CVS Couponing: Week of June 26th: The Loot

Plus a raincheck :)

So things pretty much went as planned, except that the body washes and deodorants both rang up for $3 each for some reason.... normally this would be fine with me except that I wanted to reach the $15 on my Dove products to get my $5 EB!  So, I explained to the manager that the shelf had the body wash marked at $5, which should have pushed me above the $15 mark ($16 to be exact) to qualify for the  $5 EB.  He played nice, doubled checked the weekly ad, and just gave me the $5 EB without making me pay the remaining $5.  Sa-weet!  So, here's the breakdown:

Total value (read: CVS prices totaled before sales or coupons): $18.79
Total OOP: $0.80+ tax = $1.04 (I spent a $5.99 and $4 EB--> $9.99 in EB total)
Remaining EB (to spend on my next trip!): $2.49 from last week + $11.79 from this week = $14.28 EB total

And for the stat that really matters....

Total OOP spent in my first month of CVS couponing: $36.20 +tax
Not bad considering about $14 of that was "start up" costs and I have $14.28 in EB to use next month.  I expect to only spend $5 to $10 at CVS next month.  Do you think that's a reasonable expectation?

CVS Couponing: Week of June 26th: The Plan

Transaction #1 (and only):

1 RepHresh Brilliant pH Tampon, 18 ct. $6.79
Per CVS ad:  Buy 1, get $6.79 EB, Limit 1
Use 1 $1.00/1 – RepHresh Brilliant tampons – (brilliantcoupon.com)


2 Dove Men+Care Body Wash $5
2 Dove Men+Care Deodorant $3.50
Per CVS ad: Spend $15, get $5 EB whwen you buy specified Dove or Degree Products, Limit
Use  1 B1G1 Men+Care Body and Face Wash or Active Clean Shower Tool coupon (RP 6/26)
Use 2 $2/1 Dove Men+Care Antiperspirant or Deodorant coupon (RP 6/26)


Request a rain check for John Frieda Styler $6 (because if previous weeks are any indication, they'll be out)
With this rain check for the $6 styler (and Per CVS ad: $3 EB when I spend $10 in specified John Frieda, Biore, or Cureal Products, Limit 1- included in the rain check) sometime between now and 7/31 (when my coupon expires) I'll use:
2 $5/1 John Frieda Full Repair Treatment, Styler or Finisher coupon (SS 6/5)
In the future: Will Spend $2, and get $3 EB

Total Cost: $14.79 + tax

Total OOP for this trip to CVS: $2.31 ($12.48 will be paid with EB) + tax

EB remaining (for next trip!): $11.79 (all earned this week)


*I'll also have the rain check for 2 John Frieda stylers! :)

CVS Couponing: Week of June 19th: The Loot

plus a 99 cent birthday card

So this week's bounty was WAY more satisfying that last week's.  Ended up getting everything I had planned on (the toothpaste and protein bites, which were kinda gross but a decent snack for my rumbling tummy on the way down to Houston yesterday morning- a trip we made to surprise Andrew's mom for her big unspoken age birthday and of course to spend Father's Day with a father).  In addition to the shopping list items we also added to the cart Hershey's Bliss (which was $5.99 and earned $5.99 EB- there was also a coupon somewhere, but I didn't have it, but, well...who doesn't love dark chocolate?  *hint: NOT ME!*) and a 99 cent birthday card.  Here are the numeros:

Total value (read: CVS prices totaled before sales or coupons): $17.04
Total OOP: $1.06+ tax = $1.18 (I spent a $5.99 and $6 EB--> $12.99 in EB total)
Remaining EB - all earned on this trip- (to spend on my next trip!): $13.48....that's right I MADE money :)  And the game is getting fun!


I definitely did a little "Go cita!  Go cita!  It's your birthday!" dance out of the store... it *might* have embarrassed the cito as I boogied by the newspaper delivery man and a couple other customers.  My bad. (Not.)

CVS Couponing: Week of June 19th: The Plan

First, I have a confession.  I made a couponing mistake last week when I stopped at a second CVS to see if they had the John Frieda hair stuff (they didn't), and figured, "Hey, might as well pick up another razor since I'm here."  Why the mistake?  Oh, because I forgot there was a "Limit 1" deal on that little EB scenario.  Long story short, I tried to buy it, paid with EB, realized my mistake, decided not to buy it.  That meant to get my EB back (you know, the ones I paid with for the razor I actually decided not to purchase) the cashier had to call over a manager and ended up giving me cash back.  Totally ok with that.  Not so okay with the newb couponer mistake, however.  It ended up being ok with me though since it sort of offset my ONE CVS transaction that I actually meant to break into 2 to offset my OOP expense, but didn't because I was lame.  Anyway, I tell you that: 1.  to be real and 2. because now I have a $6 and $5.99 EB in my possession, and no $4 EB, as you may have thought previously.  Got it?

