This Is Why I Prefer Self-Checkout!

Here's hoping that this week of CVS-ing (yes, it should totally be considered a verb at this point, don't you think?) will satisfy me for a while because I've already gone through the ads for the following two weeks, and there's nothing in which I can roll my ExtraBucks!  Don't worry though; I think I'll be able to get free or close to free chocolate, but I'm not sure how that will work just yet!  Let me explain today's trip (or document it for myself if no one is actually reading, haha) where I got all this stuff for only $5.35 out of pocket!  I walked into the store with $18 ExtraBucks and walked out with $19, so I'm a very happy camper.  My favorite purchases are still those Nivea products, which cost me $7 combined with the sale price and coupons.  Paying less than that for ALL of this means I've done my homework!  

Howard was pretty tired after church today, so I ended up going by myself.  I was extra excited because I had a $5 off $15 coupon from the bottom of a previous receipt and I got the email for 25% off all non-sale items!  To make it easier to plan it out, I actually split the purchases into 2 transactions.  The first transaction had all the products that were on sale while the other didn't, so I used my 25% off coupon on the latter.  Now I admit I actually got a little nervous because I was waiting for a self-checkout to open up when an employee said he'd help me at the counter.  I very rarely go to a CVS with cashiers behind the counters nowadays.  Out of the 4 that I've visited in the past few months, only one has no self-checkout option.  I prefer being able to scan the products myself so that I can see that the prices match my plan.  I do the same thing at the supermarket when Howard is with me.  I want to make sure all the sales are correct and that all my coupons are deducted.  But I figured I couldn't say no because he seemed so eager to help, so I pushed my cart over.

As you can see, I did the Nivea deal AGAIN.  To break it down really quickly since I have mentioned it before, the body wash is on sale for $4 this week as it was this entire month.  I used a $1 coupon making it only $3.  The lotion is on sale for $6, and I used a $2 coupon making it $4.  But because the products were originally $10, I got the $3 ECB.  

The other ECB deal was for the Colgate toothbrushes.  The sale was on the Colgate 360º or Optic White toothbrushes.  They were on sale for $2.99 with $2 back in ECB.  Using a $1 coupon from the CVS site, I eliminated paying the $0.99, so I was really just rolling $2 into the purchase to get a free toothbrush and get $2 back.  The limit is on 2, so I picked up both.  My store was actually completely out of the Optic White toothbrushes, so I asked the manager if the coupon I had would still work on the other option.  She said that because it was still Colgate, it would be fine.  That's good to know!

The last part of the first transaction was 3 Renuzit air fresheners.  They're on sale this week 3 for $3, but the redbox is spitting out a $1.50 coupon for everyone making all 3 only $1.50.  I had a $0.50 coupon, but it didn't scan so that was an extra $0.50 on top of my total that I wasn't anticipating.  But I was okay with that because I have been seeing Renuzit everywhere lately and have wanted to try it.  I chose Raspberry, After the Rain, and Simply Lavender.  The After the Rain scent is actually in our bathroom right now, and I'm quite pleased with it!  I only opened it the tiniest bit so it's not overbearing at all.  It might not even be that noticeable since it's higher up on a shelf too!  I might open the container a tiny bit more.

What was strange was that throughout both transactions, there were a lot of things that kept beeping including my ExtraBucks, which clearly should not have had any issues.  The cashier, as nice as he was, didn't seem to know as much about couponing as the manager who has helped me at the self-checkout many times. But I had all my math figured out so I tried to keep my cool.  I was able to use my $5 off $15 CVS coupon, $1 off toothbrush, $1 off toothbrush, $1 off body wash, $2 off lotion, $1.50 off air fresheners, and $6 in ExtraBucks.  What a great way to chip away at your out of pocket cost, isn't it?  This first transaction's subtotal was $1.48 (he should have scanned my $6 ECB first, but he didn't so I then had to replace it with a $3 one at the end messing up my subtotal), so with tax, my total was $2.72.  Plus, I got a total of $7 in ECB that I was going to roll in the next transaction.  

The cashier was pretty amazed and said that he had never met someone who did all that couponing to bring down the price before.  He said that I should update my Facebook status with "I'm the coupon boss!" to let everyone know, haha.  I think anyone following me on Facebook or Instagram already knows that it's been quite an addiction lately!  As I said in a previous post, why pay more?      

