Saved 74% at CVS- Free Vitamin Water!

Spent $8 for $27 worth!

I have been a real slacker at playing the drugstore game lately. I have actually been slacking at couponing in general. Our schedules have been crazy with work, the house, life and the holidays.

 I have pretty much just been doing my weekly Publix grocery trip and have actually had trouble getting motivated to even do that. Thank goodness for our stockpile and freezer full of meat, frozen veggies, bread, and a fridge that has plenty of milk and eggs at least for another few days : ) 

That is the beauty of couponing. I can go a few weeks without needed much and we don't have to without anything. 

I was pretty much planning on just doing Publix on Thursday this week and maybe Target over the weekend but then I got an email from CVS with a coupon for a FREE 6-pack of Vitamin Water when you spent $10. There was also an Ibotta credit for that item too so I figured it was worth looking at the ad and seeing if there was $10 worth of stuff I wanted/needed. 

When I saw that Reeses/Rolos were on a good sale and I had coupons I knew exactly what I would spend $10 on to use my coupon. I was needed them anyways to make these quick and easy Pinterest Pretzel Bites for my holiday baking/gift giving. 

I also earned $3 in ECB's for buying the $10 worth (on sale but before coupons) of candy. I debated just holding on to my ECB's for next time but I always end up losing them or forgetting about them so I figured I would grab a few sale items so I could use them.

Make sure to come back tomorrow for my regular weekly totals Publix post!

Total retail value: $26.90

Total spent after coupons and ECB's: $7.03

Total saved: $19.87

Percent saved: 74%

What I got with sale/coupon/ECB match ups:

Transaction #1

• 4 bags of candy, retails for $3.99 each, on sale for $2.50 each
• Used two $1.35/2 coupons from Coupons.com (savings club only) there is a $1.10/2 available for everyone though
• Made them $1.82 a bag
•  1 six pack of Vitamin Water, retails for $4.99, on sale for $4.88
• Used a CVS coupon for a FREE product when you spend $10 from the CVS website
• Earned .75 in an Ibotta deposit
• Made it FREE plus a .75 cents moneymaker!
•  Spent $6.54 out of pocket
• Also earned $3 ECB's which I saved to put towards transaction #2

 Transaction #2:

• 2 cans of Bumble Bee Tuna, retails for $2.19 each, on sale for $1.25 each
• 1 CVS mini baby powder, retails for $1.57, on sale for .99 cents
• Used my $3 ECB
• Spent .49 cents out of pocket
• Made the whole transaction

Saved 77% At CVS: Stocked Up On Paper Products

There were some great deals at CVS this week so I took advantage of my random Tuesday off of work (compliments of Isaac) and grabbed a few things. Thanks to the $10 gas card deal and some high value coupons I was able to stock up on paper products and lots of other things for cheap.

Breakdown of Tuesday's CVS trip:
Total retail value: $82.22
Total spent after ECB's and $10 gas card earned: $18.99
Total saved: $63.23
Percent saved: 77%

Transaction #1: Spent $13.42 out of pocket and earned $11 ECB's for next transaction

• 2 boxes of Advil Congestion Relief, retails for $7.99 each, on sale for $4.99 each
• Used two $2 off printables
• Stacked with a $4 off any allergy product from the CVS coupon machiene
• Made them .99 cents each
• Earned $4 ECB for buying two products (made them better than free in the end!)
• 1 bottle of ZzzQuil, retails for $5.99, on sale for $4.99
• Used a $3 off Vocalpoint coupon
• Made it $1.99
• Earned a $2 ECB (made it free in the end!) 
• 1 large bottle of Crest 3D White Mouthwash $7.79 and one tube of Crest 3D white toothpaste, $3.39
• Used a .75 cents off coupon from the 7/29 P&G for the toothpaste
• Used a .50 cents off coupon from the 7/29 P&G for the mouthwash
• Earned $5 in ECB's for spending $10 in Crest 3D white products
•  1 bottle of Crest Prorinse mouthwash, retails for $5.49, on sale for $3.49
• Used a coupon for a FREE product WYB buy a large Crest mouthwash from the 7/29 P&G, took off the full value of $5.00
• Made it FREE plus $1.51 MONEYMAKER!

Transaction #2: Spent $5.57 after earning a $10 gas card and using the $11 ECB's from the first transaction (all products counted towards the $30 to earn gas card)

• 1 bottle of Biore facewash, retails for $7.79, on sale for $6.99
• Used a $1 off coupon from a home mailer
• Made it $5.99 before gas card
•  2 (nine roll count) packages of Charmin Extra Soft Double Rolls, retails for $7.29 each, on sale for $5.99 each
• Used two .25 cents off coupons from the 7/29 P&G
• Made them $5.74 before gas card
• 1 package of six count Bounty Paper Towels, retails for $7.99, on sale for $5.99
• Used a .50 cents off coupon from the 7/29  P&G
• Made them $5.49 before gas card
• 6 bottles of Dawn Dish Liquid, retails for $1.67 each, on sale for .99 cents each
• Used five .75 cents off coupons from the 8/26 P&G
• Used one .50 cents off coupon from the 7/29 P&G
• Made them .28 cents each before gas card

Make sure to check back tomorrow night for my weekly totals link up and Publix trip!

