CVS ....am I really saving any money??

I think I am getting the hang of this......sort of

I feel like I am having to retrain my mind on this CVS shopping experience.  What I have taught myself over the past 17 years of shopping is that I have to get enough groceries to last me 2 weeks.

In reality - if this CVS, ECB's thing is going to work, I am definitely going to have to throw that out the window!!  I am stuck....

I am having a hard time passing up some pretty decent deals (no ECB reawards), and then feeling guilty for not saving the coupon because next week there could be a ECB attached to the thing!!

Is this normal???

This GUILT???

I am going to list out my purchases now......I think my PCA (Personal Coupon Advisor) is not going to be happy:

1st Transaction

** Green Bag Reward - HOLLA**
1 Fiber One Bar (2 boxes) $6.99
1 Honey Nut Cheerios (2 boxes) $7.99
1 Bx Kleenex $1.89
1 Bx Kleenex $1.89
1 Bx Kleenex $1.89

Coupon's Used:

40c/1 box of Fiber One
40c/1 box of Fiber One
$1/1 box of Honey Nut Cheerios
$1/1 box of Honey Nut Cheerios
ECB used $4.00

Saved $6.80, total purchase $14.31
Earned $7.00 ECB's!

Not too bad.

Now I was under the impression that CVS accepts other competitors coupons ( like Walgreens), but apparently they don't!  So this kind of messed up my next deal but I still didn't do too bad.

2nd Transaction:
**Cashier said only 1 scan of the Green Bag a day!  NO FAIR**

4 Cans Campbells Ready to Eat Soup 2 for $3
1 32cnt Bayer Aspirin $1.99
1 32cnt (plus a free one!) $1.99
1 Loreal Everpure Shampoo $5.99
1 Bag Halls $2.69
1 Bag Halls $2.69 (this is where my deal messed up, Walgreens had these on sale for .99c each!)

Coupon's Used
.50c off 1 Can Campbells Soup
.50c off 1 Can Campbells Soup
.50c off 1 Can Campbells Soup
.50c off 1 Can Campbells Soup
$1/1 Bayer 24 Cnt or Higher
$1/1 Bayer 24 Cnt or Higher
$1/ 2 Bags Halls
$2/1 Bottle Loreal Shampoo
$3.00 ECB's Used

Saved $15.36, $10 in Coupons used

No ECB's Earned, but still have $4 remaining from previous purchase.

So this is my dilema.  I couldn't pass up the Bayer since I was technically only paying .99c for each bottle.  To me that's a pretty good deal.

I am still trying to figure out all the tricks and so far am determined to get better at this.

I think I need to start breaking up my purchases more and get used to maybe going to CVS daily VS my previous mind set of stocking up on every good deal now.

I do have a regret....I wish I had more of those OUST! Coupons!  That was such a GOOD DEAL!!

I am drooling over those ECB's!

Albertson's Deals

I had a great day at Albertsons!  'Pinch this, Stretch That' would be proud!!

I went to Smith's first because they are having their cases sale.  I got the Hormel Chili w/beans for $10.56 (12 cans) - that's 88cents a can! Plus the Kroger Tomato Sauce for $5.99 (24 cans) - that's 24cents a can!

I did splurge -- but it was on something I was going to buy anyway --.  We purchased the "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" movie for $19.99  BUT I received $3.00 off for spending at least $30.00.

All in all - I spent $33.54 (not too bad)

Now my Albertson's was much better!!

I specifically went for the deal on Progressive Soup and the Cereal Deal.

Add had .99c cans of Progressive Soup with a 10$ purchase ( limit 4 cans).  I had 2 coupons that Albertson's honored:

Buy 3 cans of Progressive Soup - Coupon Amount: $1.10
Buy 2 cans of Progressive Soup - Coupon Amount: .50c

With this deal I was able to get 4 cans (max purchase):
4 cans at .99c each = $3.96
1st coupon - $1.10 = $2.86
2nd coupon -.50c   = $2.36
coupon doubled      = $1.86

So for 4 cans of soup I paid .46c per can!  For a soup that normally costs $2.49 each!  GREAT DEAL!! Check out the Alberston's Deals Blog Here

For the Cereal deal - I was a little bummed because I didn't read 2 of my coupons correctly and I couldn't use them.  But over all ..I didn't do too bad.

The deal Albertson's was offering was 2 for $4 on General Mills cereals.  The kids picked out their fav's (Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch).

I had a coupon for $1 off on Coco Puffs but I mistakenly grabbed the wrong one for the Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

I purchased 4 boxes of cereal ( 2 each of each kind).

For the Cocoa Puffs I received $1 off - so I only paid $1.50 each ( not horrible)

But I did pay full price for the other.