The next transaction had everything that I was going to get that wasn't on sale so that I could use my 25% off coupon.  What you need to keep in mind is that the best way to use that coupon is to choose items that will product ExtraBucks even though they're not on sale that week.  The 25% off from CVS along with manufacturer's coupons will bring your cost low.  This was the first time I didn't send my 25% to my ExtraCare card.  I printed it out instead so that there would be no accidental purchases where it'd be used to save just a few pennies!  

The Listerine deal was to spend $10 on ANY Listerine products and get $5 back in ExtraBucks (limit 2).  It's a pretty good deal on its own if you really needed mouthwash that week, but it's even better with coupons!  I called my store a few days earlier to ask how much a one liter bottle cost because coupons.com had coupons for $2 off one liter bottles only.  The girl on the phone told me $7.49, but the CVS website had bottles as low as $5.79.  I was hoping that being in NYC wasn't going to affect the price THAT much compared to the website.  Thankfully, the Cool Mint version along with the original funky-looking tan-colored one was $5.79!  I bought 4 bottles making my total $23.16.  However, the 25% is used BEFORE manufacturer's coupons, thus saving me $5.79!  That's pretty much buying 3 bottles and getting 1 free!  But that's not good enough, of course.  I had 4 of the $2 coupons saving me another $8, which meant that my total out of pocket cost for all 4 bottles was $9.37.  Pretty awesome considering I'd roll about $10 into this deal and still get $10 back!  FREE LISTERINE!  And technically a "money-maker" too.

The Sally Hansen deal required spending $10 to get back $4 in ExtraBucks.  Considering I had the 25% coupon and 2 coupons for $1 each, I figured it would be worth it to roll my other ExtraBucks to push back the expiration date a little more.  In the CVS stores in NYC, each bottle of the Xtreme Wear line is $3.49, which is more than what you would find elsewhere.  It doesn't make sense to buy it on its own because other drugstores have it for less, but in the long run, purchasing Sally Hansen when there are deals makes it cheaper.  Okay, so I purchased 3 bottles at $3.49 each, which meant my total was $10.47.  If you're interested, I choose Pink Satin, Mint Sorbet, and Red Carpet.  The 25% off saved me $2.62 and then another $2 from my coupons (agh, I wish I had one more coupon!).  My total out of pocket expense was $5.85 while still getting back $4 in ExtraBucks, so I did have to roll an extra $1.85, but for 3 bottles of Sally Hansen, it's a steal!

The last part of this transaction isn't something that Howard or I need or use!  I saw on Instagram that these small Got2B products would be a moneymaker if rolling ECB because I'd get $5 for purchasing two products.  Of course, NYC prices are a little bit more, BUT because I had the 25% off coupon, I was able to keep it a moneymaker.  Each tube of Got2b Spiking Glue was $2.67 so both cost $5.34.  The 25% brought my cost down to $4, so it was a $1 moneymaker!  Don't worry; I didn't just buy a random product for no reason.  I already emailed a cousin to see if he would use it, and if not, I'll offer it to any guys I know that need their hair to be spiked!  

Okay, this is where I got nervous and started shaking a bit.  The final out of pocket cost that the cashier told me was MUCH too high even with manufacturer's coupons.  I looked at the little credit card scanner thing and saw that there was no amount next to the 25% coupon.  I asked if it was accepted, and he said it was, but I said that there's no amount deducted for it.  I knew from my self-checkout experiences that you don't see the savings from that coupon until you hit "Finish and Pay."  Guess he didn't do that, so I paid what he originally quoted with my credit card.  When I swiped it, suddenly $9.75 came off!  Um, that's a HUGE deal!  If I'm not paying next to nothing, there's no need to be buying 4 bottles of Listerine!  My out of pocket was still too high based on what I had calculated as my subtotal was $2.22 and the total was $4.81 with tax.  With my calculations, I was expecting to pay about $2+ for mainly taxes, but I was already at the counter for quite some time already so I took my purchases and brought them to the car.

I didn't want to leave the parking lot yet until I had checked everything out carefully.  My first receipt seemed fine.  After checking my second receipt against my little organized shopping list with prices and coupon amounts, I saw that there was only 3 rows of $2 off coupons!  That meant he didn't scan one of my Listerine coupons!  I was so happy that I stayed and checked it out before leaving because it'd be difficult to do anything about it another day.  When I returned to the store, the manager was staring at me probably wondering why I was entering again and walking towards her.  Haha, at this point, I think she recognizes me.  I showed her my receipt and explained my situation.  She went to the register and punched it in as "cash for coupon," so I got $2 back in cash.  That meant my actual out of pocket cost for my second transaction was $2.81.  

