CVS Trip #1

So this isn't really the first trip to CVS I've had, but its the first one that I felt was good enough for a post. I'm learning how CVS works slowly, but surely. So CVS uses Extra Care Bucks (ECB) to get you coming back. When you buy certain items, you receive ECB back. These ECB can be put towards your next purchase similar to how a giftcard might work. So the challenge is to continuously roll your ECB so you never pay much more than just tax for your items. So, going into this week, I had $6.99 ECB from last week.

Total Before Coupons: $28.34
Total After Coupons: $0.53
Total ECB for next week: $13

This week I made $12.47 shopping at CVS!

Rite Aid Adventure #6

Here is the great deal I did this week at Rite Aid. This is the best one that I have put together myself and when I say myself I mean with the help of my friend, Rachel, of course. This deal combined three Rite Aid rebates with one Olay rebate.

Total before coupons: $71.91
Total out of pocket after coupons: $35.06
Total Rebates: $44.00

This week I made $8.94 to shop at Rite Aid!! And I even got some good stuff :)

Rite Aid Adventure #5

Here is my loot for the week.
Total before coupons: $24.56
Total after coupons: $1.76
Total rebates: $4.00
I made $2.24 shopping this week!

Rite Aid Adventure #4

So its been a little slow with the couponing for a while so that's why there haven't been any updates with that, but the past two weeks I have gotten some pretty good deals at Rite Aid. Last week I put together a scenario on my own again and it worked out way better than I had planned. I thought that I might get a somewhat good deal and it ended up being amazing. I had two coupons for everything I bought (one store and one manufacturer) so that made it an awesome deal.

So here's the breakdown...
Total before coupons: $24.22
Total after coupons: $2.19
Total rebates: $3.00

Once again I was able to make $0.81 shopping and getting some good stuff (like the razors Jeff uses, when he doesn't have a beard that is). You can see in the picture that the vitamin water didn't even make it long enough for the picture. That was some good stuff.

On to this week...Rite Aid started a new Wellness Program so they give special deals and coupons to its members. Most of the stuff this week I got for free because my coupons were worth more than the items cost using the Wellness Program.

Total before coupons: $ 39.87
Total after coupons: $1.27

Now let me just explain why this one is so awesome. The Covergirl stuff is usually $12.99 a piece, but the store's deal was buy one get one free and I had a manufacturer's coupon for a buy one get one free plus a dollar off manufacturer's coupon. So technically with just the makeup I made one dollar buying it. The liners were $0.99 through the wellness program and I had a dollar off manufacturer's for each one so I made a penny on each package of those. The rest of the stuff is just extra stuff we wanted since I had about five extra dollars that needed to be made up for. Its so much fun when you have too many coupons and have to get free stuff to make up for them. If you're wondering what that other stuff is, its rubbing alcohol that Jeff is using for fuel in one of his experiments.

This week at Publix (a grocery store for those that don't know what it is), I got the best deal I have ever gotten couponing while grocery shopping. I should have taken a picture of it all to put up, but I'll just give you the break down and tell you that I got lots of stuff. Publix does lots of buy one get one free deals and so I usually try and only buy stuff when its at 50% off. On top of that I use coupons to try and get my total even lower. I'm still learning with grocery shopping and its been a slow process, but I'm slowly getting better.

So I started with a total of: $103.67
My total savings was: $62.57
I ended up paying: $41.10

That's 60% savings on grocery shopping!!! I'm hoping to get better at this and hopefully start using more than just manufacturer coupons at Publix. Publix takes competitor coupons, but I've been having trouble finding them and figuring it all out. Anyway, wish me luck with my learning experiences and hopefully some of you can benefit from what I'm learning!!

RIte Aid Adventure #3

So this couponing adventure was spending $50 before coupons to get $25 back in the form of a check (Rite Aid rebate). I definitely could have made this one a much better deal and made more off of it, but I decided that i would go for stuff Jeff and I might actually use instead of continuing to stock up on medicine and stuff that Jeff and I barely ever use. So here's the break-down.

Total before coupons: $58.89
Total after coupons: $24.29
Total I made $0.71 by shopping at Rite Aid this week.

I'm gonna be so sad if we ever move somewhere they don't have Rite Aid. It has become my favorite place to shop these days. I love spending time to figure out how to get the best deals and messing around to see what would be the best deal for Jeff and I. Its so much fun and it requires lots of math so I feel like I'm using my brain. Plus on this one we got some sweet Transformer band-aids. Jeff and I keep a spreadsheet of every penny we spend since neither of us have ever really had to keep track of several bills each month before. I have now added a Rite Aid section to that spreadsheet so I can see how much I make at Rite Aid each month. Last month I was at making a total of $4.49 for the month and we now have more than a years supply of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, and razors. This month I ended up spending $3.25, but we have face wash, band-aids and neosporin to last several years. I'm gonna be sad when Jeff tells me to stop because we have too much stuff. It's just so much fun getting everything for free. I will have to brainstorm on what to do with all the extra stuff that we won't use. Maybe we will find someplace to donate it?

Rite Aid Adventure #2

Wow, definitely a little behind on posting stuff right now. So this is the first week in a while that I actually got a good couponing deal. I wasn't quite prepared for the last part of this outing so it could have ended up a little better, but I still think I did pretty good considering I put the whole thing together myself for the first time. So here's the run-down:
Total before coupons: $70.42
Total after coupons: @32.06
Total rebates I will get back: $29
So I spent a total of $3.06 to get all this.

I realize that I would not normally buy Metamucil, but it gave me a good deal and it actually doesn't taste too bad. I'm not fond of the water here so it will be nice to have that to cover up the bad taste. I did the Biore deal last and before I bought the Biore I was actually at making $0.57 for my days work. I thought it was a pretty good deal though to get all the extra Biore stuff for only three dollars more. I've been looking at the deals for next week and am excited to try my hand again at putting together a deal all on my own.

My First Couponing Adventure

I was so excited about my first time couponing that I felt the need to share the awesomeness of my experience. The whole idea of couponing is combining manufacturer and store coupons to get the best deals. I cannot take the credit for planning all of this out as I had help from http://thekrazycouponlady.com and my good friend Rachel. Both Rachel and I are new at the couponing business, but she definitely has a better grasp on how to make it all work out. We did four separate transactions to get the best of our money. So here is the run-down of what we did.
Total Before Coupons: $101.36
Total After Coupons: $43.97
Total Rebates: $54.00
Notice that the rebates were more than the total I spent. I actually made money by shopping today. Now I'd say that's one of the coolest jobs ever. All of the purchased items today were from Proctor and Gamble and so we were able to earn a coupon book with $100 worth of coupons to use another day!! Below is a picture of the goodies I got today!