Saved 61% At CVS

Spent $21 for $52 Worth.

Couponing has taught me many things, not the least of which is that in order to save money you can't always be brand loyal. While I have learned to like and even love many new and different brands, the one things Justin and I remain brand loyal to is our razors.

Sadly Justin and I both really love and only use one type of razor each and they just so happen to be one of the most expensive kinds too. Since I don't like compromising on what type of razors I buy I try to only buy them on great sale, with coupons, or using a drugstore or Target gift card promotion. (Or if possible, a combination of many of those things).

This week CVS has an ECB promotion where you can earn $10 in ECB's when you spend $25 in Schick products. Since my razor blades of choice are Schick Intuition, I decided to take advantage of this deal and use the $10 ECB's to buy other sale items that we needed. I also had a 20% off any CVS purchase coupon so I used that to get my out of pocket expenses a little lower on the first transaction.

All in all, I spent a little over $20 for over $50 with of stuff and with that I paper products and razor blades to last me for a few months. Not a bad day in my book. Part of realistic couponing is knowing that you don't always have to save 90% or spend next to nothing out of pocket. If you are getting items you need and use on a regular basis and saving money off retail price, that is my opinion of successful couponing.

Breakdown of Sunday's CVS trip:
Total retail value: $52.46
Total spent OOP after coupons, sales and ECB's: $20.72
Total saved: $31.74
Percent saved: 61%

Transaction #1

• 2 packages of Schick Intuition Razor Blades, retails for $12.79 each
• Used a 20% off CVS email coupon= minus $5.12
• Total came to $20.46 OOP
• Earned a $10 ECB

Transaction #2

•  6 boxes of Puffs Tissues, retails for $2.37 each, on sale for .88 cents each
• Used two .25/3 coupons from the 7/29 P&G
• 1 bottle of Dawn Dish Soap, retails for $1.67, on sale for .99 cents
• Used a .50 cents off coupon from the Home Made Simple Mail Booklet
• 1 package of Bounty Basic Paper Towels, retails for $10.99, on sale for $4.99
• Total came to 10.26 before tax
• Used the $10 ECB from first transaction
• Paid .26 cents OOP before tax

What are you brand loyal too despite your couponing? Don't forget to come back on Thursday for the Weekly Totals Shopping Post link up!

Saved 89% At CVS After Olay Rebate

Paid $6.21 for $57 worth after Olay Rebate

I haven't really played the drugstore game in quite awhile. I just haven't been looking at the CVS or Walgreens match ups recently and when I have there really wasn't much I needed. This morning I actually sat down with the weekly ads and and looked them over. I had a $4/$20 CVS coupon and $1.50 ECB's from my spring spending so I decided to make a list and get my coupons together.

My main motivation for making a list/scenario was to stock up on soda for our annual end of summer bbq and to get $9 worth of Olay products to complete my $10 rebate WYB $30 worth of Olay products.  The Olay products were buy one, get one 50% off and I had coupons too. I also took advantage of a promotion where you can earn $5 of ECB's when you spend $15 worth of Kellogg's and Coca Cola products.

I broke my trip into two transactions and earned $9 in ECB's on my first transaction and used those to pay for all but .95 cents of tax on my second transaction. I paid a total of $16.21 out of pocket between both transactions but after the $10 Olay rebate I will only have paid $6.21!

Here is the breakdown:

Transaction #1:
Total retail value: $38.71
Total spent after sales, coupons and my old ECB's: $15.26
Earned $9 in ECB's which I rolled into my next transaction

Transaction #2:
Total retail value: $18.72
Total spent out of pocket after coupons, sales and my $9 ECB's from trans. #1: .95 cents

Total value of both transactions: $57.43
Total spent out of pocket after sales, coupons, ECB's: $16.21
Total spent after $10 MIR: $6.21
Percent saved after coupons, sales, ECB's and MIR: 89%

