Saving Money!

I've got lots of catching up to do on this blog, but before I do, I must post about my recent adventures in bargain shopping! If you don't get excited about saving money, you should stop reading now :) Here's how it all started....A few weeks ago, Matt came home and said one of his co-workers was into these coupon and discount websites to save money. This person was especially fond of CVS and their Extra Care Bucks (ECB). I had heard about people who saved up their bucks to buy a bunch of stuff and then keep buying new stuff with the ECB they get back. For those of you who don't know what an Extra Care Buck is, CVS has special promotions where you buy something for say $7.99 and you get $2 in ECB back to spend at their store. It sounded like too much work to me, and I wasn't sure the stuff these people were buying was actually stuff you needed (what am I going to do with a bunch of denture creams on sale???). I was wrong though. Matt was the first one get a deal - he bought about six 12 packs of Cokes for like $7. Then he got a bunch of boxes of cereal for $3.50. I was interested at this point. Last Friday he went out at 8pm just to take advantage of some deals and coupons he had, but it was worth while because he came back with 4 bags of stuff for about $2 out of pocket, including a $25 giftcard he received because he had filled a new prescription at the pharmacy and they had accepted a competitor's coupon (Walgreens) that said you got a giftcard for transferring your prescription to them! I was sold. And I ventured out today for my first CVS trip. Here's what I did:



I used $7.97 in ECB to buy:

* a 6 x 8 photo book (the kind you make and have printed with your own pics) for $7.99

* 4 pocket folders for 5 cents each

Total Due: 23 cents



I got back $7.99 in ECB fro m the photo book and used it to buy:

* 2 boxes of Special K Cereal on sale for 3/$10 (makes them $3.34 and $3.33 each)

* 2 boxes of Special K Protein Bars on sale for 2/$10 ($5 each)

Total Due: $8.68..........but then I had a $25 gift card (the one Matt brought home), so I used that to

cover the rest.



I got back $5 in ECB from my last transaction since I bought $15 worth of Special K products and used

it to buy:

* two 4 packs of AA batteries that were Buy One, Get One (BOGO) (only $3.79 for both)

* two school notebooks on sale for 99 cents each (don't need - can donate to school supply drive)

Total Due: 82 cents



Voila!! $53 worth of stuff (if you count the regular price vs. on sale price) for 95 cents!!! Plus, I got back $1.98 in ECB from the last transaction to use next time :)



Now, this was a good trip, but it could have been BETTER if I had coupons! Check out this website for deal ideas like this for stores like CVS and also Publix, Kroger, Walgreens, etc. http://www.southernsavers.com/



Happy Shopping :)