Day 26 - Trip 1

Sadly, the store didn't have two bottles of the Olay (they only had one) and I couldn't come up with a great deal on the fly so I will go to the other CVS later in the week and either use my overage for some stuff I need/want or just get 4 bottles for free (if they have 4 bottles!). Also there were no DVD coupons and the store manager (who works the photo section) didn't know what I was talking about.

Transaction 1:

4 bags of Lifesavers - on sale BOGO at $2.19 so $4.38
2 big bags of M&Ms - $5
2 small bags of M&Ms - $1
1 box of Tums QuikPak - $3.69
1 pack of makeup removing wipes - $2.99

Used $2 skincare coupon, $2.25 Tums coupon, $2 Tums CRT, 2 BOGO Lifesavers coupons* ($4.38), $5 ECBs. Paid $1.64 (21 cents tax). Got back $6 ($5 for candy, $1 for wipes).

*The Lifesaver coupons beeped. I'm not the first person to report this problem. Beware. My store's manager let me use them (they're legit! I have no idea why they beep!) but you may have trouble.

Transaction 2:

1 double paper - $2.50

Used $1 from wipes, paid $1.50.



Total OOP: $41.04
Total merchandise: 5 boxes of Excedrin, 5 boxes of CVS pain relief, 2 rolls of CVS TP, 5 12 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 1 diabetes monitor (donated), 1 EOB gift bag, 2 EOB lip butters, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 5 18 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 5 Colgate toothbrushes, 3 Aquafresh toothpastes, 1 pair of CVS pantyhose, 4 Johnsons Buddies soaps, 4 travel tissue packs, 1 Dawn dish detergent, 8 double Sunday papers, 3 Tums Quik Paks, 3 boxes of CVS Loratadine, 1 spray sunblock [returned], 1 small tube sunblock, 2 boxes of cereal, 3 Colgate toothpastes, 1 box of 3 Intuition razor refills, 3 Adidas deodorants, 4 Brut deodorants, 5 Dove deodorants, 3 boxes of CVS band aids, 2 packs of CVS cotton swabs, 3 Listerine Smart Rinses, 3 bottles Powerade, 3 Nivea shave gels, 1 Benefiber, 1 bottle Dove shampoo, 1 bottle Dove conditioner, 2 tubes Nutritioniste cleanser, 3 bottles Dove body wash, 2 Oral B power toothbrushes, 2 sets of 2 Oral B power replacement heads, 1 bottle Palmolive Oxy, 12 SoyJoy bars, 3 boxes of Breathe Right strips, 5 boxes of cookies, 2-pack of Oral B toothbrushes, 24-pack Gold Emblem bottled water, 1 tube Physician's Formula mascara, 1 small jar CVS petroleum jelly, 3 photobooks, 2 packs of CVS panty liners, 8 tubs of baby wipes, 2 packs of makeup removing wipes, 4 packs of Trident gum, 1 pack of Thank You notes, 1 tube of Banana Boat sunblock, 2 travel-size bottles of Renu, 2 12oz bottles of Renu, 4 bags of Lifesavers, 2 big bags of M&Ms, 2 small bags of M&Ms.

Current ECB status: $5

CVS Scenario for 7/27

"Other" Card:
2 bottles of Olay Ribbons - $5 (clearance price on 10 oz)
1 double paper - $2.50
-$4 coupons for Olay
-$3/2 bodywash CRT from CVS (woohoo)
= 50 cents for all that

[If they don't have the bodywash, I have another idea for another store - but I'll be paying full price for the paper.]

"Experiment" Card:
4 bags of lifesavers (BOGO) - $4.38
2 bags of M&Ms - $5
2 small bags of M&Ms - $1
1 bottle of Powerade -$1
1 Tums Quik Pak - $3.69
1 Dove deodorant - $1.99
[brand of choice - this is the cheapest its ever been I think]
2 Johnsons Buddies soap - $1.98 [a test to see if these qualify for a bigger deal - if they do I will do part 2 later in the week. If they don't, nothing lost.]

- 2 BOGO Lifesavers coupons - $4.38
- $1 Powerade coupon
- $1.98 Johnsons Buddies coupons
- $1 Dove coupon
- $2.25 Tums coupon
- $2 Tums CRT
- $5 ECBs

My total should be around $1.50, and I'll get $5 back for the candy.