What I got with sale/coupon match ups:
Transaction #1

• 4 two liters of Coca Cola products, retail for $1.99, on sale for $1 each
• Part of the spent $15 worth of certain products get $5 ECB's
• 2 boxes of Kellogg's Cereal, retails for $5.59 each on sale for $2.50 each
• Used a $1/2 printable coupon
• Also part of the $5 ECB promo 
• Made them $2.00 a box
• 3 boxes of Kellogg's Pop Tarts, retails for $2.77 a box, on sale for $2 each
• Used a $1/3 coupon from the 6/24 RP
• Also part of promo
• Made them $1.66 each
•  1 Gillette Fusion razor package, retails for $10.99, on sale for $9.99
• Used a $3 off coupon, I have no idea where it came from, found it in my coupon box....
• Made it $6.99
• Used my $4 off a $20 CVS coupon from an email
• Used my $1.50 ECB's from my spring spending
• Made the total $15.26, also earned $5 in ECB from the Kelloggs/Coke promo, and earned a $4 ECB from the razor purchase

Transaction #2:

• 2 Olay Daily Facials Cloths, 30 counts, retails for $6.29 each, on sale buy one, get one 50% off
• Used a $3/2 coupon from the 7/1 P&G
• Made them $3.22 each
•  Bought a twelve pack of Diet Coke, retails for $5.29, on sale for $2.67
• Used my $9 total in ECB's from the first transaction
• Made the whole purchase .95 cents (.85 cents of that was tax)

$15.26 + .95 cents = $16.21 - $10 MIR = $6.21

I know that CVS and drugstore shopping in general can be confusing. Feel free to comment with questions if anything doesn't make sense!

Saturday's Mini Shopping Trips

Five 12 packs for $8 or $1.60 each after coupons and ECB's

As I have mentioned, I have really been slacking on the couponing front. After being out of town for a week I had not gone through last Sunday's paper or even looked at the drugstore ads for the upcoming (past) week. When we got home Friday afternoon I was going through the mail and past papers and I was about to throw the CVS flyer from last Sunday's paper in the trash when something jumped out at me. DIET COKE!

Diet Coke is one of my weaknesses.We joke that during hurricane season I may not have a large supply of candles or batteries but I definitely have at least 5 twelve packs of Diet Coke on hand at all times. You can never be too prepared right? So when I saw the deal CVS was running on Coke products I knew I would make time to swing by CVS before the sale ended. 

Through this past Saturday, CVS was running a special on Coke product 12 packs where you could buy five for $15. At $3 a 12 pack that is a pretty good price. To make it even better, you got $5 ECB's when you bought five making it like spending $10 for five 12 packs. Then I remembered my $1/2 Diet Coke 12 pack coupons that I printed awhile back off of CVS's website. So all in all I got five 12 packs for $8 or $1.60 each. Pretty good price if you ask me : ) 

Saved 75% on my favorite yogurt at Walmart!

I also decided to brave Walmart this Saturday for my favorite yogurt. I love Dannon Okios yogurt, specifically the Key Lime flavor. However, none of my Publixs or Targets sell it. Only Walmart. And I dread going to Walmart. Forget the fact that it isn't the cleanest or the most well organized store; what really gets me is how difficult it is to use coupons there. 

I went out on a limb a few weeks back and bought some amazing Dannon Okios coupons off ebay. The yogurts cost $1 piece so I try not to buy them without some good coupons. I was able to get a good number of BOGO free coupons plus some $1/2 coupons too. In keeping with Walmart's coupon policies, I was able to do the following transaction:

8 yogurts at $1 each

Used:

Four BOGO coupons

Two $1/2 coupons (to be applied to the four I paid for according to Walmart)

Means I paid $2 for all 8 of them or .25 cents each! A savings of 75%

Nothing crazy but those two little trips made me one happy couponer.

CVS Trip 1/4: Saved 85%

It's been a few weeks since I have felt the need to hit up a CVS sale but with the possibility of free lip balm I had to stop by my local store and check out the deals this week. I only ended up spending $4.37 out of pocket for $28.51 worth of stuff. It was a good week for me to start off with because I already had $2.50 in ECB from my quarterly rewards from last Oct.-Dec.

Here is how my two transactions broke down.

Transaction #1 $2.20

Transaction #1:

• 4 Nivea Lip Balms: retails for $3.39 each
• On sale for $2.50 each- Made it $10.70 total
• Used two $3/2 coupons from the 1/1 RP
• Used my $2.50 quarterly rewards ECB's
• Made it $2.20 out of pocket
• Earned $5 ECB's for spending $10 in Nivea products

Transaction #2: $2.87




Transaction #2

• 3 Aussie/Herbal Essence Shampoos, retails for $3.99 each
• On sale for $9.99/3 or $3.33 each
• Used three $1 off coupons from the 1/1 P&G
• 2 cans of Bumble & Bumble Tuna, retails for $1.49 each, on sale .59 cents each
• Used a $1/2 coupon from RecycleBank.com
• Used my $5 ECB's from transaction #1
• Made it $2.87 out of pocket with tax

$64 Worth of Stuff At CVS For Less Than $11 Out Of Pocket

Today was the first time in a few weeks that I really felt like a CVS trip was worth the planning (it's right down the street from my house which makes it even more worth it). I really wanted to take advantage of the $10 gift card promotion where you earn a $10 gift card (I chose American Express) when you spend $30 (before coupons) on certain products.

