A lesson in CVS shopping
Anyone who pays full price for toiletries is crazy. Here's a little lesson in my method to finding such great deals at CVS. I know what I have coupons for, what I need/use, what is a good price for stuff to donate. So, I look through the CVS weekly ad, and see what deals pop out at me. Here are three that looked good to me and that I actually used. Keep in mind, you're always looking for things that give you extrabucks (store "money" printed at the bottom of your receipt) back, because they last a whole month and you know you'll be back to spend them!
My mom loves Nivea brand anything. It's always been out of her price range, so now that I can get it cheap, she uses all she can. She especially loves the lip care. You can see that it was on sale for $2.50 each. It sounds like that's still a lot, but do you see across the top how if you spend $10, they'll give you $3 back? Well, if I buy 4 Nivea lip balms, that's only $7 total. But, they also show you how there are $3 off 2 Nivea lip balms in the Sunday paper, which I have two of since I get two papers. So, that $7 total goes down to $1 when I subtract two $3 coupons. Now the Nivea lip balms are only $0.25 each! I definitely got this today.
Another good deal I found includes Michael's Speed Stick deodorant. He's pretty picky about the name brand, but not the scent, so I'm excited to get these cheap/free when I can. I don't use the Irish spring soap, but will buy it if it's cheap to donate. So, I got two deodorants at 1.99 each, two Irish Spring soaps at 3.00 each, and two Softsoap body washes at 3.00 each. That added up to $15, which meant I qualified for my $5 back. But wait, I had coupons. My buy 1 get 1 free speed stick coupon actually took 3.98 off instead of 1.99 off - since that's the original price. Which made those FREE. Then I had $1 off 2 Irish Spring bar soaps, and $0.50 coupons for each body wash. So, my total goes from $15.98, down to $10.98 (for the $5 back from the weekly ad), then down to $5.00 after coupons. Not bad for all that I got with that deal!
Another great deal was this one. I use caress soap, so I like to get this cheap when I can. I used to think $1 a bar was pretty good because that's the cheapest I can find them, but let me show you how I got them for $0.42 a bar. I bought 2 six packs of caress at $6 and one dove deodorant for $3.50 to get me to $15.50. That automatically brought my total for this deal down to $10.50. Then I had $1 coupons for each thing, which brings my total down to $7.50. That means each thing is only $2.50, which works out to $0.416 cents per bar. :-)
If that's all confusing, here's a picture of all I bought and I'll break down how I saved 76%.
Transaction #1:
Speed Stick deodorant - on sale for 1.99
Speed Stick deodorant - on sale for 1.99
Used B1G1 free coupon, which took 3.98 off (the original price)
2 Irish Spring 3 pack bars of soap - on sale for 3.00 each
Used 1.00 off 2 coupon
Softsoap body wash - on sale for 3.00
Used 0.50 off coupon
Softsoap body wash - on sale for 3.00
Used 0.50 off coupon
6 pk caress soap - on sale for 3.00
Used 1.00 off coupon
6 pk caress soap - on sale for 3.00
Used 1.00 off coupon
1 Dove deodorant - on sale for 3.50
Used 1.00 off coupon
Subtotal - $31.58
Used $5 off $30 coupon I got in an email from CVS
Used 8.98 in coupons
Used $7 ECB (extrabucks) from last visit
New subtotal - $10.60
tax - 1.59
Total - 12.09
Received $5 ECB for Speed Stick/Irish Spring/Softsoap, $5 ECB for Caress/Dove
Transaction #2:
4 Nivea lip care - on sale for 2.50 each
Used 2 $3 off 2 Nivea lip cares
2 Colgate Total - on sale for 2.75 each
Used $1 off 2 Colgate toothpastes
Small Nivea lotion for my purse - 0.99
Used FREE coupon I got in an email from CVS
Revlon eye shadow - 5.49
Used $3 off coupon I got in an email from CVS
Stacked with $1 off Revlon eye coupon
Revlon eyeliner sharpener - 4.99
On sale B1G1 50% off - 2.49
Used $2 off coupon I got from the CVS red coupon machine (in the store)
2 Airborne - on sale B1G1 50% off
- first one was 7.99
- second one was 3.99
Used 2 $2 coupons
2 Snickers peanut butter candies - on sale for $0.50
(yes, only one is pictured because Kara ate the other!)
Used $0.25 off 2 coupon I got from the CVS red coupon machine (in the store)
Subtotal - 37.45
Used 18.24 in coupons
Used $10 ECB (extrabucks) from last visit
New subtotal - $9.21
tax - 1.53
Total - 10.74
Received $3 ECB for Nivea, $2 ECB for toothpaste, $2 ECB for toothpaste
Before sales, everything in my picture is worth $96.56
After sales, coupons, and ECBs I spent $22.83
I saved $73.73 or 76%
Now THAT'S a good day!
