Honing My Skills

Yesterday was a CVS day. I had a pretty good day and I definitely feel like I made a killing!  I saved 65%, paying $19 on a $55 purchase. The best part is not only did I pay just $19 but I also earned $5 in Extra Care Bucks for next week's purchase. Here is my haul:

To put this in perspective, Febreze Fabric Refresher is normally about $6.40 a bottle. So you could look at it like I paid for the Febreze and got everything else for free. In reality, the Febreze was on sale and then I had a Buy 1, Get 1 Free coupon. Love those! And I really do go through a lot of Febreze at this time as the home we are renting is a bit... musty would be a nice way to put it. The candy bar in the picture? Free! The CVS magic machine spit out that free candy bar coupon when I scanned my card upon entering the store. Oh, how I love freebies! Happy savings friends!

Weekend Wrap Up

It is definitely summer here in Kentucky. Or so I am told. It is true, it is HOT here. There are also massive thunderstorms! There were thunderstorms everyday last week as well as a tornado in Louisville. Luckily, Louisville is a couple of hours away. But scary!

This was what my weather looked like all last week. Summery right?

By the weekend, the weather cleared up. Saturday was overcast but the temperature was around 80 degrees and it didn't rain a drop. Perfect since it was our nephew Brock's first birthday! We headed out to Grayson (about a 25 minute drive from Ashland) to celebrate at Jerame's sister's house. It was a wonderful party, the birthday boy was well behaved and  really didn't even make that much of a mess with his cake! Just for comparison I have posted a pic from our other nephew Gavin's first birthday as well as one of Brock.

Gavin's 1st Birthday (a tad bit messy!)

Mr Brock and his cake

A couple more pics of the rest of us enjoying the party, sans rubbing cake all over our faces :)

Jerame's Aunt Martha, his sister Jessica, our nephew Brock, Jerame's mother Joyce, and I

Joyce, Martha, and I

I love this adorable picture of the 2 of them :)

Jessica's husband Wayne and their daughter Megan

It may not look like it, but he really did enjoy his new toys!

On Sunday, couponing continued! Jerame picked me up 3 Ashland papers, a Huntington paper, and a Lexington paper. I usually don't do any shopping on Sunday's except for CVS. I was given a tip by a cashier at my CVS who told me there are a couple of "extreme couponers" in Ashland that clear out the shelves on Monday's. Although my CVS was out of the men's body wash I needed for a deal and I had to get a raincheck for it, I still managed to get a lot for the $5 I spent.

CVS Haul 6/26/11

All in all, a great summer weekend here in Kentucky!

Robbing the Store

I just have to share my experience at CVS this week. It's been a couple of weeks that I have been couponing and I had yet to score my first big deal. I was determined that today (being last Sunday) would be the day! On Sunday, armed with my 2 newspapers, I carefully planned out a small list of things to get at CVS. My small list included Jerame's deodorant, toothpaste, AA batteries, granola bars, and some Reese's mini's. I know, I know, candy right? The fact of the matter is that I buy candy. It is going to happen and there is no way around it. I might as well admit this fact to myself and buy it cheaply when I can. Anyways, hard to believe this small list totaled almost $50!

I was feeling the pressure as Jerame had decided to accompany me on this trip. He wanted to see what my new hobby was doing for us. I could tell he was super annoyed as we walked around the store and I put things in our basket that in his mind "We don't need". And by the time we were at the cashier and she had rung everything up and the register said "$46.51" I thought Jerame was going to have a heart attack. I handed the cashier my CVS rewards card and the register went down to about $23.80 because everything I had bought was "Buy 1, Get 1 Free". I forked over my coupons : $1 off granola bars, $0.75 off toothpaste, $1 off batteries, and $6 in ECB's from CVS. When the cash register finally settled on $15.05, I was so proud! I looked over at my husband and he had the biggest, goofiest grin on his face. As we were leaving the store he said, "WOW! You just robbed them!" He later admitted that my hard work was paying off (music to my ears!).

While I may not have robbed them, I was so close to my savings goal! When I started out doing this, I was looking to save between 40-70%. Well, this trip was savings of 68%! Pretty good for someone just starting out in the field! Now you may never see me on Extreme Couponing but then again, you never know :)

A New Hobby? Yes, Please!

Over the past couple weeks, I have been researching the topic of couponing. I have become fascinated with the TLC show "Extreme Couponing" as I am sure countless others are. Now, I do NOT watch the show and think "Wow, I want to be like them." No, I will not be spending 60 hours a week scouring the Internet for deals, dumpster diving for coupons, or building a nuclear fallout shelter in my basement. Upon googling "extreme couponing" one of the very first websites I came across was all about "realistic couponing". Realistic couponing is more about using coupons on sale items to save 40-70% on your grocery bill. This sounded a lot more like me so I set out to go forth and save.

I wish I could say that I saved 70% my first trip. HA! I didn't do bad my first trip, saving about 27% at Kroger on groceries. My first trip was more about the learning experience and I have a lot to learn! Kroger has a savings card where you can go online and load digital coupons to your savings card to use in the store. The nice part is that all you have to do is swipe your card to use your coupons which eliminates/significantly decreases the need to carry a packet of coupons around. The downside is that you can't use digital coupons and manufacturer coupons together. Also, Kroger does not double their digital coupons but they will double the paper ones you bring into the store (under $0.50). 

One of the biggest couponing lessons I have learned (at least for me!) is to stick to my list! I have been making a list of what I am going buy and for what price and now have approximate totals on my lists. This week I was so close to my estimated total but still off $5. I know, I know, it's $5 but I have to admit I was disappointed when my total didn't add up. This lesson also came into play at CVS this week. CVS also has a savings card but with theirs you can scan your card as soon as you walk in the door and get free coupons! After getting my free coupons this week I saw I received one for $3 off a $10 makeup purchase. Of course I used this coupon and consequently added more money to my purchase since my makeup totaled slightly more than $10. Sigh. But, I'm learning!

As with all new hobbies, I am having fun figuring this out. I have since signed up for the Sunday paper, as well as a subscription to All You which is a popular magazine chock full of coupons. I have signed up for several email services for tips and popular deals for the week. I think Jerame is happy I have taken up a productive hobby as well as one that will help the house! As for me, it is time to head down to the post office to see if I got any new coupons in the mail... JOKING friends!