My calculations were pretty accurate!  Throwing in the Got2B products made my plans a little bit different as I had to actually use my last chunk of ECB that I thought I was going to have to hold on to, but as I stated above, it was a moneymaker AND I pushed back the expiration dates of ALL my previous ECB.  Phew.  Now I have $19 waiting for a future transaction!  I also learned that next time when someone says that he/she can help me at the counter, I will say, "No, thank you!  I prefer the self-checkout to watch all of my prices!"

Want to know the best thing about getting all this stuff at CVS today?  While I was out saving moolah, Howard did all the dishes.  Woohoo!

Baby Boy or Baby Girl

Before I start talking about this card, let me just preface it by saying that just because I'm posting a "Hello Baby" card, it doesn't mean I'm going to be saying hello to a baby of my own in 9 months!  Haha, just felt that I needed to get that out there.

I made a card similar to this last year or so because I had used the same duck from the Sandy Lion stamp set and fussy cut it after coloring them 3 different colors.  The card itself seemed kind of bland, so this time I chose to stamp the ducks on different colored paper with the same pattern.  I think it worked out so much better.  I kept it gender neutral by using yellow, blue, and pink 

By using a black layer on kraft cardstock, the colors really get to pop and the patterned ducks are the clear focal point of the card.  I used Pink by Design's set "Big Thoughts" for the sentiment that was actually two separate words.  I really love how easily PBD's sentiments stamp and pick up the ink to transfer.

Time and time again, this Sandy Lion stamp set is still one of my favorites along with the "boy" version of it too.  I just love that I found them in the Michaels clearance section a few year ago and snatched them up really quickly!

Happy [Business] Birthday!

One of the cards that I've been dying to recreate is based on this card I saw on Faith Abigail Designs and pinned on Pinterest.  I thought that the cake on the cake stand from the Sweet Treats cartridge looked so perfect on a 4''x9'' card, which basically mean it fits inside a business envelope.  I am so intrigued by the idea of cards in business envelopes because that means if you send it in the mail, the recipient doesn't expect it to be a birthday card!

I only made the slightest variations to the card because I really LOVED the card she made.  I think there's a lot going on with this card in terms of the bright colors, but its cheery look is just perfect for a birthday celebration.

The measurements can be found on her blog post, so I'm not going to get into that here, but the sentiment I used is from Pink by Design's set called "Birthday, Birthday."  This card can be found in my Facebook store if you're interested!

Learning How to Roll ExtraBucks at CVS

Yesterday was the first time I rolled my ExtraBucks in one trip by doing 3 separate transactions.  I was a little nervous about doing it, so I had each step planned out and typed up so that I wouldn't make any mistakes.  I figured it'd be easy to post this on my blog so that you could see how rolling ECB right away makes it so that you don't pay much out of pocket in one trip.  Typically, I do one big transaction and just save all the ECB for the next trip during the following week.  This might be more enticing to some of you.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that there are many people who have multiple CVS cards so that they can stock up on offers since there are sometimes limits on how much you can buy per card.  I only have my card, but Howard recently signed up for a card of his own too.  That worked out really well this week because he already had $3 ECB from a previous purchase and CVS randomly emailed him that $3 ECB to spend too!  That meant I had $6 total going to the store today, and I was also crossing my fingers for a $2 off $10 oral care coupon, which would mean I'd only have to do 2 transactions.  I knew he would probably get the $1 off $5 though based on his online account.

Transaction #1: Spend $0.55 OOP, get $6 ExtraBucks

On Howard's card, I purchased the 2 travel-friendly 4-packs of Colgate toothpaste.  The regular price would have been $7.18, but I used the $1 coupon that came from the redbox on oral care along with the $6 ExtraBucks.  That meant the subtotal was only $0.18!  With tax, I had to pay $0.55, which I paid for using coins.  I love these situations where I pay with coins because I consider it not really spending money at all since I don't even know what change I have in my wallet.  Although it was rare, I would sometimes have to grab a snack from the vending machine before leaving work for $0.50 to have enough energy to drive home (that's why I buy snacks in bulk to carry with me).  To think that this toothpaste cost just a little bit over a bag of chips is why I really dislike buying ANYTHING from vending machines and wonder how my former students could just spend so much money on snacks each day!  But I know that that's just something that comes with the age.  I used to buy snacks all the time from the vending machine in high school because I often had to stay after school for activities like when I was on the layout committee for the yearbook during my senior year.  Nowadays, I would rather buy toothpaste!  Plus, I used pennies for the five cents, so less change to lug around!