My mom loves Nivea brand anything. It's always been out of her price range, so now that I can get it cheap, she uses all she can. She especially loves the lip care. You can see that it was on sale for $2.50 each. It sounds like that's still a lot, but do you see across the top how if you spend $10, they'll give you $3 back? Well, if I buy 4 Nivea lip balms, that's only $7 total. But, they also show you how there are $3 off 2 Nivea lip balms in the Sunday paper, which I have two of since I get two papers. So, that $7 total goes down to $1 when I subtract two $3 coupons. Now the Nivea lip balms are only $0.25 each! I definitely got this today.
Another good deal I found includes Michael's Speed Stick deodorant. He's pretty picky about the name brand, but not the scent, so I'm excited to get these cheap/free when I can. I don't use the Irish spring soap, but will buy it if it's cheap to donate. So, I got two deodorants at 1.99 each, two Irish Spring soaps at 3.00 each, and two Softsoap body washes at 3.00 each. That added up to $15, which meant I qualified for my $5 back. But wait, I had coupons. My buy 1 get 1 free speed stick coupon actually took 3.98 off instead of 1.99 off - since that's the original price. Which made those FREE. Then I had $1 off 2 Irish Spring bar soaps, and $0.50 coupons for each body wash. So, my total goes from $15.98, down to $10.98 (for the $5 back from the weekly ad), then down to $5.00 after coupons. Not bad for all that I got with that deal!
Another great deal was this one. I use caress soap, so I like to get this cheap when I can. I used to think $1 a bar was pretty good because that's the cheapest I can find them, but let me show you how I got them for $0.42 a bar. I bought 2 six packs of caress at $6 and one dove deodorant for $3.50 to get me to $15.50. That automatically brought my total for this deal down to $10.50. Then I had $1 coupons for each thing, which brings my total down to $7.50. That means each thing is only $2.50, which works out to $0.416 cents per bar. :-)
If that's all confusing, here's a picture of all I bought and I'll break down how I saved 76%.
Transaction #1:
Speed Stick deodorant - on sale for 1.99
Speed Stick deodorant - on sale for 1.99
Used B1G1 free coupon, which took 3.98 off (the original price)
2 Irish Spring 3 pack bars of soap - on sale for 3.00 each
Used 1.00 off 2 coupon
Softsoap body wash - on sale for 3.00
Used 0.50 off coupon
Softsoap body wash - on sale for 3.00
Used 0.50 off coupon
6 pk caress soap - on sale for 3.00
Used 1.00 off coupon
6 pk caress soap - on sale for 3.00
Used 1.00 off coupon
1 Dove deodorant - on sale for 3.50
Used 1.00 off coupon
Subtotal - $31.58
Used $5 off $30 coupon I got in an email from CVS
Used 8.98 in coupons
Used $7 ECB (extrabucks) from last visit
New subtotal - $10.60
tax - 1.59
Total - 12.09
Received $5 ECB for Speed Stick/Irish Spring/Softsoap, $5 ECB for Caress/Dove
Transaction #2:
4 Nivea lip care - on sale for 2.50 each
Used 2 $3 off 2 Nivea lip cares
2 Colgate Total - on sale for 2.75 each
Used $1 off 2 Colgate toothpastes
Small Nivea lotion for my purse - 0.99
Used FREE coupon I got in an email from CVS
Revlon eye shadow - 5.49
Used $3 off coupon I got in an email from CVS
Stacked with $1 off Revlon eye coupon
Revlon eyeliner sharpener - 4.99
On sale B1G1 50% off - 2.49
Used $2 off coupon I got from the CVS red coupon machine (in the store)
2 Airborne - on sale B1G1 50% off
- first one was 7.99
- second one was 3.99
Used 2 $2 coupons
2 Snickers peanut butter candies - on sale for $0.50
(yes, only one is pictured because Kara ate the other!)
Used $0.25 off 2 coupon I got from the CVS red coupon machine (in the store)
Subtotal - 37.45
Used 18.24 in coupons
Used $10 ECB (extrabucks) from last visit
New subtotal - $9.21
tax - 1.53
Total - 10.74
Received $3 ECB for Nivea, $2 ECB for toothpaste, $2 ECB for toothpaste
Before sales, everything in my picture is worth $96.56
After sales, coupons, and ECBs I spent $22.83
I saved $73.73 or 76%
Now THAT'S a good day!
Comments
Walmart!