Super Deal of the Week!

We've been shamefully neglecting this blog of late. Life has a way of sneaking up on one and, before you know it, a week has passed, then two.

This deal was definitely worth the wait, though. We headed for CVS with $11.49 in ECBs and a fistful of coupons. We have been going toward the end of the sale and they're out of most items on our list. So we thought the second day would be good. Wrong! The BumbleBee tuna was cleaned out and people were standing in line for rain checks. It looked like Saturday night in our normally sleepy little store. So we trekked up to the big city, making sure we had a plan B on which to fall back.

Ever have one of those days when God just blesses your socks off? When we got to CVS #2, we beelined for the BumbleBee. There were exactly 13 cans left - we wanted 10 - 3 of which had been decorticated... labels torn off. We gleefully tossed the tuna into the cart and made our way back to the SoftSoap, where we found big empty spaces above the 88¢ signs. Not a huge deal, but now we'd have to sub 2 rolls of CVS paper towels, for which we had no coupons. This was going to add $1 to our total. Still hopeful, we circled the store to complete our list, finding everything and scanning to make sure we had exactly the right items. We went back to the soap aisle to return a different variety that had scanned unacceptably and took one last look, just in case. Would you believe it? Someone had put back 2 bottles, on the wrong shelf, half hidden. YES! The right item, the right number... PTL! Go God!

OK, now are you ready for the punch line? Any guesses how much we spent for all the items pictured above? Ten cans of tuna, two Softsoaps, one Colgate MaxFresh, one Mennen Speed Stick, one EARinse, and one roll of CVS paper towels. The original total was over $22. Our OOP was exactly 2¢ plus 50¢ tax! AND we got back $11.99 in ECBs! The receipt says our total savings was $41.42.

How did we do it? It breaks down like this...
Bought:
10 cans tuna @$.49 each
2 Softsoap @ .88 each
1 Colgate MaxFresh - 2.99 - got $2 ECB
1 Mennen Speed Stick - 2.99 - got $2 ECB
1 EARinse - 7.99 - got $7.99 ECB
1 CVS paper towels - .88
Used:
Two $1/5 cans tuna
Two .50/1 Softsoap
One $1/1 Colgate MF
One $1/1 Mennen SS
One $5/$15 CVS purchase
One $6 ECB
One $5.49 ECB


So, have you been wheeling and dealing and super-saving? Hop over to Fiddledeedee's blog and link up your super deal of the week.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda

Another lesson learned tonight. We had planned on going to CVS tomorrow, but Little Lord Parsimony needs the car all day. So we gathered all the coupons and ECBs we needed and headed out with a plan. Memo to us: never go on Friday night. Our quiet, sleepy little store was jumpin'! People kept getting in line behind us with one or two items, so we kept letting them go ahead. Finally, we took our turn. Transaction ONE (of 3 planned) was fast and flawless. Transaction TWO was interrupted by a worried heir-to-the-throne who had been waiting far too long in the royal carriage. About the same time, the cashier informed us we needed a filler. We had the heir grab a candy bar, but Lady Cashier had forgotten to factor in the $1.50 coupon, so we needed more. The people behind were getting antsy. All this was simultaneous and our brain short-circuited. We put the paper towels on the counter and ended up with a $4.04 total, including tax. We stewed all the way home over the extra $2-3 we had just spent. Had we taken a minute to think, we could have grabbed 2 candy bars as filler, then used one of the ECBs from deal 2 to pay for the paper towels. We'd have bought more and spent less. >:\

We've decided the biggest lesson tonight is, 'forgive yourself '. We fumbled a deal. Move on. There will be another. Two months ago, we wouldn't have cared about such a small amount. Now we know just how much we can do with a few farthings. :-]

All in all, it was still a good trip. We went in with $11 in ECBs and came out with $11.49 (ECBs), a $4 off $20 purchase and a $3 off any Glade Fragrance collection Q. We can live with that.

God bless your budget!
Have a JESUS-filled day! ^i^

Organic soup coupon

Get $1 off any 2 Imagine Soups or Broths... print here.