CVS Purchase and Shopping Strategy

I don't usually go over my individual purposes, but I wanted to show you an example of my couponing and shopping strategy.

Each week I go to Southern Savers to make out shopping lists for three stores:  Publix, Walgreens, and CVS.  Another good site is The Krazy Coupon Lady.  Here I can print lists that include the coupon matchups to go with each item.

Then I sit down for about 20-30 minutes to clip the coupons I need.  Then I paperclip each stack of coupons to the corresponding list.  I keep the lists in my car, so I can run by the store at my convenience.

Today I stopped at CVS on my way home from dropping DD off at school.  You must have a CVS card to take advantage of their sales.  You can sign up online or in the stores.

When I entered the store I went to the coupon machine and scanned my card.  It printed out three coupons, one which matched some of the items I was purchasing today.  That meant I had both a manufacturers coupon and a store coupon for those items.  Yay, extra savings.

Then I shopped for the items on my list.  All of them were marked down and I had coupons for them.  Here is what I ended up with:

I spent $13.38 for these items, plus I received $11.00 in Extra Bucks coupons, which means I actually spent $2.38 for these products.  Remember that even if an item isn't something that you may use, you can be sure that the local shelter will be happy to have it.

Happy couponing!

God bless,
Pam

Coupon Shopping At Walgreens

This post should be titled:  "I Love Walgreens", but I do need to show some restraint.  Living in Florida it is hard to equal the savings seen on Extreme Couponing because our stores do not double coupons.  The one exception are the savings available at Walgreens each week.

Walgreens does not double coupons, but they do have such great sales in conjunction with coupon releases and Register Rewards that I am frequently able to get products for free.

Some of these sales are not always listed in their ads so it is important to go to sites such as True Couponing or Southern Savers to find the hidden deals.  Also read the ad carefully, because these coupon sites do not always catch all of the deals available.  Once you've compared the two make your list and start cutting coupons.

I make sure I count how many products I will be buying compared to the number of coupons I will use for my purchase.  If I have more coupons than products I will need to buy filler items.  There are usually candy sticks and other items for 25 cents near the register.  Just make sure the number of items and coupons matches.

So how does it work out:  Today I bought 4 Oral B toothbrushes, 1 Starburst, 1 six pack paper towels, 1 24 pack drinking water, 1 2L Pepsi, and 4 Ajax cleansers for 82 cents.  The toothbrushes and cleanser were free.  I wouldn't have paid anything if I hadn't have gotten the Starburst for dear daughter.

The Bottom Line

This is why I love Walgreens and these types of savings are available every week on a few items.  By stocking up when things are on sale, I never have to run to the store to pay full price.  I just shop from my home storage supply.


God  bless,
Pam

Shopping With Competitor Coupons

Coupon policies are nebulous, ever changing things, so it is important to keep up to date on your favorite stores' policies.  One policy that has changed recently at Publix is which competitor coupons they will accept.

Publix used to accept grocery store and drug store competitor coupons, but now they only accept coupons from grocery stores.  On top of that, each Publix decides which grocery store coupons they will accept. It is important to check with the store where you shop to get a copy of their policy.  Below is the policy given to me by the Belleair Bluffs Publix.

As you can see, I can use Albertsons, Save-A-Lot, Target and Winn Dixie coupons at my Publix.  This allows me to do more coupon stacking (combining manufacturer and store coupons on same product)  than if I could only use Publix store coupons.

An example is this Winn Dixie coupon that was in the paper recently:

Publix will accept this coupon for my next grocery purchase.

Every little bit helps when it comes to keeping the grocery bill down and combining competitor coupons with your manufacturer coupons is one way to save more.

God bless,
Pam

Couponing Mishaps

A Beautiful Sight

When you start couponing progress is slow and after some critical mistakes you may be tempted to give up.  Trust me when I tell you that it will become easier, your savings will grow in amount, and it will begin to take up less of your time.  I will not tell you that you will stop making mistakes or having mishaps when out shopping with coupons.

Even though I am now saving 40-50% on my grocery and drug store bills, there are still days when I want to bang my head on the table because of a mistake I or a cashier have made.  But we are all here to learn, so here goes:

I try to shop during the slower hours, first thing in the morning at the start of the sale cycle for that store.  That means Sunday for Walgreens and (in my area) Thursday for Publix.  By shopping early the store is usually not sold out of items, plus there are fewer people for me to annoy with my coupons.  Why my shopping with coupons should bother others is beyond me as it only adds a few minutes to my checkout time.  I guess minutes count to some people, but I always though that was just surgeons and fire fighters.