PLUS I am hoping to find the $5 coupons for the Kodak DVD - if so, I will either use the $5 from above to make one and get back $9.99, then make 2 and use 2 coupons to get back $19.98 (if it will let me use 2 coupons in one transaction) or use three coupons one at a time to make one and get back $9.99, then make one and get $5 worth of candy, get back $9.99, make another and get $5 worth of candy, get back $14.99.

I hope all of this works out! I did read someone had a problem with the BOGO lifesaver coupon. If that happens, I'll skip the entire candy deal the first time around and hope for the Kodak coupons!

Day 25 - Trip 1

Bought:
1 bottle Renu
1 tub baby wipes

Used $2.50 Renu coupon, $2 skincare coupon. Paid $4.98, got back $5 ECBs (yay!)

Then I used my other card to buy 2 bottles of Olay Ribbons - the small size is on clearance for $2.50. I used 2 $2 coupons and $1 ECBs and only paid 27 cents sales tax. I also used the scanner and that card got a $3/2 bodywash coupon - that will give me overage on the Ribbons next time because I have 2 more $2 coupons - and 2 $1.50 coupons too! I plan on using all that in a deal on Sunday to get the newspaper for cheap (there are a lot of IFs to that deal though - so watch this space).





Total OOP: $37.90
Total merchandise: 5 boxes of Excedrin, 5 boxes of CVS pain relief, 2 rolls of CVS TP, 5 12 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 1 diabetes monitor (donated), 1 EOB gift bag, 2 EOB lip butters, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 5 18 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 5 Colgate toothbrushes, 3 Aquafresh toothpastes, 1 pair of CVS pantyhose, 4 Johnsons Buddies soaps, 4 travel tissue packs, 1 Dawn dish detergent, 7 double Sunday papers, 2 Tums Quik Paks, 3 boxes of CVS Loratadine, 1 spray sunblock [returned], 1 small tube sunblock, 2 boxes of cereal, 3 Colgate toothpastes, 1 box of 3 Intuition razor refills, 3 Adidas deodorants, 4 Brut deodorants, 5 Dove deodorants, 3 boxes of CVS band aids, 2 packs of CVS cotton swabs, 3 Listerine Smart Rinses, 3 bottles Powerade, 3 Nivea shave gels, 1 Benefiber, 1 bottle Dove shampoo, 1 bottle Dove conditioner, 2 tubes Nutritioniste cleanser, 3 bottles Dove body wash, 2 Oral B power toothbrushes, 2 sets of 2 Oral B power replacement heads, 1 bottle Palmolive Oxy, 12 SoyJoy bars, 3 boxes of Breathe Right strips, 5 boxes of cookies, 2-pack of Oral B toothbrushes, 24-pack Gold Emblem bottled water, 1 tube Physician's Formula mascara, 1 small jar CVS petroleum jelly, 3 photobooks, 2 packs of CVS panty liners, 8 tubs of baby wipes, 1 pack of makeup removing wipes, 4 packs of Trident gum, 1 pack of Thank You notes, 1 tube of Banana Boat sunblock, 2 travel-size bottles of Renu, 2 12oz bottles of Renu

Current ECB status: $5

Day 24 - Trip 2

Transaction 1:
1 tub baby wipes - $2
1 travel-size bottle of Renu - $1.99
Used $2 skincare coupon, $1 Renu printable (www.renucares.com - they will donate $1 to the Susan Komen foundation for every coupon redeemed!), 99 cents in ECBs (yep, down to zero again!). Paid 7 cents (tax).

Opened the travel-size bottle to confirm that yes, there is a $2.50 coupon in there - hooray!

Transaction 2:
1 tub baby wipes - $2
1 travel-size bottle of Renu - $1.99
1 12 oz bottle of Renu - $6.99
Used $2 skincare coupon, $1 Renu printable, $2.50 Renu coupon. Paid $6.11 (63 cents tax).

Next up - buy 1 more bottle of Renu and one more tub of baby wipes to complete the baby deal. [Just noticed that my receipt didn't update with the last baby wipes - hopefully it will fix itself today.]



