Monday Shopping Trip: The Breakdown

Today's shopping trip included CVS and Walgreens. No Publix today (which NEVER happens!!) as I am going out of town for the rest of the week and I didn't want to buy real groceries when my husband is just going to eat trail mix and play video games while I am gone anyways :)

First stop: CVS

Now, I don't go to CVS to shop for my everyday essentials or when I am running low on things. I mainly go to get their weekly deals that I usually store in my food storage (which includes shampoo and things) for future use.

Using the CVS rewards program, to me, is the most simple out of all of the drugstores. CVS puts out an ad monthly and weekly listing what items will generate "Extra Care Bucks" (or ECB if you want to follow the lingo) when purchased. In order to get them, you have to make sure to scan an Extra Care Card that goes on your key ring and is connected to all of your ECB. It is free to sign up and is similar to grocery store reward cards that you scan. ECB print out on your receipt after you purchase one of the items. They come in separate coupons per deal, so if you purchased three different items and each generated ECB, you end up with three separate coupons at the end of your receipt. You can use as many coupons and ECB as you want when shopping at CVS, which you will discover is MUCH simpler compared to Walgreens.

Today's trip: (I had a few things on my list that I needed and wouldn't normally buy at CVS, but I had quite a few ECB that I didn't mind spending so I wouldn't use money from my weekly grocery budget.)

I bought:
-(1)Crest Spinbrush $8.99
-(1)Dove Chocolates $2.49
-(3) South Beach Protein Bars $10.00
-(1)Colgate Total $2.99
-(1) Ivory Soap 3pk $.99
-(1) Herbal Essences Mousse $2.88

Subtotal: $28.34 Yikes!!
Used Coupons:
-(3)$1 off South Beach Bars, $1 off Colgate, $1 off Ivory Soap 3pk
= $23.34 + $.83 tax (Used $21.95 in ECB + $2.23 cash)
Received:
$5 ECB South Beach Bars
$2 ECB Colgate
This is the perfect example of using previous sales to help you lower your bottom line. I really did need a new toothbrush and hair mousse and by using ECB, I didn't have to use my grocery money to purchase them. Also, I count ECB as coupons and not as cash mainly because it is easier for me to track my savings when I use them and not when I receive them. Just FYI if anyone cares.
Total left for the week: $47.77
Second stop: Walgreens

For me, Walgreens is a lot harder to navigate. There are a lot of rules attached to their coupons and keeping it all straight can be a hassle. They have the same basic principles as CVS, there are weekly and monthly circulars with different items providing money back in the form of "Register Rewards" which can then be used to at Walgreen's as a coupon. The trickiness comes in that while there are no limits to the number of deals you can do at Walgreen's, you can't use a coupon from a specific deal (like Colgate toothpaste) to buy more Colgate toothpaste. Keeping track of which coupon I can and can't use is a little too much for me, so I tend to just do each deal once unless it is something that I REALLY know I need to stock-up on.


Today's Trip:

I bought:

-1 Gallon of Milk $2.79
-(2) Boxes of Cereal $4.00
-(1) Cashews $1.99
-(2) Eggs $1.98
-(1)Hershey's Mint Truffles $1.75

Subtotal: $12.51

Coupons used:

-(2) $1 off GM cereals, B1G1 free eggs

= $9.52

Total left for week: $38.25

Hopefully this helps give a little overview of how a typical shopping trip works for me. I am excited to start planning more posts on ways I find to save throughout the week, so stay tuned!! (Also, a Publix post to come at the end of the week:)