Transaction #2: Spend $1.89 OOP, get $3 ExtraBucks

Since transaction #1 gave me $6 in ECB, I was able to use it for the second one.  I did the Nivea one again because it really is such a deal!  I used the lotion I got yesterday on my legs after my shower, and it was so soothing.  With the cooler weather, the skin on my hands and my legs have been drying out and actually a little bit painful at times.  This really helps a lot more than when I've tried to use Lubriderm, which isn't as rich.  Today I decided to pick up the "Essentially Enriched" one, which is the richest of their options (you can see near the bottom of the bottle that they have a scale of Light to Rich to indicate where it falls) since the frigid cold winter months are ahead of us.  I also picked up the body wash that smells girly because I really like the scent (yes, I sniffed each bottle to see which ones I liked) but didn't buy it earlier since I don't think my husband wants to smell like that.  Haha, but since I was getting another bottle, I wanted to get the pink one!  The prices were, of course, the same as yesterday, so the lotion was $6, and I used a $2 coupon, and the body wash was $4, and I used a $1 coupon (I needed to print them from Howard's computer).  Instead of paying full price, I used the $6 ECB from the Colgate deal, paid $1.89 out of pocket, and got $3 back in ECB.

Transaction #3: Spend $4.57 OOP, get $4 ExtraBucks

The last transaction (I purposely waited for other people to pay and leave so that I wasn't hogging up a self-checkout for too long) was on the mouthwash again and Listerine PocketPaks.  The mouthwash was on sale 2 for $5.98, and I used two of the $1.10 coupons.  The Listerine was on sale for $2.99 with $1 back in ExtraBucks instead of the regular $4.49 price.  With the coupons and the $3 ECB from the Nivea deal, I paid $4.57 out of pocket and got $4 back.

That means all I spent for everything I brought home today was $7.01 out of pocket and still have $4 for next time.  If you do what I said yesterday and look at deals that people post on Instagram using #CVS, you'll see that many of them deduct the amount of ECB from their total and claim that it's really only spending $3.01.  I don't do it that way because you actually deduct it from your OOP total in your next trip, so it's as if you're convincing yourself that you saved more than you really did.  I still had to pay $7 regardless of what money I may have for the next trip, so that's another thing I'd suggest you keep in mind because there is a difference!  But I was COMPLETELY fine with the $7 spent today for all that I got since it's less than one full price bottle of lotion!  Couponing is awesome!

I took my goodies back to the car and checked the date on when my free $3 ECB was going to expire, and the little paper said 9/19/03, which I realized was this Friday!  It would've been such a waste to drive there to use it on another day, so I went back to the store!  I was thinking that the lady by the self-scan checkout place would think I was crazy since she already had to help me so much by okaying coupons with her little card.  Thankfully, once I walked into the store, I saw there was a new employee working that area!  Yay!  I just went in to grab another Listerine PocketPaks so that I wouldn't spend any money out of pocket yet still get to take something home and get another $1 ECB back.  The coupon corrected itself to $2.99 so that my subtotal was $0.00 so I didn't have to reach for my wallet all!  Thanks, CVS!  

As you can see, it's possible to just continuously roll your ECB during the same sales week instead of saving them.  This method might be helpful for you if you don't want to hold on to too much CVS currency at once in case you're afraid you'll forget to use them (I've heard about some CVS stores taking expired ECB, but I don't really want to risk it) or if you just want to take advantage of one sales week and not worry about not being able to use it during future weeks.  Either way, you still end up saving a LOT of money by rolling and getting a lot of products that you and your family will need!

Anyway, couponing does require a good amount of work, but it's really nice to know that there are so many people out there who do the heavy lifting for you so it's not all on your shoulders!  I do a lot more planning for myself though so that I won't make any mistakes.  Take a look at how I planned this trip using Howard's card based on what potential coupon I would get from the redbox (I had to go with the second plan of three transactions).  This is obviously all done without tax, but my time spent paid off here because all the subtotals match my receipts exactly!

By the way, I don't actually know how to use Excel other than using it as a chart, but hey, I can still save money!  Wahoo!