Total OOP: $32.92
Total merchandise: 5 boxes of Excedrin, 5 boxes of CVS pain relief, 2 rolls of CVS TP, 5 12 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 1 diabetes monitor (donated), 1 EOB gift bag, 2 EOB lip butters, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 5 18 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 5 Colgate toothbrushes, 3 Aquafresh toothpastes, 1 pair of CVS pantyhose, 4 Johnsons Buddies soaps, 4 travel tissue packs, 1 Dawn dish detergent, 7 double Sunday papers, 2 Tums Quik Paks, 3 boxes of CVS Loratadine, 1 spray sunblock [returned], 1 small tube sunblock, 2 boxes of cereal, 3 Colgate toothpastes, 1 box of 3 Intuition razor refills, 3 Adidas deodorants, 4 Brut deodorants, 5 Dove deodorants, 3 boxes of CVS band aids, 2 packs of CVS cotton swabs, 3 Listerine Smart Rinses, 3 bottles Powerade, 3 Nivea shave gels, 1 Benefiber, 1 bottle Dove shampoo, 1 bottle Dove conditioner, 2 tubes Nutritioniste cleanser, 3 bottles Dove body wash, 2 Oral B power toothbrushes, 2 sets of 2 Oral B power replacement heads, 1 bottle Palmolive Oxy, 12 SoyJoy bars, 3 boxes of Breathe Right strips, 5 boxes of cookies, 2-pack of Oral B toothbrushes, 24-pack Gold Emblem bottled water, 1 tube Physician's Formula mascara, 1 small jar CVS petroleum jelly, 3 photobooks, 2 packs of CVS panty liners, 7 tubs of baby wipes, 1 pack of makeup removing wipes, 4 packs of Trident gum, 1 pack of Thank You notes, 1 tube of Banana Boat sunblock, 2 travel-size bottles of Renu. 1 12oz bottle of Renu

Current ECB status: ZERO

Day 24 - Trip 1

So I'm starting with zero ECBs now and trying to build them back up. :)

Bought:
1 tube of baby sunblock (needed this!) - $6.99
2 tubs of baby wipes - $4
1 pack of panty liners - 99 cents

Used $1 off sunblock (Banana Boat), $2 skincare coupon, paid $9.68 cash (WHOA) (including 70 cents tax). Got back 99 cents ECBs.

Because I don't have the time nor energy to go to CVS 5 times this week (or to do multiple transactions in order to use the $2 skincare coupon more than once - I like to stay under the radar), I planned to buy 2 tubs of wipes on two visits (thus paying for one and getting one free), and then one tub on one visit (I may switch this with the CVS-brand Aquaphor - not positive). I bought the liners realizing that by spending 99 cents now (and getting something I'll use), I'll save 99 cents on the wipes later. I should wind up spending $3.01 OOP for the baby deal and getting back $5 ECBs, unless somehow I find the time to go to the store more often.



Total OOP: $26.74
Total merchandise: 5 boxes of Excedrin, 5 boxes of CVS pain relief, 2 rolls of CVS TP, 5 12 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 1 diabetes monitor (donated), 1 EOB gift bag, 2 EOB lip butters, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 5 18 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 5 Colgate toothbrushes, 3 Aquafresh toothpastes, 1 pair of CVS pantyhose, 4 Johnsons Buddies soaps, 4 travel tissue packs, 1 Dawn dish detergent, 7 double Sunday papers, 2 Tums Quik Paks, 3 boxes of CVS Loratadine, 1 spray sunblock [returned], 1 small tube sunblock, 2 boxes of cereal, 3 Colgate toothpastes, 1 box of 3 Intuition razor refills, 3 Adidas deodorants, 4 Brut deodorants, 5 Dove deodorants, 3 boxes of CVS band aids, 2 packs of CVS cotton swabs, 3 Listerine Smart Rinses, 3 bottles Powerade, 3 Nivea shave gels, 1 Benefiber, 1 bottle Dove shampoo, 1 bottle Dove conditioner, 2 tubes Nutritioniste cleanser, 3 bottles Dove body wash, 2 Oral B power toothbrushes, 2 sets of 2 Oral B power replacement heads, 1 bottle Palmolive Oxy, 12 SoyJoy bars, 3 boxes of Breathe Right strips, 5 boxes of cookies, 2-pack of Oral B toothbrushes, 24-pack Gold Emblem bottled water, 1 tube Physician's Formula mascara, 1 small jar CVS petroleum jelly, 3 photobooks, 2 packs of CVS panty liners, 5 tubs of baby wipes, 1 pack of makeup removing wipes, 4 packs of Trident gum, 1 pack of Thank You notes, 1 tube of Banana Boat sunblock

Current ECB status: $0.99

Day 23 - Trip 1 (Down to Zero!)

