Slowly but Surely...

I'm getting the hang of the CVS deals. I'm not a pro yet - I still haven't come out with $100+ worth of stuff for less than $5 out of pocket...but I will eventually.

But I think I did pretty good today. Not great by the "pros'" standards, but I'm pleased. I know I could have done a little better if I'd split my last order up and rolled some more of the ECB's. But that's ok - I'll have some for next time.

Anyway, this is what I got:


Total before coupons and ECB's - $96.39
I paid - $32.59 (The drinks and razors alone would have cost just over that amount!)
I saved - $63.77

AND I have $20.99 in ECB's to use later. Actually, I may have $10 more if the Johnson & Johnson deal worked correctly. The manager said it should update in 48 hrs and I should have the extra $10 then. We'll see!

I've got to get quicker at this though. It seems to take me forever to go through and figure it all out. I spend quite a bit of time at home working on it. I make my list and group my coupons according to the list and the separate transactions I will make. But if I get in there and they don't have something, I have to re-figure some of the deals.

The employees & managers I've encountered at my store have been great. If something doesn't print the ecb like it should, they just add it in manually to my next order with no problem. That happened today and one other time. And then I got home tonight and discovered that another ecb didn't print, so I called up there. The manager answered and he said no problem, just bring the receipt next time I come in and they will adjust it. He was so nice. I told him I was sorry if I was being a pain, and he said, "Oh not at all - your are just a good shopper!" I'm so glad everyone there so far has been so nice! (Because I've heard of some less than pleasant experiences from other CVS'ers at other stores!)

I was even extra happy today when the cashier started scanning my coupons, one had expired and it accepted it anyway! I didn't realize it had expired - I thought I had checked them all - but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked!

I will get the hang of this soon, so that I can shop like the pros do! I think I want to start going when Chip is home to watch Ruthi though, so I can concentrate better!

Funny - I ended up with a headache in the store so bad, (I think I was getting pretty hungry which could have contributed!) that I had to open the Excedrin as soon as I got in the car! Thankfully between taking it and eating, the headache is almost gone now.

Now I'm going to rest my brain. (Saving money can be tiring! LOL!) So I'm not going to get the Thanksgiving pictures up tonight. I'll work on those tomorrow.

Good night!