Smart Shopping Sunday

Being a smart shopper isn't just about getting your groceries for cheap or free. It can be applied to pretty much anything you buy: houses, cars, clothes, crafts.... the list just goes on and on! It's so easy too. All you have to do is really be aware and conscious of what you're getting. Here's an example from just last week:

My younger sister, we'll call her "C", wanted to make a personalized gift for someone special in her life. She's really good at photography (see samples of her work here) so she new that her gift would involve that. C decided on getting a nice frame, and the workings to make her own "scrapbook" inspired card. So we were off to JoAnn's (our local craft super amazing store). Armed with me I had the JoAnn's sale flyer as well as the Michael's sale flyer since Jo will accept competitor coupons and price match exact items (good info to know)!

First stop, the frames. There were tons of them! And for two indecisive girls like us, that could cause a wee problem. So to narrow down the field we opted to head straight to the ones that were 40% off that week. Once C had her frame picked out we moved on to the card stock and doodad section. Now this, if you could have seen us, was pitiful. We stared and stared at the scrap booking stuff til I thought our eyes would bleed die cuts. Out of all the paper there, C was very wise and choose to get the most bang for her buck: she went for the stock that was on sale 4 for $1. And on pure luck I found a cute, and inexpensive, pre-made matching doodads. At regular pricing plus tax everything she got would have been about $20. But this is where being a smart shopper comes into play!

Frame - already 40% off PLUS I had a 25% off your entire frame purchase Michael's coupon
Card stock - on sale 4/$1
Doodad - I had a 50% off any regular priced item Michael's coupon
--Then had a 20% off your entire purchase Michael's coupon

C's final total - $7 and some change! So just by being aware of what we were buying and what types of coupons that were available, she was able to save 65%!

Smart Shopping Sunday

Today I plan on spending my day with my family and promised no blogging. So to honor that I am linking you to a site with the great deals for the week.

Visit the posts for CVS and Walgreens on MomsByHeart.net to see what you can get now!

Smart Shopping Sunday: Pt. 2

We're going to start off today with CVS. They are my preferred drugstore over Walgreens. I don't know why it is, but it seems locally my Walgreens have trouble understanding how coupons work. Being that I have 3 kids in tow more often than not, I don't have time for schooling employees, so CVS is just nicer for me. So here we go...

I'm going to be using typical acronyms, so if you don't know them, just read up on them here. Don't worry if you don't have these manufacturer coupons. You can order some here and here.

CVS

Nabisco Crackers (Triscuit, Wheat Thins, or Ritz)
Sale Price: 5/$10
ECB: $3 (wyb 5) (Limit 1)
Use: (5) $1/1 mfr q (1/24 SS)
Final Cost After Coupons: $5, or $1 each
Final Cost After Coupons & ECBs: $2, or $0.40 each




Gillette Fusion Razor
Sale Price: $8.99
ECB: $4 (Limit 1)
Use: (1) $4/1 mfr q (2/7 PG)
Final Cost After Coupon: $4.99
Final Cost After Coupon & ECB: $0.99

Listerine, Reach Floss, or Reach Toothbrush
Sale Price: $3.99
ECB: $2 (Limit 2)
Use: (1) BOGO mfr q (1/3 RP) and (1) $1/1 mfr q (floss, 1/3 RP; toothbrush, 10/18 RP)
Final Cost After Coupons: Varies - See transaction example below


While there are for sure more deals than this, I wanted to keep it simple so I could do an example of how I would do these deals for any beginners out there. As always, there are actually a few variables, but here's how I see things.

Deal #1
(5) Boxes of various Nabisco crackers @ $10.00
(1) Gillette Razor @ $8.99
(2) Reach Dental Flosses @ $7.98

Use these coupons:
(5) $1/1 Nabisco mfr q
(1) $4/1 Gillette mfr q
(1) BOGO free Reach mfr q
(1) $1/1 Reach mfr q

Total before coupons = $26.97
Total after coupons, Out of pocket = $12.98
ECBs earned for next transaction = $11

You can look at this 2 ways: That after ECBs and coupons your net cost for everything was just $1.98. Or you can count that $11 in ECB towards the savings of the next transaction you use them in. They are used like cash and great to have! Here's another way to do this broken into smaller transactions.

Deal #2
Transaction 1
(5) Boxes of various Nabisco crackers

Use these coupons:
(5) $1/1 Nabisco mfr q

Total before coupons = $10.00
Total after coupons, OOP = $5.00
ECB earned = $3

Transaction 2
(2) Reach flosses (or toothbrushes)

Use these coupons:
(1) BOGO free Reach mfr q
(1) $1/1 Reach mfr q
$3 ECB from Transaction 1

Total before coupons = $7.98
Total after coupons, OOP = $0.00 + tax (the $3 ECB may be adjusted down to $2.99, this is ok)
ECB earned = $4


Transaction 3
(1) Gillette Fusion Razor


Use these coupons:
$4/1 Gillette mfr q
$4 ECB earned from Transaction 2

Total before coupons = $8.99
Total after coupons = $0.99
ECBs earned = $4

So at the end of these 3 smaller transactions you end up spending just $6.00 OOP and walking away with $4 ECB for your next deal. Deal #2 is the better way to go if you want to keep your actual spending lower. But there is nothing wrong with Deal #1 either. Remember: ECBs print at the end of your CVS receipt, don't throw them away!!

Smart Shopping Sunday: Pt. 1

Did you know you can score cheap to free items weekly at your local drugstore? I know for me, I wasn't a believer. I mean, have you seen how much they mark up their prices?? AT Publix a 3 lb bag of Friskies cat food is a mere $3.99, but at CVS it's $6.99! I just couldn't see how you could get anything for a decent price, let alone free. But alas, I was wrong. And my house is now filled with all my great scores from both CVS and Walgreens.

I have been asked "But if you get such great deals at Publix, why do you bother with these extra stores?". The truth is, not everything goes on sale right when I need it at Publix. The drugstores are better for getting good deals on personal care items, at least for us. And if I can get those for cheap or free, that means that I can take them off my weekly grocery list, therefore lowering my out of pocket expense. It takes a little extra time and effort. But it's worth it to me. So each weekend I'm going to be highlighting some good deals at CVS or Walgreens, maybe both. Remember, what I post is not necessarily all the deals, so you'll want to get out your ad and look for what's good to you and your family.

Here are my quick tips for shopping at drugstores:

1. Just like at the grocery store, shop the sales and coupon match to those sales
2. Utilize their reward programs (free). For CVS that would be ECBs (or ExtraCareBucks); for Walgreens, aka Wags, that would be RRs (or Register Rewards)
3. Try to get items where the ECB or RR will be equal to or more than the actual cash you spend out of pocket to maximize your savings.

Now this does take a little more effort to learn how to do than just couponing at your local grocery store. That's mainly because of the rewards systems. But it's worth it once you do get it. So remember, start small. No need to attempt large complicated transactions to begin with. My friend Meghan and her hubby have done a great job with starting out at CVS. You can read about their trips here.