Crafter Turned Couponer

I haven't been spending that much time putting cards together although I have cut out a bunch of Cricut images to glue together for some therapeutic productivity considering my current job situation (or lack thereof).  I won't get into that right now, but let's just say that from midnight to about 2:00am on Sunday, I couldn't sleep because I was thinking that I never thought I'd be turning 29 and being where I am at the moment.  But of course, there are many things that come as a surprise including the fact that I never thought I'd be a couponer, but I think that's what I am nowadays!

When I was a kid, I remember seeing my mom look through the circulars every Sunday night when we got the newspaper and watching her clip coupons.  I didn't quite understand why it was worth the time considering some coupons had such low values.  Was it really worth the effort to save $0.50?  The only times I used coupons was when Michaels or AC Moore had a 50% off that I could use on a craft product!  With sales and coupons at craft stores, I could really save dollars on just one item.  I considered supermarkets to be completely different though.  Before I got married, I said to my mom that I would definitely shop sales for groceries, but I claimed that couponing wouldn't be worth it.  Boy, have I had to eat my words as of late!

Earlier in the year, I really got into buying nail polish after purchasing two different colors for my brother's wedding and Howard's sister's wedding.  It was fun to "accessorize" my fingernails and toenails considering I don't really wear jewelry or accessories other than my engagement ring, wedding ring, and watch.  Having only a handful of colors wasn't enough, so I started scouring the pages of drugstore ads to see when they were having sales on nail polish that I could buy to have more variety.  My first nail polish haul was at CVS when they had a sale on Sally Hansen polishes AND a deal to get ExtraBucks (EB or, as most people refer to it online and on social media, ECB).  That trip is what ignited the flame for my passion for saving money!

If you don't know what ExtraBucks are, it's actually pretty easy to understand.  Most drugstores have a loyalty program with rewards to get customers to return to the store time and time again.  For example, Walgreens has Register Rewards and Balance Rewards while RiteAid has +UP Rewards.  I've found that the CVS rewards are the easiest ones for me to understand (plus, the stores I frequent are much nicer because of their employees and the fact that they actually have stock available!).  In the ad, you will see that if you buy a certain product or a certain amount of a particular brand, you will get ExtraBucks Rewards in return.  They print at the bottom of your receipt, and you can use them right away or up to a month after that initial transaction.  That meant that after buying some nail polish, I could use the money I got back to buy even more nail polish!

After having ExtraBucks for some time, however, I learned online that the best thing to do with them was to "roll" them.  That means that if I received $3 ECB from buying toothpaste, the following week, I'd look for another deal where I could use the previously earned ECB to buy something else that would give me some ECB back.  It was the best way to buy nail polish and other makeup items especially since those are considered luxury items.  It's even BETTER when you can reduce your out of pocket (OOP) expense by using CVS coupons and manufacturer's coupons!  And then it just made sense that I should be using my energy to coupon to buy necessities!  Clearly, my "I'm-never-going-to-use-coupons" statement to my mom was made before my husband and I had rent and bills of our own to pay!

It took me about a year to come to my senses that there is absolutely no need not to save money on necessities especially since Howard and I are going to constantly need the same basics over and over again.  You'll see that some couponers caption or tag their pictures with #whypaymore because seriously, WHY PAY MORE?!?  There really is so much more to get into when it comes to couponing, but there are many people online who have spent tons of time compiling how to guides for newbie couponers.  I read a bunch of them, which is what really got me interested to save as much money as possible.  I might end up writing more couponing posts in the future, but for right now, here are the tips that I read on blogs that I follow and some others that I feel are important when it comes to shopping specifically at CVS:

