Friday, February 27, 2009

Publix heads up!

If you have the $1.10/Progresso printable (I have two and I'm off to see if I can get more), Progreso soup is on sale this week at Publix (until Tuesday/Wednesday, depending on your region) for $1.25. 15 cents for soup! Hooray!

It looks like Del Monte tomatoes will also be free (with overage I think) with a coupon. Fabulous.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

CVS - Pointless trip, really

I don't know why I bothered to go to CVS today. There was drama between me and another customer *sigh* and the deal really wasn't worth it. But it didn't cost me anything OOP since I had the money card...

I bought:
1 Renuzit Tri-scent starter kit - $5.49
2 CVS cotton rounds - $1.98

I used a $4/Renuzit coupon. Tax was 52 cents, so my total was $3.99, and I put it on the money card and got $4 in ECBs back. Yeah, tax ate up my potential money maker, and the drama was really draining. Ah well.

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Total OOP: $7.45 ($5.25 tax)
Total merchandise: 5 double Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 2 bottles Dawn, 1 travel pack of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 Gillette shampoo+conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 10 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 1 bag of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 4 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 1 bottle Herbal Essences shampoo, 1 bottle Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy, 2 bottles Mylanta Mint, 1 Fruitopia shampoo, 1 Venus Spa Breeze razor, 1 Renuzit Tri-Scent starter kit.

Current ECB status: $26.33 ($1.35 of it on a money card)

Sunday, February 22, 2009

CVS - A weird one

CVS today was just weird. I got off to a late start when my neighbors had a moving truck in front of their house that made it so I couldn't back out of my driveway....

First, I bought the paper with my other card, used a $2.49 ECB, paid a penny. (I'd held onto this specific ECB for this reason.) Fine.

Then I grabbed the Venus razor and the Gillette shampoo and wandered the aisles for a bit. I saw that the Fruitopia shampoo (apparently this is CVS's competition with Herbal Essences) was on sale for $1.99 and I had a $1 CRT for it. OK, 99 cents to try new shampoo isn't bad. So I quickly did my math and came up with a pre-tax total of $10.98. Great!

So first I bought:
Venus Spa razor - $7.99
Gillette shampoo - $5.99
Fruitopia shampoo - $1.99

I handed over my ECBs first - $10.99 worth. And then my coupons - a CRT for $1/shampoo, a CRT for $1/Fruitopia, $2/Venus, $2/Gillette. And as my favorite cashier gets to the $2/Gillette coupon she looks at me and says "You don't owe $2, you owe $1." And I am suddenly frantic, trying to figure out where I went wrong. In the car on the way home it clicked - in my math, I'd forgotten about the $1/shampoo CRT! So I was in fact $1 off and had handed over $1 more in ECBs than I needed to - the perils of doing it that way. But I still had money to spend, so I was like "OK, the Energy Shots are a different deal this week from the monthly..." and I got one.

Then the cashier rang up the last $2/Gillette coupon first and then the $4 ECB (for the Energy Shots). Oh, I said, if you'd done it the other way around, I would've owed less and you wouldn't have to adjust the bucks! So she voids it and redoes it. 25 cents. She goes "NO! If I do it my way, you will owe zero!" and so I say fine, let's see how that works. And she redoes it and (as I suspected) I now owe 28 cents. And she laughs...and then the system won't let her undo/redo again. *sigh* So I laugh and say "Um, yeah, 3 cents. No big." But I did learn that the order really does matter.

And I'm not done! So my bucks print...and nothing prints for the Energy Shot, which I didn't even want. Hindsight #2: M&Ms were on sale for 88 cents or so (75% off Valentine's Day type) and I'd put them back - they would've made a great filler for my mistake instead. But anyway, so we determine that the monthly deal and this week's deal for the Energy Shot ARE NOT DIFFERENT DEALS. And so the cashier was going to force the bucks and then decided (since I didn't really want them anyway) to do a return. So I wound up with a money card with $5.34 on it, and there's my extra $1 in there somewhere...or something.

Basically, I had overage of $1 from the Gillette, and I used it toward, let's say, getting free Fruitopia shampoo (it was $1.99, used the $1 CRT...) and then "spent" $2 on the Venus razor (which I wanted - that was my plan all along). But it was weird and confusing and ugh. Anyway, in the end I spent 28 cents OOP (plus a penny on the other card) so I really don't know why I'm complaining. ;)

BUT. Somehow I am down $2.65 in bucks, where I expected to be down closer to $2. So if you can look over all this mess and figure out where the extra pennies went (hee hee), do comment!