Transaction 1:
1 double Sunday paper - $2.50
1 pack of makeup wipes - $2.99
1 pack of 10 cough drops - $.50

Used 1 $2 skincare coupon and $3.99 ECBs, paid zero OOP, got back $1 for the makeup wipes.

Transaction 2:
4 packs of Trident Xtra - $2.98 (on sale BOGO)
1 tub of CVS baby wipes - $2

Used 2 Trident BOGO coupons (taken out of the paper from Transaction 1), 1 $2 skincare coupon. Paid 6 cents OOP (tax!) and got back $2 for the Trident.

Transaction 3:
1 pack of Thank You notes - $5.99
1 pack of Breathe Right strips - $5.99
1 tub of CVS baby wipes - $2

Used 1 $2 skincare coupon and $11.98 in ECBs (as in, everything I had, including the $3 from above). Paid zero OOP. Got back - NOTHING!

Transaction 4:
1 tub of CVS baby wipes - $2
Used $2 skincare coupon, paid nothing.

But I have $6 toward the Buy-$15-get-$5 baby deal and plan to get more wipes and may e some lotion later in the week. And I paid SIX CENTS for this:



Total OOP: $17.06
Total merchandise: 5 boxes of Excedrin, 5 boxes of CVS pain relief, 2 rolls of CVS TP, 5 12 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 1 diabetes monitor (donated), 1 EOB gift bag, 2 EOB lip butters, 2 bottles Herbal Essences shampoo, 2 bottles Herbal Essences conditioner, 5 18 oz. Softsoap SPA bodywashes, 5 Colgate toothbrushes, 3 Aquafresh toothpastes, 1 pair of CVS pantyhose, 4 Johnsons Buddies soaps, 4 travel tissue packs, 1 Dawn dish detergent, 7 double Sunday papers, 2 Tums Quik Paks, 3 boxes of CVS Loratadine, 1 spray sunblock [returned], 1 small tube sunblock, 2 boxes of cereal, 3 Colgate toothpastes, 1 box of 3 Intuition razor refills, 3 Adidas deodorants, 4 Brut deodorants, 5 Dove deodorants, 3 boxes of CVS band aids, 2 packs of CVS cotton swabs, 3 Listerine Smart Rinses, 3 bottles Powerade, 3 Nivea shave gels, 1 Benefiber, 1 bottle Dove shampoo, 1 bottle Dove conditioner, 2 tubes Nutritioniste cleanser, 3 bottles Dove body wash, 2 Oral B power toothbrushes, 2 sets of 2 Oral B power replacement heads, 1 bottle Palmolive Oxy, 12 SoyJoy bars, 3 boxes of Breathe Right strips, 5 boxes of cookies, 2-pack of Oral B toothbrushes, 24-pack Gold Emblem bottled water, 1 tube Physician's Formula mascara, 1 small jar CVS petroleum jelly, 3 photobooks, 1 pack of CVS panty liners, 3 tubs of baby wipes, 1 pack of makeup removing wipes, 4 packs of Trident gum, 1 pack of Thank You notes

Current ECB status: ZERO

Kroger!

OK, so I don't really plan to use this blog for anything other than CVS updates, and I regularly save 25-35% at the grocery store and don't post here, but I had to share what I got for free free FREE at Kroger this week:

4 boxes of Nature's Way Pasta Roni
2 half gallons of Turkey Hill iced tea
2 bottles of Powerade

Plus I paid 39 cents for a box of organic pasta. I would've also gotten a roll of paper towels for free but sadly my local Kroger didn't have them.

And just FYI, the Pasta Roni is $1.07 on a regular day (it's on sale until tonight for $1) so it would only be 7 cents with the printable I used anyway (from smartsource.com). And the Powerade APPEARED to be on sale for $1 until mid-August - I haven't seen this in circulars, and I am in the Southeast region for Kroger, but you may want to check since there were $1 coupons last Sunday.

OK back to CVS! (I am still debating one last run for the week to get the Airwick - I have 2 coupons - and the nail polish, which I SWORE I wouldn't get, but when it comes to free I must admit a certain weakness...)