1. Get an ExtraCare card and scan it at the redbox every single time that you can to have coupons printed out for you.  I envy those who work right by a CVS and scan their cards almost on a daily basis even if they don't go to the store to make any purchases!  Also, be sure to keep scanning until the redbox says there are no more coupons to be printed.  Sometimes I have coupons print even after the third scan!  Also, don't forget to sign up for an online account and link your ExtraCare card.  You won't regret it!  CVS often emails coupons for $5 off $15 or $6 off $30 in beauty products.  You also get Beauty Bucks, which is $5 for every $50 you spend on what they put in the beauty category (cosmetics, hair care, skin care).  Lastly, they randomly send out FREE MONEY.  Yesterday I got $3 just because it was my birthday, but then today I along with many others got $3 just because!  It's funny because I was explaining to Howard that I can get more excited about getting one of those emails inviting me to buy something at CVS as opposed to someone just handing me $3 in cash.  It's basically "forcing" me to spend it in the same way a gift card can sometimes be more fun than just getting cash! 
2. Stack coupons!  On one item, you are allowed to use a manufacturer's coupon AND a CVS coupon.  If I want to buy lotion, I can use a $2 off lotion coupon that came from the redbox or from the bottom of my receipt along with a $1 manufacturer's coupon.  This really helps bring your out of pocket cost really low, which means that it's possible to get "free" products from the store with coupons and ECB deals.
3. At this point, it hasn't been worth it for us to buy the Sunday newspaper for coupons though I did get a stack, I think, from my sister-in-law when I posted on Facebook asking for coupon inserts if people weren't using them.  There are actually websites that post what coupons will be in those inserts, so a quick skim can let you know if it's worth picking up a paper.  However, I've had success just printing coupons online.  I look through what's available on coupons.com and a few other sites, and in other situations, I just Google "[product name] coupon" and see what comes up.  There are people who go to stores and grab tons of coupons from tearpads and blinkies and steal peelies from products (yes, I consider it stealing when you take coupons off a product when you don't actually buy it), but there's nothing really available in my area.  Just take note that most of the time, there's a limit to how many coupons you can print from your computer (usually 2).  Thankfully, I can just send the link to Howard to print from his computer if I need more than that.
4. One of the tips that works the BEST for me is checking out Instagram!  Since I'm focusing on CVS, I'll do a search for #CVS and see what other people have purchased and what coupons they used to save.  This seems to work a lot better for me than following the tens and thousands of blogs out there that post the deals.  I know that Instagram is up to date, so I don't have to worry about weeding through old blog posts on websites for deals that have long since passed.  It was through Instagram that I realized I could use my $1 off GoldEmblem juice coupons from the redbox on carbonated drinks and get them for free!  It was also from Instagram that I found out that I should save my $1 CVS cotton product coupons to use the following week on cotton balls because they were on sale for $1!  I wouldn't have known those things if I wasn't always checking the hashtag.
5. Only buy what you need and will use.  I admit it's pretty easy to look at other people's hauls and want to do the same especially when they only spend pennies.  However, many of them aren't really possible because they use multiple ExtraCare cards (I have mine, and very rarely Howard will use his) and have stacks of coupons from friends, purchasing multiple newspapers, or dumpster diving.  They end up having stockpiles similar to what can be seen on TLC's show Extreme Couponing.  I am happy to have some reserves on hand, but my goal isn't to have a ton of stuff  because we don't have the storage space for it and because there's only two of us and we don't go through as much product as a family of four would.  I do have a few extras so that in case of an emergency (ex. like when people needed things after Hurricane Sandy last October) or if there's a collection for donated items at my old school, we have some toothpaste and toothbrushes to give.  I'm also going to be rolling ECBs to get "free" products so that my family members can have them as well.  But other than that, I think that doing this and storing tons of stuff can be close to hoarding.  I can see how it can be addicting.

Of course, considering all this talk about coupons, I just have to share my latest shopping trip because it was the first time where all I had to pay was the tax!  In fact, you can see that I had some overage from my coupons, so my subtotal was actually a negative value.  Take a look!

Here you can see what I actually purchased for my $2.74.  It's really so much fun to coupon because the Maybelline nail polish that I've been eyeing for some time was $4.29, and I paid less for so much more!

This was an "easy" trip in that I did have $25 ECB from my last trip to spend along with some extra CVS deals including (a) $6 off $30 beauty, (b) $3.00 ECB for my birthday, and (c) $5 Beauty Bucks.  I don't typically break down my purchases the way people on Instagram do it, but I figured for this one, it will be worth it since it's the beginning of the week and there's time for others to score some of these deals too.

7UP soda
This is an easy deal because you can see it in the ad itself.  The soda (7UP, A&W, Canada Dry, Sunkist) is on sale for $0.99, but when you scan your card at the redbox, you get another $0.30 coupon making it only $0.69 (not including deposit depending on your state).  Considering we've purchased these bottles for $1, getting it for less made it a good deal.  The only soda we typically have in the apartment is cans of ginger ale for the times I might feel nauseous, but other than that, we only splurge on drinking it if we happen to have pizza.  You can't have pizza without a fizzy drink!