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Total OOP: $7.45 ($5.25 tax)
Total merchandise: 5 double Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 2 bottles Dawn, 1 travel pack of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 Gillette shampoo+conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 8 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 1 bag of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 4 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 1 bottle Herbal Essences shampoo, 1 bottle Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy, 2 bottles Mylanta Mint, 1 Fruitopia shampoo, 1 Venus Spa Breeze razor.

Current ECB status: $26.32 ($5.34 of it on a money card)

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

CVS - More toothpaste!

I was nowhere near my house today and I was with a friend so we swung by a random CVS. I was looking for the free "3-pack antacids" that I had a CRT for and happily found two bottles of the Mylanta Mint - moneymakers! Sadly, the store was out of Neutrogena soaps - but it seems like all stores are at this point.

I got:
2 Colgate toothpastes - $5.98
2 Mylanta Extra-Strength Mint (or whatever it is that's on clearance) - $7.30

Used $4/2 Mylanta, $8.98 ECB. Paid 60 cents OOP (30 cents tax). Got back $11.98, hooray!

My friend used my other card to get two more Colgates with my $5.98 on that one - zero OOP, got back $5.98. Yay.

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Total OOP: $7.17 ($4.97 tax)
Total merchandise: 5 double Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 2 bottles Dawn, 1 travel pack of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 8 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 1 bag of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 4 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 1 bottle Herbal Essences shampoo, 1 bottle Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy, 2 bottles Mylanta Mint.

Current ECB status: $28.97

Monday, February 16, 2009

CVS - My Stockpile

My stockpile finally took over our linen closet. And counters. And under-the-sink cabinets... so we bought a little cabinet at Target and I filled it up! (There are a few things in it from Publix/Kroger/Big Lots, but I'd say it's 90-95% CVS!)

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The pumpkin (free from Halloween) holds toothbrushes, extra heads for the electric ones, and the FAECB glow sticks from Halloween. Next to him is all my contact lens solution.

First shelf includes toothpaste (I realized that Colgate just looooves to give away toothpaste, ha!), Listerine and other mouthwashes, and men's deodorant.

Next shelf is a mishmash of everything from Johnson's Buddies soaps and CVS cotton rounds to facial wipes and cleaners, plus deodorant, makeup and nail polish.

Bottom shelf is bodywash, shampoo, and conditioner.

Another view:

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But not everything fit! I'm still taking up two shelves in the linen closet:

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The top shelf has a lot of free samples/trial sizes of things, some random stuff, and then razors (men's and women's).
Second shelf has overflow of shampoo/bodywash, plus more razors (and a few other random things).

Not shown: toilet paper, maxi pads, dishwashing liquid, hand soap, laundry detergent...

Also, I plan to give away a good chunk of what you see to friends and charity - it was good to have everything in one spot so I finally could see EXACTLY what I had.

I'm probably heading to CVS today for the Neutrogena deal (buy two facial soaps, pay $5.98, get back $10 - I have a bad feeling the closest CVS will already be wiped out, but it's worth a shot). See you later!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

CVS - My Other Card 2/15/09

I went back to CVS with my other card and bought:
2 Colgate toothpastes $5.98
1 pocket tissues - 50 cents

I gave my bucks first again (I was a penny short...) and then two 75 cent/Colgate coupons. Paid 9 cents, got back $5.98.

And the scanner gave me $10 ECBs from a survey I did a few weeks ago (yay) plus a coupon for a free 3-pack of antacids. I didn't have time to look around for that, but I will probably get it next weekend or something. This card also now has a $25-gift-card-with -prescription coupon - sadly, a week too late for me to use it. It expires in April though, so maybe I'll have an opportunity - I kind of hope not though, if you know what I'm saying!

CVS - Trip 2/15/09

I got a tip that the scanner was giving 5/30s, so I made a scenario based around that. And I got one! Plus a 2/10 CVS brand CRT!

My scenario, however, counted on the store having the Boost for Kids, but they were out. But they had everything else on my list, so I just had to fill in a gap to hit $30 - and then I saw that the small boxes of Breathe Right strips (my husband uses them) were on clearance, and I had a $1 coupon (I may also have had a CRT but I *think* it expired, and you'll see that it didn't matter anyway) so I used that to reach $30. Then I grabbed another of the Energy Shots because I wanted to roll my $4.99.