I spent $10.54 out of pocket (after the $10 value of the gift card I earned) for a total of $63.62 worth of products in two transactions. That is like saving 83%! Here is how it broke down:

Transaction #1

Transaction #1:

• Spent $8.99 out of pocket on a bottle of Complete Contact Solution
• Earned $8.99 in ECB's

Transaction #2:





Transaction #2


• Spent $11.55 after ECB's earned in first transaction and coupons
• Earned a $10 Gift Card
• Made it like spending $1.55 on second transaction

Total for the day:

• $8.99 spent in first transaction
• $1.55 after gift card on second transaction
• $10.54 Total after gift card!

Here are the coupon match ups for the second transaction. All of these items qualified for the spend $30 earn a $10 gift card. They were all also on sale and I had coupons for all of them. The transaction normally would retail for 54.63 without the sale prices or coupons.

• 4 Glade Air Freshener Sprays, retails for $1.99 each, on sale with CVS card for .99 cents each
• Used two $2/2 Glade CVS Coupons
• Made them all FREE
• 6 boxes of Puffs Tissues, retails for $1.99 each, on sale with CVS card for .99 cents each
• Used two .25 cents off of 3 coupons from the 10/30 P&G insert
• Made them each .90 cents
• 6 bottles of Dawn dish soap, retails for $1.67 each, on sale with CVS card for .99 cents each
• Used four .50 cents off coupons from the 10/30 P&G insert
• Used two .50 cents off coupons from P&G home mailers
• Made them each .49 cents
• 2 cans of Scrubbing Bubbles, retails for $4.19 each, on sale with CVS card for $3 each
• Used a $2/2 coupon from the October Shape Magazine
• Made them $2 each
• 3 bottles of Windex, retails for $4.99 each, on sale for $3 each with CVS card
• Used three $1 off coupons from various magazine coupon booklets
• Made them each $2

I used this link to get my match ups and sale ideas. Comment if you have any questions! 

Diet Coke Coupons From CVS



CVS currently has a printable coupon for $1 off any two multipacks of Diet Coke. It looks like this coupon is good for the mini cans eight pack or the glass bottle six pack. If you are like me and love using your ECB's to get regular grocery items for free at CVS then you can use this coupon to get an even better deal. My computer let me print it out twice so make sure to take advantage of it now as it may not be available long.

CVS Trip 11/9

I have found that CVS and Walgreens are very hit or miss for me on their weekly ads. Unlike Publix or Target, it seems that the weekly sales at drugstores are either all on things I have no need for or are absolutely amazing. The last few weeks at CVS have made me pretty happy.

This week there is an ECB deal on Schick Products. You get $10 in ECB's if you purchase $20 worth of certain products. The Schick Intuition is my absolute favorite razor and the cartridges are so expensive and almost never go on sale. When I saw this deal I figured that I could combine it with a coupon and at least get a decent deal on my razor cartridges since I am currently completely out of them. Since the amount I spent out of pocket on everything this week was the same as my razor cartridges would have cost by themselves, I was pretty happy with the outcome.

Here is the breakdown of my trip this week. 

Transaction #1: $18.71 out of pocket
                         Earned $13 in ECB

Transaction #2: $2.16 out of pocket after ECB and coupons

Spent $20.87 total out of pocket on $56.93 worth of stuff
That's a savings of 63%

Transaction #1

 Transaction #1

• 3 Hallmark cards at .99 cents each
• Earned $3 ECB on these
• 1 six pack of Schick Intuition razor cartridges at $20.99
• Used a $5 printable coupon from coupons.com
• Earned $10 in ECB
• This was a lucky week since I had an extra $3 in ECB from last week to put towards my purchase
• Total cost after coupon and $3 ECB = $18.71 plus earned an additional $13 in ECB



Transaction #2

Transaction #2

• 2 bottles of Lysol wipes, normally retails for $3.39 each, on sale for $2.50 each
• Used two $1 off coupons from a Walmart store display
• Made them $1.50 each
• 3 bottles of All laundry detergent, retails for $7.39 each, on sale for $3.99
• Used three $1off coupons from the 10/02 RP
• Made them $2.99 each
• 2 cans of Cranberry Sauce (to donate for the food drive at school), normally $1.99 on sale for $1 each
• Used $13 in ECB from transaction #1
• Made my total $2.16

The Lysol wipes and the All are a part of the spend $30 get a $10 gift card promotion but I did not need enough of them or have enough coupons to make it worth it to buy $30 worth. These sales are going on through Saturday 11/12 if you want to take advantage of them. If you have never couponed at CVS before check out my post on drugstore couponing before you go.