Grocery Store Savings

CVS's ad is just okay this week.  There's an opportunity to make $1.50 on a tube of toothpaste and I'll probably pick that up at my leisure, but otherwise, it's a boring ad.  So, I concentrated some more of my efforts on saving at the grocery store and I thought I did pretty well.  Here's what I got:

I went to Food Lion and Martin's and got just the essentials and the best deals.  At Food Lion, I got $1.50 Tostitos and BOGO bagels (and a $1.50 tube of toothpaste--darn my cinnamon obsession...).  I spent $20.07 and saved $16.20 (I always have a lower savings quotient at Food Lion).  I had lots of fun at Martin's with $0.70 Q-tips (I even surprised myself with these), $1.40 containers of wipes and $1 Bottles of Ocean Spray juice.  There, I saved $23.33 and spent $25.97.  I was also really excited because they had little cilantro plants on sale.  I'm hoping to start growing my own cilantro and making "Chipotle" food even cheaper!  So my totals for the day were $39.53 in savings on $85.57 worth of food, or 46%!  That's close enough to my goal of 50% savings to make me a happy couponer!

Made more money at CVS!

This week, I was focused on minimizing my total cost--not my out of pocket expense.  So, I ended up spending a little more cash, but with the reimbursement from rebates, I'll have made money in the end!  Here's what I did:

Transaction #1

(1) Physician's Formula mascara $10.49

-$1/1 Manu. q

-$3/1 CVS q

-$2.10 20% off purchase q

(2) Head & Shoulder's large bottles $15.98 total

-$7.99 BOGO q

-$3.20 20% off purchase q

(1) Reinventing Beauty magazine $0.99

-$0.20 20% of purchase q

+tax

=$11.29

ECBs received: 7 (Physician's Formula)

Transaction #2

(4) Head & Shoulder's small bottles $18.67

-(2) BOGO manu. q's ($9.34)

(1) Skintimate shave gel $2.50

-$2/1 peelie (!)

(1) Blink tears $8.99

-$1/1 manu. q

(4) Hallmark cards $6.99

-$3/3 coupon

-B3G1 coupon ($0.99)

-19.49 ECBs

+tax

=$2.39

ECBs received: 4 (H&S), 8.99 (Blink), 3 (cards)

So, I spent $13.68 out of pocket, but ended up with 8 more Extracare Bucks than I had started with (including BeautyBucks) and I'll be getting $7.50 back (for all those H&S shampoos) in a rebate, so it's like I made $1.82 on over $75 worth of stuff!!

Free Spree at Kohl's!

Every quarter or so, Kohl's sends out a coupon-card for $10 off any purchase.  This is probably my favorite coupon of all because I can get a couple small things, like this outfit for my nephew for cheap or FREE!  I usually shop the clearance rack, but I was unimpressed by the selection there, so I saw their "Jumping Beans" clothes were on sale for $5 each.  After much ado about WHICH cute outfit to get my nephew, I settled on this one.  I got exactly what I wanted and ended up paying $0.00!!!  This outfit was originally $28, but no one pays that, right?  It's gotta be like the sticker price on a car... =) 

Making money at CVS!

Jenny from Southern Savers (my favorite coupon-matching blog) once asked if there was anything we wouldn't buy to make a profit (she had posted about a money making deal on personal lubricant).  The answer from us couponers was a resounding "no."  My rule when buying stuff is that it has to be a good deal AND I need it OR I can make money on it.  Also, I like to know where things are "going" if I don't want them.  Today, I got some herbal pain reliever that I won't use myself (I don't trust herbals at all), but I've got a friend who's into that stuff.  I also made $1.50 on Depend's men's underwear which I plan on donating to a nursing home.  Now, this stuff does sometimes accumulate in my house between "buying" and "donating," but hubby's pretty good about policing "coupon clutter," even when I'm not.  =D  So, I ended up making a few cents at CVS today!  Here's how:

Transaction #1

(1) Depend men's underwear $3.99
-$2/1 CVS q
-$1.50/1 manu. q
(2) Right Guard body wash $6
-$2/2 manu. q
(1) ACT sensitive mouthwash $3.99
-$2/1 ACT sensitive
(1) Naturelief pain reliever $8.49
-$1/1 naturelief
-13.99 in ECBs
+tax
=$0.34

ECBs received: 2, 2, 1, 8.49 (plus an extra 1)


Transaction #2

(2) Colgate Total toothpaste $5.98
-(2) $1/1 Colgate total
-4 ECBs
+tax
=$0.34

ECBs received: 4

If you account for 10% back in beauty bucks, I got $37.77 in products for -$0.41!  And that, my friends, is why I don't feel bad buying Depend's.  =)