Transaction 1:
2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste - $5.98
1 bottle of Herbal Essences shampoo/1 bottle conditioner - $5.98
2 CVS cotton rounds - $1.98
1 small box of Breathe Right strips - $4.49
1 Energy Shots - $4.99
3 bottles of Suave body wash (50% more bottles - this is important) - $6
1 Gillette Gamer razor (last one they had!) - $7.99

I used 2 $1/Colgate, 1 $3/2 Herbal Essences, $1/CVS Skincare, $1/Breathe Right, Free Suave bodywash [just realized she gave me $3 off rather than $2 - score!], $1/2 Suave bodywash, $4/Gillette Gamer. I handed over the 5/30 and $19.99 in ECBs *FIRST* and then gave the coupons, and my total was NEGATIVE 18 cents! Hooray! So I kind of wandered around and wound up throwing in a Snickers heart candy that was 50% off post-Valentine's Day - 25 cents (by the way, the manager told me some stuff would be "saved for Easter" and not marked down). My total OOP was SEVEN CENTS. (And my actual pre-tax subtotal was negative 83 cents!)

The 50%-extra Suave bottles, by the way, did not trigger the ECBs. I suspect they have old barcodes because they rang up at the right price and my receipt even says 12 ounces even though they are 18 ounces. So the cashier forced the bucks. Yay.

I got back $20.97 - about $2 profit! Since I bought a few things that weren't free/profit after ECB, some of my profit was eaten up, but it was for things we needed/use. Hooray!

So then I realized I'd only seen two more of the cotton rounds and I had two $1 coupons left. The cashier let me do two more transactions and when she adjusted the coupon, each was totally free (no tax) and I earned another $2. So in the end, I paid 7 cents and made a $4 profit. Nice!

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Total OOP: $6.57 ($4.67 tax)
Total merchandise: 5 double Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 2 bottles Dawn, 1 travel pack of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 4 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 8 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 1 bag of Halls cough drops, 2 Energy Shots 2 pack, 2 Colgate toothpastes, 1 small box Breathe Right strips, 3 bottles Suave body wash, 1 bottle Herbal Essences shampoo, 1 bottle Herbal Essences conditioner, 1 Snickers heart candy.

Current ECB status: $25.97

Thursday, February 12, 2009

CVS - Scenario for 2/15/09

I just found out that there are no coupon inserts in this weekend's paper, which means I don't have to "spend" bucks on the paper!

Thus, this is my plan so far (UPDATED 2/13):

2x Colgate -$2 (2 coupons)
1x Gillette Gamer -$4 coupon
1x cotton rounds w/coupon
1x cotton rounds w/out coupon (I can only use one coupon per transaction...)
3x Suave body wash -free coupon ($2), -$1/2 coupon.

$11.95
Use $10, $2.

Get back $13.98.

If I add cheap Valentine's Day markdowns (candy???), I could get my total up to $14, have zero OOP and still get back $13.98.

-----

I also could decide to only buy one cotton rounds with a coupon (so free) in this transaction and do a second transaction of another one + coupon (so, again, free). If I do that, I would instead add in a second energy drink (apparently the limit is now two) so my total would be $14.96 - I could use $10 and $4.99. Then get back $14.97. Then do the second cotton rounds transaction and use the Boost coupon in that one (I can make a good excuse to do that second transaction actually) and get $2 more. We'll see. I'm keeping up the original plan so that I can print this all out on Sunday.

Also, apparently mini Pringles are $1 and I have four coupons for $1 off...

I have a bad feeling the cotton rounds and toothpaste will all be gone on Sunday though. This is going to be interesting.

Monday, February 9, 2009

CVS - 2/9/09 - I needed Cascade!

Here's what I wound up doing:

4 American Greetings cards - $3.96
2 25-count cotton rounds - $1.98
2 packs of Cascade Action Pacs - $7.98
1 Halls - $1.29
1 Energy Drink - $4.99

Used 2 BOGO American Greetings coupons, 1 $1/CVS skin care coupon, 2x$1/Cascade, 50 cents off Halls, $10 and $4 ECB. Paid $1.08 OOP and got back $9.99 ECB. Not bad for the Cascade, which we needed and which we often pay *gasp* full price for!