This week I plan to use the $6 EB only (both the $6 and $5.99 EB expire on 7/12).  You see, the CVS deal this week for me are only "meh."  Here's the plan:

Transaction #1 (and only):

1 ProteinBar Energy or Protein Bites, 2.6-3 oz $2.49
Per CVS ad:  Buy 1, get $2.49 EB, Limit 1

2 Colgate Total Gum Defense, Advanced or Enamel Strength, 4 oz Max, 6 oz or 360 Surround Toothbrush, $2.79 each
Per CVS ad: Buy 1, get $2 EB, Limit 2
Use 2 $1/1 Colgate Total Advanced Toothpaste coupons (SS 6/12)

Total Cost: $6.07

Total OOP for this trip to CVS: $0.07 ($6 will be paid with EB) + tax

EB remaining (for next trip!): $5.99 remaining from EB earned last week + $6.49 earned this week =  $12.48

CVS Couponing: Week of June 12th: The Loot

So, I feel like this week was more of a fail than a success, and I'm starting to wonder if the entire couponing thing is worth it.  Andrew and I decided we'll give it a month before dropping the whole experiment.  Today we had no luck finding free Sunday papers, so we ended up laying down $4 (ugh) for 2 at the Shell station.  Then we headed on over to CVS, where they were out of the John Frieda Full Repair products and I was too shy to ask for a raincheck.... maybe I'll check back later this week?  Doubtful.  Not to mention, the whole lack of JF Full Repair products threw me for a loop and I decided to just put everything in one big transaction rather than figure out how to break it down into two.  Bad choice.  Why you ask?  Well, because now I'll be forced to spend another $15.99 in EB (no cash or EB back on EB you don't spend!) down the road.  Is all this number crunching and searching for Sunday papers really worth it?  Probably not.  It seems the whole EB thing will just keep us going back to CVS every week (or few) to spend our EB and a little more (tax, extra items to make sure we use up all the EB since there's no cash back, less the money we may loss on not using EB before they expire...).  We just don't really need to buy toiletries every month.  Now maybe one small trip every month could be worth it, but definitely not if we have to actually buy the Sunday paper.  Oh well, it's an experiment, right?? That's what I keep telling myself.  Andrew says I'm "such a maven," trying to safe us and others money, but right now I feel like a total fail.  Live and learn?

I doubt we'll even use the Motrin PM.

Total value (read: CVS prices totaled before sales or coupons): $21.99 + tax

This week's total OOP:  $7.16
EB back: $15.99

CVS Couponing: Week of June 12th: The Plan

Transaction #1:


1 Schick Hydro 3 or 5 Razors $8
Per CVS ad:  Buy 1, get $4 Extra Bucks, Limit 1
Use 1 $4/1 Schick Hydro Razor coupon (SS 6/12)

2 John Frieda Full Repair Foam Styler $5 each
Per CVS ad: Spend $10 on John Frieda Products, get $3 Extra Bucks, Limit 1
Use 2 $5/1 John Frieda Full Repair Foam Styler coupons (SS 6/5)

OOP:  $0 (cost will be $5 + tax, paid for with EB)
EB back: $7

Transaction #2:

2 Motrin PM, 20 ct. $4
Per CVS ad: Buy 1, get $3 Extra Bucks, Limit 3
Use 2 $1/1 Motrin coupons (RP 6/12)

1 Zyrtec 24 hr tablets, 5 ct. $5.99
Per CVS ad: Buy 1, get $5.99 Extra Bucks, Limit 1
There are coupons available, but it I don't have the RP from 4/10, and for some reason my printer isn't working.  Still a good deal, though!
$4.00/1 Zyrtec Product from RP 4/10 and
$2.00/1 – Zyrtec Product, Excludes Trial Size – (zyrtec.com)


Note: I was also initially going to hop in on the Bayer Aspirin freebie deal, but figured we never take aspirin and though it's "free" with coupons/sales, would still have to pay tax on it.... see the krazycouponlady.com if you think it's a deal you'd like to get in on.  Just wasn't practical for us. :)

OOP: tax only (the rest will be paid for with EB)

EB back: $8.99

Total OOP for this trip to CVS: tax only! :)

EB remaining (for next trip!): $8.99

CVS Couponing: Week of June 5th: The Loot

Ended up getting pretty much what I had planned, plus one more Ban deodorant (included in transaction #2) b/c at essentially $0.24 I figured, "Why not?!"  Here's the loot:

Total value (read: CVS prices totaled before sales or coupons): $32.72
Total OOP: $14.86
Remaining EB (to spend on my next trip!): $9

A success, I'd say. :)