Drop back and punt

Even though the last CVS trip didn't work out as planned, We're going to try one more round today, final day of this sale.

Here, in a nutshell, is our strategy...
BUY
four Glade products for $12
one Alteril - 1.99
one Listerine - 3.99
one Russell Stover chocolates - 4.99
two VO5 shampoos @ .77 - 1.54
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
subtotal $24.51

USE
$5 off $20 SQ
$3/2 Glade Q
3.50 Glade Q
.50 Glade Q
1.00 Listerine Q
1.00 Russell Stover Q
.55/2 VO5 Q
10.00 ECB
- - - - - - - - - -
total OOP -$0.04 (We'll have to find a small filler)
get back ECB's - 4.00, 3.00, 1.00, 1.99
not spectacular, but not too bad
Now let's just hope they're not out of Glade 8-}
* * * * * * * * * * *
Update: It was smooth sailing! Nothing was (completely) out of stock, the cashier had no problems or questions re our coupons, the register didn't beep at us... 8-]
They were out of the specific Glade items we wanted, but still had candles. We found a bundle of tootsie roll pops for 50¢, making our total OOP 46¢ plus tax.

Be the early bird!

Live and learn! We finally came up with the perfect game plan for CVS this week, but by the time we finally got there, they were cleaned out. Bummer drag! We actually went to three stores and every one had empty spaces where the Thermacare Heatwraps had been. And it was slim pickin's in the Glade section. Ya snooze, ya loose!

Here, for the sake of reminding me that procrastination costs, was our plan:
We had a $5 off $15 Q from the price scanner, one 10.00 ECB and a 1.00 ECB
BUY
four Glade products for $12
one Thermacare - 2.49
one Alteril - 1.99
one Listerine - 3.99
four VO5 shampoos @ .77 - 3.08
one travel-size item - .50
subtotal ------------- $24.05
USE
$5 off $15 CRT
$1 Thermacare Q
$1 Listerine Q
$3.00 Glade Q
$3.50 Glade Q
$.55 VO5 Q
10.00 ECB
-------------
$0.00 OOP!
well, plus any tax involved
We would have gotten back
4.00 ECB
3.00 ECB
1.99 ECB
2.49 ECB
and still have the 1.00 ECB we came in with
1.48 ECB profit

There would have been 2 more transactions which, for the sake of brevity, we'll just bottom line here.
#2 - using Q's and 4.00 & 2.49 ECB's from #1, total OOP - $.32 (plus applicable tax)
- get back 2.49 & 5.00 ECB
#3 - using Q's and 1.99 ECB from #1, total OOP - $0.00 (plus tax, if any)
- get back 2.49 Q
bottom line - started with 6.00 in ECB's - would have ended with 13.98
(maybe this will be a helpful example for someone else wotking on a game plan)

Since the $5 off $15 was only good for 3 days, we scrambled for an on the spot Plan B. We had to improvise a few times at the register, as some items weren't ringing up right. Here's how it finally worked out:
First, we got a rain check for the Thermacare, which was too good a deal to let go.
BOUGHT:
two Revlon lipsticks @ $6.99 (had two $2 Q's)
- these rang up at next week's price ($8.99/BOGO), so we could only use one Q
four VO5 shampoos @ .77 = 3.08
two Reese's PB cups @ .89 ...
- these also came up at next week's price, BIGI half price = 1.33
By now, the cashier was as frustrated as we, coz next week's prices were bringing us up short of the $15
We finally grabbed a couple fillers and the grand total, after Q's and ECB's, and including tax, was $1.62
We got back a 10.00 and a 1.00 (for a 4th green tag use) ECB

Gaining ground at the grocery

We think we're getting the hang of this Publix/coupon thing! The other night, we just wanted to grab a few things before the sale ended. Being aware of the 'crackkdown' on coupon usage, we made sure we had a least as many items as Q's. To this end, we grabbed 2 Aunt Jemima products that were BOGO. It kinda went against the grain to not have printed out two $1 Q's for them this time, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. The cashier questioned the $5 Kodak camera Q (one-use cameras were BOGO), but the cashier next door said they were fine. In the end, we got $48.90 worth of groceries for $1.23 (including tax!) So we celebrated by grabbing some hamburger buns and a Mrs. Smith's blueberry pie that we didn't even have coupons for. Turns out, the pie was on sale, though. 8-}
Totals for that trip: $47.67 saved; $7.01 spent.

Thought to think: Had we used Q's for the Aunt Jemima, Publix would have owed us 77¢. Had we not bought them at all, they would have owed us $1.46! In Florida, as far as we've been able to determine, that's an extremely rare occurrence. And we think it would not have worked here, coz we would have had two more Q's than items. Maybe if we grabbed a couple Publix gift cards and made sure they got rung up first...

Shopping for fun and profit

We started this blog to keep track of our savings. It seems the easiest way for someone of our scatter-brained personality type. (*;*) If someone else happens to be inspired to coupon or learns something helpful, well that's just gravy.

Tonight, we just had to post about our first big Walgreens deal. We know this is small potatoes to most Wags vets, but it was quite exhilarating for us.

We started out with a list and one $3 RR (Register Reward). We had a plan to do two transactions. For the first transaction, we bought:
1 Stayfree 16-pk Ultra Thin Pads - $1.99
1 Conair hairbrush -$2
1Neutrogena Men's Skin Care - $4.99
1 Just For Men Touch of Grey - $6.99
1 - Renu .. Solution, twin pack - $9.99

The total, before tax, was $25.96. This kicked out a $5 RR (offered for purchase of $25 or more). Then we handed over our coupons. $1/Stayfree, $2/Neutrogena, $2/Touch of Grey, and $2/Renu. Oh, and our $3 RR, which brought the (sub)total to $15.96. Hang on, it gets better. Now the register kicked out a $2 RR for the Stayfree, a $2 RR for the brush, a $5 RR for the Neutrogena, a $7 RR for the Touch of Grey, and a $10 RR for the Renu. At this point, we're $15.96 OOP (out of pocket), BUT we have $31 in RR's to use on other Walgreens purchases.




Next, we bought:
2 Olay body washes - $4.79 each
2 Olay body lotions - $9.99 each
Total (before tax) - $29.53
Another $5 RR ($25 purchase) pops out

We used two Buy any body wash, get body lotion free coupons. The key word there is ANY. We opted, of course, for the least expensive. Now the (sub)total is $9.58. We handed over a $7 and a $2 RR and paid OOP, $2.65.


OK, so now we have a rebate form for the Touch of Grey. That'll give us back $6.99. And there's an Olay body lotion rebate that may or may not be accepted since we didn't actually PAY for the lotions. If acceptable, that'll be another $19.98 back. If you're still following, this'll knock your socks off. Factoring in our OOP, the RR's we got back and the rebates, we'll be realizing a $33.54 profit! ($13.56 if the Olay is ineligible). Not too shabby, either way, eh? Even if we threw everything we just bought in the trash, we'd be ahead.

We can hardly wait for the next sale at Walgreens. What a rush! 8-} But now the adrenaline is wearing off and there'll be a free BOB (Breakfast on a Bun) with our name on it at WhataBurger in the morning. Tomorrow, we'll try to catch up on some Publix savings. Sleep sweet, y'all!

Get out there and SAVE!

Greetings!

Introducing the Duchess of Discount,

attended by the Duke of Deals