Saving Money

I have been wanting to post this for a while now and life just gets away sometimes, but I have to share this great info with all of you so you can take advantage of it, too! The past couple of months, for many reasons, I have been looking for ways to become more frugal than ever. Whether it was just staying home, planning my errands strategically to not make too many unnecessary trips or just not buying things. In the midst of all of that, I wanted to make better use of coupons to save more money at the grocery store. Being the intense bargain hunter that I am, this became the hunt to end all hunts! In my searching, I came across a website (I am also adding it to my links on the side) about getting the best deals at places like CVS and Walgreens, but with people sharing ideas about stores all over the US. So, here is how it has worked for me. The first time I went to CVS, I didn't really know what I was doing, so I could have probably done it better, but it is working in the long run, so it's OK. I went to the store with the flyer in hand of all their deals for the week along with all the coupons that I had on any deals going. I did not buy anything that I would not normally buy - shampoo, hairspray, gel, body wash, etc. 19 items total. If I had bought them regular price it would have been about 65 dollars in product. With their sales and my coupons, I spent $35. BUT, the best deal is that I also got CVS Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) worth $25 for my next trip. This is where is gets good. The next week, I went back and got:

2 packs of feminine product - on sale 2/10 and a 2.00 coupon
1 Bic Soleil razor - 5.99 and a 2.00 coupon
2 Altoids (for Mark) 2/2
3 loofah sponges 1.99 each
2 tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste 2/2.59
1 Bic Soleil razor refills 5.99 and a 2.00 coupon
1 Johnsons Easy grip soap .99 and a 1.00 coupon

After all of my coupons and using my ECB's from last week, I got all of the above and spent $3.59 out of pocket AND, I got 30 more dollars in ECB's for this week! I can't wait to go back! Now, some people have said, what is the catch? Well, I have invested a lot of time into researching how to get the best deals, where to find coupons, printing coupons from home, and putting it all together. The ECB's don't expire for about a month, so you have time to use them and there is nothing special about what you can or can't use them on. If you go to the site above, she has links like "CVS 101" to help you learn how to get the best deals. By keeping up with her site, I have also found out about great deals at Walmart, Target, Walgreens, etc. I have gotten cans of Organic tomatoes for .16 a can and cereal for .25 a box! I think I may be addicted to saving money! =D I pray that this will bless your family in some way and that you find ways to put the money that you have to the best use and be good stewards of all that God has blessed us with! If you have any great deals come your way, please share them with me! I can't wait to hear how you do!