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Total OOP: $6.50 ($4.60 tax)
Total merchandise: 5 double Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 2 bottles Dawn, 1 travel pack of tissues, 7 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 3 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 4 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials, 2 Cascade Action Pacs, 1 bag of Halls cough drops, 1 Energy Shots 2 pack.

Current ECB status: $21.99

Sunday, February 8, 2009

CVS Scenario for 2/8

I'm totally open to suggestions on how to improve on this!

I have 2 $10s, a $4, and a $2.

My plan:
4 American Greetings cards - the 99 cent ones apparently work, and I have two BOGO coupons. So $1.98 and will get back $3.
2 cotton rounds - I'll use one coupon (it's one per transaction) and so pay 99 cents and get back $2.
2 Cascade Action Packs - the main reason I need to go back, this is the brand we prefer and it's on sale, I have two $1 coupons, so $5.98.
1 Halls - after coupon, this will be 79 cents. My husband goes through cough drops like you wouldn't believe.
1 Listerine - apparently after coupon I can score a big bottle for 39 cents.

All together, $10.13. Use a $10, get back $5.

OR, if the store has the Mylanta, substitute that for the Halls/Listerine. Total will be $10.60 plus tax, use $10 ECB, get back $8.

Can you figure out a better way for me to do this? Basically I want to get the Cascade + things that give me profit. And all of my stores are out of the bonus packs of everything, more or less.

Go!

CVS - 2/8/09

Transaction 1:
4 boxes of Wheat Thins - $4
1 25-count CVS cotton rounds (found in the travel section) - 99 cents
1 Boost Kid Essentials - $13.99
1 double paper - $2.50

-2x$2/Wheat Thins, $13.99/Boost (free coupon from website), $1/CVS skin care. Used $1.99 ECB. Paid $1.59 ($1.09 tax). Got back nothing.

My receipt, however, had a CRT for a free CVS mouthwash. And the cashier joked with me, "Are you going to clip coupons now?" and I thought, hey, there's that Gillette coupon in today's paper...and I have one more skin care coupon with me...and a $4 ECB and the free mouthwash. So I went back into the aisles.

Transaction 2:
1 small CVS mouthwash - $2.59
1 25-count CVS cotton rounds - 99 cents
1 Gillette Fusion Gamer - $7.99

Used $1/CVS skin care, $4 Gillette Fusion, $2.59 free mouthwash. Paid 26 cents OOP (the cashier put in a coupon last instead of an ECB, so my actual total was -2 cents, which came off the tax), got back $6 ($4 for the Gillette, and $2 for buying the two cotton packs, which were free)! Back to where I started (or, actually, a penny more). I have a few more of the skin care coupons and one more coupon for free Boost so I may repeat parts of this deal next week. Yay! (And even without the skin care coupons, I could roll my $2 ECB on 2 of the travel packs - the cashier would *gasp* have to adjust the ECB but it would work.)

PS Someone had cleared the shelves of the money-making Mylanta. Heh. Maybe they'll get more in for next Sunday.

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Total OOP: $5.42 ($4.24 tax)
Total merchandise: 5 double Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 2 bottles Dawn, 1 travel pack of tissues, 3 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 3 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper, 1 small CVS mouthwash, 2 25-count CVS cotton rounds, 4 small boxes of Wheat Thins, 1 Boost Kid Essentials.

Current ECB status: $26.00

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I love Kroger

2 4-packs of Cottonelle toilet paper
2 cans of Progresso soup (tomato)
1 box of Multigrain Cheerios

22 CENTS! 20 cents of that was tax! My receipt says I saved 99%! Yay!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Kroger!

Quick, if you're in the Atlanta area, this deal should be good until Saturday, 2/7/09. Combine the recent 50 cent coupon for Multigrain Cheerios with either the Cellfire or Shortcuts 75 cent coupon (no, both didn't come off for me for a single box - and that makes perfect sense) and you'll get the Cheerios for free! I just did this deal, plus got two 4-packs of Cottonelle for free (plus 25 cent overage from Cellfire that I put toward a block of silken tofu). Yay!

I'm planning on going back and doing this again, plus getting some cheap Progresso soup (using the recent $1.10 printable plus the Shortcuts 50 cents/2 coupon). Nice!

