Monday, January 16, 2012

Shopping Trip 1/16 - CVS & Winn-Dixie

I didn't do any shopping last week since I had a busy week with other commitments.

I only did two stores this week (so far, I may do more on Saturday). I think my goal is going to be to try to stay under $10.00 a week at CVS.

CVS:

I took a survey for 10 ECBs and had 5 ECBs left over from my last trip.

Transaction No. 1:

2 packs of Huggies Goodnights: 2/$19 (- 2/$2 MFQ)
Total: $15.00
used 15 ECBs for a total OOP: $.36
received 1 ECB

Transaction No. 2:
Arm & Hammer Spinbrush: $5.99 (- $2 MFQ)
Total: $3.99
used 1 ECB from previous transaction for a total OOP: $3.53
received 2 ECBs

Transaction No. 3:
Arm & Hammer Spinbrush: $5.99 (- $2 MFQ)
Total: $3.99
used 2 ECBs from previous transaction for a total OOP: $2.53
received 2 ECBs

TOTAL OOP: $6.42 and 2 ECBs for next trip

WINN-DIXIE:

I am going to try to budget my weekly trips to Winn-Dixie at $50.00.

I didn't have any really good deals this week, but I did save:
$21.73 in rewards card purchases
$4.10 in manufacturer coupons
Earned $.20 Fuelperks.

Total spent: $46.30

Monday, January 9, 2012

Winn-Dixie Trip - 1/8/12

I did not stay within my $40.00 budget. My total with tax was $97.67.

The "good" bargains I got included Campbell's soups being on sale 10/$10 and I had several coupons totallying $1.00 so I got 11 cans of "cooking" soup for $10.

My mistakes were buying the wrong variety of a product.

I did earn $.65 in fuelperks though, so I did save me money on gas this week.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Walgreens - razor, tomato sauce, Advil & bonus candy bars

My trip to Walgreens was not that eventful, except learning that they now lock up the razors! I didn't realize that they were such a hot comodity that they needed to be under lock and key.


The trip went as planned, mostly. Apparently I miscalculated the cost for my second transaction and had to throw in some fillers.


Transaction No. 1:
Gillette Fuson Razor: $9.99 (- $5.00 MQ) = $4.99 + tax ($.86) and earn 4 RR
TOTAL: $5.86 and earned 4 RR


Transaction No. 2:
3 Hunts Tomato Sauce: in ad sale for $.39 each
Advil (24 ct): $3.00 (- $1.00 printable MQ)
TOTAL: $3.17 + tax (this is where my miscalculation came in, I don't think I took into account the $1 coupon for the Advil)


add:

2 Snickers bars: $.69 each
TOTAL: $4.55 + $.35 tax
Used 4 RR from prior transaction for $.90 OOP

Grand total OOP: $6.76

DAILY TOTAL: $9.23

The only other store I plan on shopping at this weekend is Winn-Dixie. I haven't done my homework for this one yet, but I hope to keep the total under $40.00.

New Year, New Shopping Habits

I am making a New Year's Resoluation/lifestyle change this year.

I've been couponing for a long time, but never really made it a priority. When I got good deals with very little out of pocket I was excited, but it never had much of an impact on my shopping habits.

I also decided that paying off bills is a priority this year. I'm tired of living paycheck to paycheck with little or no left over each week/month. I did manage to pay off my car last year, but there has been a lot of extras that have popped up to keep us from getting ahead. I want to get ahead!

I talked to my husband about it and told him what my plan was for this year. Of course, he is in total agreement with paying off our debt. I even told him that I was not going to be making unexpected/last minute trips to the grocery store to get anything. We were going to have to make due with what we have in the house and what I buy, which means we will have to be creative with our meals.

I will be shopping mostly at CVS, Walgreens, Target, Winn-Dixie and Dollar General. I have found that I can get a lot of grocery items at a really good price at Dollar General AND they take coupons. They also offer a $5 off $25 coupon for shopping on Saturday. I will also look at the Wal-Mart ad to see if they have anything really worth the trip, but I don't have one in close proximity to my house or work so if I don't have to spend the gas to go, I won't.

I'll post when (not if!) we pay off bills and my shopping trips (as you can see from the CVS trip posted already).

Here's to saving money!

CVS Shopping Trip

I have started my new year, new shopping habits. I'm trying to get things we need/use for as little money out of pocket as possible. I know I'm not always going to be able to, but I have decided to dedicate a few hours a week to organizing my coupons (I'm still working on the best strategy for this), looking through the sale ads and researching on the internet to find the best "bang" for my buck.


I'm going to treat my couponing like a part-time job by dedicating time in the evenings a couple days a week to do the work that needs to be done to minimize my spending.


That being said, I did my first trip to CVS this morning...


My plan was as follows:


Transaction 1:
Oral B spinbrush: $5.99 (-$3.00 coupon from P&G) = $2.99 (earn 2 ECB)
2 Dawn dish soap: $.99 each (-$.50 for Hand Renewal & -$.25 for regular) = $.49 & $.74
Eggs: $1.49
TOTAL: $5.71 + tax (approx $.50)*
use 5.99 ECB from previous purchase for approx $.22 OOP + earn 9 ECB for quarterly earnings + 2 ECB for toothbrush


Transaction 2:
Huggies Overnights: $9.49 (earn 1 ECB)
3 Hunt's Snack Pack (10/$10): $3.00 (-$.45/3 manu coupon) = 2.55
TOTAL: $12.04 + tax (approx $1.05)
use 9 ECB + 2 ECB for approx $2.09 OOP + earn 1 ECB


Transaction 3:
CVS Ibuprofen 500 ct: $9.99
TOTAL: $9.99 plus tax (approx $.88)
use 6 ECB from previous purchase + 1 ECB for approx $3.86 OOP


Of course they were totally out of the toothbrushes so I had to regroup my transactions.


Here's what I actually did:


Transaction 1:
Huggies Overnights: $9.49 (earn 1 ECB)
3 Hunt's Snack Pack (10/$10): $3.00 (-$.45/3 manu coupon) = 2.55
TOTAL: $12.04 + tax ($.94)
used 5.99 ECB + 6 ECB for $.99 OOP + earn 1 ECB and quarterly ECBs (9 ECB) + bonus 5 ECB for Beauty Club Rewards which I was not expecting.


Transaction 2:
2 Dawn dish soap: $.99 each (-$.50 for Hand Renewal & -$.25 for regular) = $.49 & $.74
CVS Ibuprofen 500 ct: $9.99
TOTAL: $11.22 + tax ($.26)
used 9 ECB + 1 ECB for $1.48 OOP


and I still have 5 ECBs for next week.


TRIP TOTAL: $2.47


Not bad in my opinion. It's all stuff we use and/or need. I plan on a trip to Walgreens later today and will post after I finish to see how I did.

*We have a weird sales tax system that taxes food items at a different rate from everything else so I'll estimate the taxes for the transactions.