It felt so good to go shopping today! (And my daughter loved designing the photo above. She loves to participate with the bounty, just not the actual shopping!) Last week things were so nuts with Black Friday and Cyber Monday that there was no shopping for me (although I hope you got some great deals!), so today was like a breath of fresh air. It’s not just me, right? Don’t you get a rush when you watch that total go from $35 to $1.07 on the register screen? You know you do!
I was actually super excited that the deals looked easy this week, but CVS turned out to be more difficult than Walgreens! (I know, have we entered the Twilight Zone??) The first CVS I went to had no Breathe Right Strips 10 ct packages. At all. There was no place for them anywhere. Oookay. Odd, but okay. They were extremely helpful and called the other stores in our area to find some for me. I had the $3/$15 CVS coupon that I wanted to use, so I went over to a different CVS to do my entire deal in one transaction.
At the second CVS I found the strips, but not in anywhere expected. They were locked up with the Mucinex. Again, odd, but okay! Then I attempted to check out, but the register beeped at half of my coupons. It did not like that I used the $2.50/2 Hershey’s CVS coupon and the $1.10/2 coupon, but my cashier pushed them through after I showed her the difference between the two. Then the register wouldn’t scan my Extra Care Bucks! That was a new issue to me, but I’m hoping it was just this CVS location. Keep your fingers crossed! Here’s what I did:
CVS
2 Hershey’s Kisses Bags 2/$6 (Used $2.50 CVS coupon AND $1.10/2 Hershey’s coupon)
1 Breathe Right Strips 10 ct $3.99 (Used $1.50 from 10/13 RP (or use $1 here)
2 Colgate Toothbrushes $2.99 each (Used 2 $.50 from 11/24 SS AND the $.75 from the Red Instant Coupon Machine)
1 Rolaids 10 ct $.99 (Used Free coupon from Red Instant Coupon Machine)
Used $3/$15 coupon BEFORE any other coupons
I also used $6 in ECB from previous weeks
Paid $.12 plus tax, Got $4 ECB from Colgate, $3 ECB from Hershey’s and $3 ECB from Breathe Right
Final Price: $3.88 Moneymaker!
Then I went to Walgreens. I still had $12.50 in Register Reward left over from Thanksgiving week deals that I had to burn, so I decided to stock up on some items that we used regularly, but required no coupons. I got lucky this week with the Suave deal (no coupons!) and Velveeta Shells & Cheese make my kids love me a little bit extra, so I had to grab those as well.
Walgreens8 Suave Naturals Hair Care $1 each (Got 25% off from the sale, so a total of $6)
4 Velveeta Shells & Cheese 2/$4 (Used $1/2 from Walgreens Dec coupon booklet)
2 Bisquick 2/$3 (Used 2 $.60 Bisquick here, here or here (or $.50 here)
Used $12.50 in RR from previous weeks
Paid $1.30 plus tax, Got 2,000 points from Suave
Final Price: $11.80
After all was said and done I spent a total of $7.92 plus tax. If you are in the same boat with the tons of Register Rewards that we saw that week, consider doing the Suave deal (that gives you eight Register Rewards right there!) or the Buy 3 Greeting Cards, Get 1,000 points deal (purchase $.99 cards and you’re paying only $.66 each after points) to use those up. Happy Shopping!
Alli is a Chicago based wife and mother of two children. She has turned money-saving into a game and enjoys searching out the best deals to help you save money! Alli shares her insight, tips and up-to-the-minute deals for local and national retailers and brands. Her hope is that you will play the game and learn to save money at the same time!