Monday, February 2, 2009

CVS - Spending the profit

I just gave my husband a $2.49 ECB to buy some Cascade. I'm not counting the Cascade in the running total of "stuff" but I'll take the ECB out.

Current ECB status: $25.99

CVS - My Other Card

I don't love juggling two cards most of the time, but when there are great deals on things I want/need/use, then it's OK. But I don't obsessively roll ECBs on my other card. That said, I had $14 expiring this week. I walked to the local CVS planning on getting more L'Oreal and some of the energy drink stuff (I don't use it but I have friends who will). But of course they were entirely out of the L'Oreal. And the Ear Rinse (plan B). So I grabbed the aspirin, the energy drink (they had TONS AND TONS of this, ha!) and then wandered the aisles trying to figure out what to do. Then I saw that Organix fancy hair product had a "try me free" tag on it, and it was almost exactly the amount I needed to spend. I like the idea of trying to turn ECBs into real cash, so I got that. I threw in a Buddies soap because I didn't want to relive the "I can't figure out how to adjust down your bucks" situation and I had a coupon, so why not. I paid 24 cents for all that.

Then my receipt gave me one of the Excedrin CRTs (I'd forgotten about the Excedrin deal, to be honest. If I'd remembered I might have used that in the above situation somehow.) so I went back and got the Excedrin and a travel pack of cough drops, used the $1.99 from the aspirin plus the CRT, paid zero, and got back $2.49.

So my other card has $7.48 in ECBs on it now. Not enough to use to get more L'Oreal with a low enough OOP to make it worth it if I managed to get to another store. *sigh* Oh well. :)

Sunday, February 1, 2009

CVS - Trip on 2/1/09

Something weird happened somewhere in here...but it still was amazing!

I bought:
2x L'Oreal face wipes - $11.98
1 CVS chewable aspirin - $1.99 (NOTE that this is not labeled as for children - children should never take aspirin - and instead is labeled adult low dose. No idea why the picture in the monthly booklet is wrong.)
1 Excedrin - $2.49
2x Stayfree maxi pads - $7.98
1 KY Yours and Mine - $19.99
1 CVS-brand paper towels - $2.49
1 CVS-brand toilet paper - 89 cents
1 Dr. Pepper - $1.49
2 Johnson's Buddies soaps - $1.38
1 double newspaper - $2.50

$54.18 total merchandise.

I didn't have everything listed at first - first I only had one of the Buddies soaps and no toilet paper or paper towels. Then the $10/50 wouldn't go through - apparently my total was something like $49.67 but the cashier (my favorite!) said it was saying it wasn't for my card (but it was). So I grabbed another Buddies soap. Then she pushed it through. Then I gave her my ECBs and my pre-tax total was $2.50-ish below my bucks! (Totally didn't expect that.) So I had to think really fast and I hadn't brought certain coupons but in the end I got the paper towels (I had a CRT) and the toilet paper (who can't use TP?).

So after the 10/50, I used 2x$2/L'Oreal, $1 CRT for Excedrin, 2x$1/Buddies, $1 CRT for paper towels, $1.49 for free Dr. Pepper (from the promo about a month ago - I knew this would come in handy!), BOGO Stayfree ($3.99), $5/KY, and $25.56 in ECBs (everything I had). I paid $1.05, of which 91 cents was tax. I got back $28.48 - TOTALLY unexpected profit! I still am not entirely sure how I finagled that - probably because I used the aspirin as filler instead of more Buddies soap.

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Total OOP: $3.57 ($2.89 tax)
Total merchandise: 4 double Sunday papers, 4 boxes Throat Coolers, 1 Garnier 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, 6 packs of Stayfree maxi pads, 1 box of sheer Band Aids, 4 boxes of Soy Joy bars, 1 pack of Nutra Trim gum, 2 bottles Dawn, 1 travel pack of tissues, 3 greeting cards, 2 boxes 5 ct. allergy meds, 2 3-packs of CVS brand paper towels, 1 box of CVS cold medicine (Dayquil-ish), 1 Gillette shampoo, 1 Gillette conditioner, 1 box of 30 Breathe Right strips, 2 Gillette Gamer razors, 2 L'Oreal towelettes, 1 KY product, 1 CVS toilet paper, 1 10-count Excedrin, 1 chewable aspirin, 2 Johnson's Buddies soaps, 1 20 oz. Dr. Pepper.

Current ECB status: $28.48