DAWN dishwashing detergent
The sale in the ad is also really simple to understand.  Just buy 3 bottles of Dawn dishwashing liquid for $3 and get $1 back in ECB.  We've been using Palmolive lately because it's usually cheaper, but Dawn is still the best for cutting through any grease or buildup on pots and pans.  At my store, they had the regular blue one along with the green one and Olay pink one that I purchased.

COLGATE travel-friendly toothpaste and mouthwash
There are two separate ECB deals for Colgate this week.  The first one is one that I've done before.  Those little tubes of travel-friendly toothpaste come in a 4-pack for $3.59.  This week, if you buy any Colgate Multi-Pack toothpaste or toothbrush, you get $3.00 back in ECB and the travel-friendly multi-pack is included!  That's one of the things I would not have known had I not checked Instagram a few weeks ago.  It's kind of like paying only $0.59 for it.  The limit is 2, so since I had plenty of ECB to spend, I bought both meaning I was able to earn $6 in ECB.

The other Colgate deal was on Colgate Total or Total Advanced toothpaste (4-4.2 oz), Total rinse (250 ml, which means the 8 oz bottles), and the 360 Floss-Tip toothbrush.  You can buy any 2 for $5.98 and get $3 in ECB.  I know there were $2 coupons on this recently, but I didn't have them, so I printed out two coupons online for $1.10 off the mouthwash.  This brought my total down to $3.78, but I still got $3 back in ECB.  If you had the $2 coupons, the OOP expense would have only been $1.98, making this a "money maker."

This deal worked out beautifully for me though because when I scanned my card at the redbox upon entering the store, I got a $2 off $10 oral care coupon, so I was able to use that CVS coupon for these purchases!  Hooray!

NIVEA body wash and body lotion
Howard and I have been using body wash lately because we tend to go through bars of soap really quickly.  The Nivea body wash is on sale this week (and next week too!) for $4.  That alone is a good deal since the normal price here is $6.49.  Online you can find a coupon for $1 off Nivea body wash (even though the coupon says "Redeemable at Walmart," it's actually a manufacturer's coupon and it prints with the phrase "Redeemable at your local supercenter").  I also had a CVS coupon for $2 off $8 for body wash or bar soap, so I picked up another bottle.

This week there's also an ECB deal with Nivea.  When you spend $10, you get $3 back, so I picked up a bottle of lotion because we're almost out of the one bottle of Lubriderm I have!  The lotion is on sale for $6 when it's normally $8.49.  Online there's a coupon for $2 off body lotion, so score there as well!  After all the coupons, it cost $8 out of pocket with $3 back in ECB to take home what would have cost $21.47 if I decided to go to the store and buy those things full price.

CVS eye makeup remover
Though there weren't any ECB deals with this, there was a sale for buy one get one 50% off.  I'm down to half a bottle of my RiteAid makeup remover, and then I'm done, so I knew I needed to get some more soon.  Each bottle was $5.99, which meant it cost about $9 for both bottles.  The reason why this was an especially good deal was because I had the $6 off $30 coupon off of beauty products.  The $14 from Nivea and the $9 from this meant that I had $23 spent on beauty products.  I would have purchased two more bottles, but they were out of stock, and I also went to ask the manager if they had any more.  I still needed $7 more to use the coupon, which was basically like paying $1 more for stuff I was going to buy anyway and choosing $6 of stuff for free!

MAYBELLINE eyeliner and nail polish
The $6 off $30 coupon is why I bought these two items.  I chose Maybelline because there's an ECB to get $3 back when you spend $10.  This was already my contingency plan (Howard thought it was funny that I said I had a contingency plan for a trip to CVS!) because I've been wanting the polka dots nail polish in "Clearly Spotted" since I first saw it!  But spending $4.29 was much too much especially since I have plenty of polish now.  This was the perfect opportunity to get it for free with that coupon!  But I still didn't have enough so I needed to choose another product.  I happened to have a CVS coupon for $2 off any eyeliner, eye shadow, or mascara, so I looked at their options and picked up the least expensive eyeliner that was available, which was $6.49.

With the sales and coupons used, I was able to make my subtotal negative, so it helped chip away at some of the tax.  That's also why I love CVS because they allow overages!  I did use up all my previously earned ExtraBucks, but I also got $16 back.  With the random $3 they emailed to me today, I now have $19 for my next trip to do it all over again!  This is definitely something that is worth learning and mastering.  I've been posting some of my purchases on Instagram and getting some others interested, so I'm hoping this LONG blog post provided some clarification.

Mom, I take it back.  I love couponing!