every time I've pointed out a mistake made in my favor before, the manager says to just keep the difference.  I told Jesse about it and he suggested I just try to make it right and see what they say.  That worked because I had forgotten 2 coupons for free toothbrushes and wanted to go back out on Monday.  I didn't really have the cash in my budget to pay the difference if they took me up on the offer, though.  As I was evaluating paying with extrabucks (awkward!) against going further over budget this week, I opened a letter containing a $10 rebate!  Since I had "paid" for that rebate weeks ago, it didn't come out of my already depleted grocery envelope.  When I got to CVS, the store manager gratefully accepted my offer of repayment.  Since I was there, I got these:

(2) 2-pack Reach toothbrushes $3.99 ea.

-(2) $2/1 Reach toothbrush
-4 ECBs (from Sunday)

Subtotal: -$0.02
Tax:        $0.48
Total:      $0.46
ECBs:     4 (2 each)

So all told, I spent $10.22 for $87.65 worth of necesities, which is a savings of 88%!!  As a bonus, I have 17 ECBs for next week!