My Best Deal Yet--97% Savings!!!

Today at CVS I spent $.95 (yes, that's ninety-five cents!), and saved $32.96!  Not to mention the $2 Extra Bucks I have for next time, plus a $5 off a $15 purchase coupon that I may be able to use to my advantage before it expires on Friday.

Today I had the blessing of the company of my mom and two of my sisters--Amy from Arizona and Mary from Ohio! :)  Amy wanted to go to Walgreens anyway, so we started out there.  Mom even had some coupons to try out the Walgreens thang. :)  Before I tell you about my CVS deal, here's what I did at Walgreens today:

I spent $2.37 and saved $10.50 on these items.  I was getting low on face powder and Cover Girl had their products at Buy One Get One 50% off.  They were $6 each or, with the sale, $9 for both.  Plus I had a $1/1 coupon for each one and my $5 Register Reward from yesterday, so I paid $1 per item.  The only problem was that, since I had 3 coupons, I needed to have at least 3 items in my order--thus the spearmint leaves, which were on sale for $.39.

Now, here's the CVS deal for today:

$33.95 worth of merchandise for $.95!

The olives are normally $2.50.  Awhile back they were on sale for $1 but I had to get a raincheck by the time I made it to the store.  I used that today, along with two $1/2 coupons, making them 50 cents each.  The Gillette deodorants were $3.99, with a $1 Extra Buck reward each, and the body washes were $3 each.  I used two "Buy 1 Gillette deodorant, get 1 body wash free" coupons, plus a $2 off deodorant coupon.  The hairspray was on sale for $2.97 and I used a $2 off coupon.  All those coupons with my $8 Extra Bucks from last week brought my total to $.95 plus tax!

Clip coupons!   Clip coupons!  Clip coupons!  Clip coupons!  Clip coupons!  Clip coupons!  Clip Coupons!

All This--For Less Than the Price of a Razor!! :)

See the razor on the far left side of this photo?  It's a Gillette Fusion ProGlide I bought for my hubby.  The sale price is $9.89. Guess what?  I bought everything in this photo for LESS than the sale price of that razor, AND walked away with $5 to spend next time, plus another $7.50 in various Catalina coupons I wasn't expecting.  Not bad!

Now, two things went wrong from the get-go, which lessened my savings and my fun, but I made a choice to try not to let them get me down (for very long) and did just fine!  First of all, my sister from Arizona, Amy, who got me into all this money-saving stuff in the first place, and is visiting this week, was maybe going to accompany me today for some money-saving merriment, but that didn't work out after all.  It's always fun to have someone else to banter with, jokingly insulting each other about how "cool" you look with your coupon binder open in the cart.  Oh, well!  Wasn't meant to be.  I'm used to going to Walgreens alone . . . even my own loyal husband and son prefer to do almost anything other than endure a lengthy trip to Walgreens!

So, with a smile and hugs and kisses all around, I said goodbye to my "boys" and headed out alone, armed with a very well-planned-out list and my coupon binder.  Alas, the very first thing on my list was something they didn't have!  Can you imagine?  It was pictured in the ad, too!  Anyway, I was disappointed because, as impossible as it may sound, if I had purchased those items, I would have have received them for free, plus made a little profit.  Another strike against me!

Plan B worked out pretty well, though!  Here's how it worked.

This is Transaction #1, which is all but 2 of the items in the photo at the top of this entry.  For these items I paid $2.91 and saved $33.06, saving about 92%.

If you're not clipping coupons, you're missing out!

• Pampers baby wipes (these are useful for so many things, long after diaper days!):  2/$5.  I bought 2 and had two $2 off coupons, making them $.50 each!
• Kashi cereals:  2/$5, with a $2 Register Reward
• Dawn dish washing liquid:  $.99 with coupon from ad.  I had a $1 off coupon, making it free! (Make sure to give manufacturer coupons before ad coupons to avoid the register beeping at you and not accepting the manufacturer coupon).
• Bayer aspirin:  $.99 each.  I bought 3, and had three $1 off coupons, making them free! We don't normally use aspirin, but it was free and I'm sure someone I know can use it!
• Heath bars:  I think they were 2/$1.59. I needed them for the dessert recipe I'm making for a family gathering tonight and they made good "fillers."  (You can't have more coupons than items, so sometimes you have to get a cheap clearance item or piece of candy or something to make up the difference--still saving soooo much money!)
• Johnson&Johnson cotton swabs (500 ct.):  $1.99 with coupon in ad.  I had a $1 off coupon, making it $.99.
• Canned fruit:  $.79 each, with coupon from ad.

Besides the coupons mentioned above, I had $8 Register Rewards from 2 weeks ago, so this transaction came to a total of $2.91, plus tax.   I received the $2 RR from the Kashi cereal to use toward my next transaction.

This is Transaction #2.  I spent $5.88 and saved $7.10, saving about 55%

• Fusion ProGlide razor:  on sale for $9.89, with a $5 Register Reward.  I had a $4 off coupon.  If you include the RR in the price, it's like getting it for $.89!  But I paid, out of pocket, $5.88 and will use the $5 RR next time.
• The scissors were $1.99, but I had the $2 RR from Transaction #1, so I got them for free.  I bought them to replaced the huge honkin' pair of scissors I've had in my coupon binder.  Ha ha--speaking of scissors--ask my sister Amy what happens when you pack your coupon binder, complete with a pair of scissors you forgot were in there, in your carry-on bag and go through security. lol :)

Anyway, to sum it up, I got $48.95 worth of merchandise for $8.79, a total savings of 82%.  Plus I have my $5 RR and $7.50 in other Catalina coupons for next time.

And I'll see Amy tonight, when I can rub it in a little! lol :)  Just kidding--she wouldn't have wanted to pack up all that loot to get it back to AZ anyway. :)