So you can see I made 2 Rookie mistakes by not reading my coupons correctly.

Not that I am blaming them, but I did have the kids with me so my concentration wasn't 100 %.  I know now that I need to leave them at home until I get more familiar with the coupon game.  I find this challenging and wish I had more time to commit to it.  I am enjoying some of the deals I am finding...and am already combing through my new CVS add!

This lady is amazing!  Here's her book:

2010 Budget Challenge - Week 1

So for my first week in the 2010 Budget Challenge I didn't do too badly.

The budget consists of $25.00 per person.  So I have a $100.00 weekly for my family of 4.

This week I had some learning challenges with CVS, but I think I am starting to get the hang of it!  I will be heading out to Albertsons today to see what deals I can get there.

Here is a snap shot of my money spent so far:

CVS: $96.41 (this does include the big mistake of the $74 purchase)

Eating out: $5.81 (I was starving!)
Fresh and Easy: $29.45
-----------------------------
$114.53

I know I am already over budget and I still need to pick up a few items today.  But for the most part, on average I was spending about $250 a week on groceries and eating out.  This week we didn't eat out once!  I had to on Wednesday night because I work late and everyone else had already ate and was at church.  But I got a kids meal and didn't eat the whole thing...Walt finished it for me.  So technically that's a savings since it fed 2 people!

I am going to try preparing some items ahead....since I killed myself this week to make dinner every night and we were practically eating before bed time.  That made me crazy!

Here's a neat book I saw on Amazon!

So...I'm Kinda starting to have a crush on CVS

I am starting to develop a crush on CVS.

There I said it.

My first day with trying to understand the CVS Extra Bucks (or store credit) was a hot mess. I had a complete miss understanding of how these thingy's worked.

I had a brief training session with my PCC (Personal Coupon Consultant - miss " Pinch this, Stretch that") the next day and was informed of my many errors.

I didn't realize I could break up purchases ( and the gals at CVS are sweet to do so!).

To start your EBC's look at the CVS Store add and pick out a few of the items that have a great ECB return.

Since I made so many purchases my first day I had about...12 ECB's to spend towards my next purchases.

So my PCC tells me to get my Oust! Coupons out and get my butt to CVS. I take the deal of buy 1 get 1 free and I get 6 ECB's for doing that! And I have 2 coupons for the Oust! ....so you know that means I get another 12 ECB's!

I am way excited.....

I end up breaking my purchases into 2 seperate transactions.

1. Transaction:
*Buy 1 Get 1 Free OUST! (2 bottles)
*1 bottle of Loreal's new Shampoo (on sale for 6.99 and I had a 2$ coupon)
*1 GE Energy Light Bulb on sale for 99 cents
This transaction before my coupons and ECB's was 23$. I paid $8.42 and earned another 6 bucks of ECB's

2. Transaction:
*Buy 1 Get 1 Free OUST! (2 bottles)
*1 Rimmel Mascara - 75% off
*Eyeliner sharpener - 75% off
*5 Rimmel eyeshadows - 75% off
*Revlon Lipgloss - 75% off
This transaction before my coupons and ECB's was 75$. I paid $8.82 and earned another 6 bucks of ECB's. The reason I saved so much is my make up purchases were less then 1.50$ each. WHAT A DEAL!!

So YES - CVS

I will be visiting you again.....I have a feeling our relationship is just starting!

I'm not loving CVS

Okay so I am trying to start this new project this year.

We as a family are not going to purchase any items unless we have a coupon for it! It's going to be a strange challenge. Definitely going WAY out of our comfort zone being in the " I want it now, got to have the newest things" generation.

I have been encouraged by a friends blog http://pinchthisstretchthat.blogspot.com/. She's got some amazing tips and tricks and I find great advice there.

Well tonight I think I was over zealous and highly ambitious thinking I was going to conquer CVS and take advantage of these ECB's!

How come I walked out of CVS spending $74 dollars and using $14 dollars in coupons? I got a bunch of these "extra bucks" on my receipt that printed out. But I didn't get to enjoy these dollars on this purchase! So apparently I am not learning anything about how to enjoy this "free" money.

Now I have these $12 in ECB's...but what do I do with them?

The only happy purchase I got tonight was my laundry detergent. I purchased 3 (32 load) bottles of All. CVS had them on sale for $3.99 each. I had a $1.00 off coupon plus a $3.00 off coupon with the purchase of 2. So I basically paid $2.99 each for these 3 bottles of detergent. I am tempted to get more since that will be an easy item for me to stock pile up.

I am not giving up....but am determined to learn about this great ECB mystery!