Anywho...when I finish getting my items I check for a line with few to no people in line, thinking that I can get through quickly and, thus, irritate fewer people.  Now I have got to tell you that I can get to a cashier in a deserted store and, miraculously, ten people (where did they come from?) will appear behind me.

Some days the people waiting for me to check out are good natured, interested and, basically, happy to see someone saving some money.  But, every once in a while, I get a "sigher".  You know, the kind that looks at their watch, shuffles their feet and sighs deeply.  So, I just try to concentrate on what the cashier and I are trying to accomplish, which is to check me out with as few problems as possible.  It's not like I am buying a hundred of something, it's just my groceries with a few stock up items thrown in.

If you watch Extreme Couponing you have seen the EC's unblinkingly staring at the register screen.  There is a good reason for this; people and computers make mistakes and sometimes they are big ones.  You must watch the screen to ensure that your items are scanned for the sale price, bogos are registering correctly and that your coupons are being read.  Just recently I was distracted by someone in the store and didn't catch that the cashier had scanned an item twice.  That's $3 out of my pocket and nothing to show for it.  It's hard to prove that this has happened once you've left the store.

Most stores have a policy that you can only use as many coupons as you have items.  This means that if you are using two coupons (manufacturers and stores) for one item you must pick up an inexpensive filler item.  I usually need four or five filler items when shopping at Walgreens.  Conveniently, they have a display of 25 cent candy sticks by the register.  Dear daughter likes candy sticks so it is a win, win situation.

I will certainly share more tips in the future as I learn more about using coupons effectively.  With coupon policies changing so rapidly, it should keep me on my frugal toes.

God bless,
Pam

Buying ALL The Product: Gluttony?

I can see that my Wednesday viewing of Extreme Couponing is going to provide plenty of fodder for this blog on Thursdays.

Last night I watched this weeks Extreme Couponers taking every bit of product off of the stores shelves, leaving no deals for other shoppers. One woman even upended a display to dump all of the contents into her cart!

There has been a lot of discussion on coupon shopping sites about this type of behavior. Not only does it prevent other shoppers from benefiting from a deal, but stores are responding by limiting the number of products customers can buy. One man said that his grocery store is only allowing the purchase of two items if they are being purchased on sale and with coupons. Why ruin it for others by being greedy?

When I see two women buying over fifty bottles of over the counter medicine I know it's not from need. It's just good, old fashioned, biblical gluttony.

God bless,
Pam

Are Large Sized Products Cheaper?

On Extreme Couponing last night one of the shoppers pointed out that in many instances it is cheaper to buy the smaller sizes of products rather than the larger. He was talking about a toothpaste purchase where the small size was only 2 ounces less than the large, but was over 50% less in cost.

Just a few years ago large sizes were usually less expensive per ounce, but manufacturers became aware that consumers were shopping for larger sizes to save money. So, in a bid to make more profit they began to charge more per ounce for their larger sizes, knowing that shoppers were conditioned to buy large.

Be sure to compare the per ounce cost when shopping. And please, don't emulate the man on Extreme Couponing and buy over a thousand tubes of toothpaste! Even if they're free!!

God bless,
Pam

Do Extreme Couponers Eat Fresh Food?

One of the things that struck me last night while watching Extreme Couponing was that these families are eating an awful lot of processed food. I did see some dairy hitting the cart, but the rest was processed cereals and faux vegetables.

I certainly use coupons when shopping, but I try to feed my family the freshest foods possible. That's why I like to can fresh fruits and vegetables for storage rather than manufactured foods.

Also, I didn't see flour, baking powder and yeast being stored; just packaged baking mixes. But before I get on my soapbox, I do have to recognize that the view we saw of these families is the view the show's producers want us to see.

As a frugal homemaker I need to save money when I shop (or not shop), but not at the expense of my family's health. I am the CFO of the family, always monitoring our financial and actual well being.

I did like the one woman's monthly menu planning. She was an example that sales and available coupons should guide our menus, not just what we are craving to eat. I am looking forward to watching this show to learn new tips and what behaviors to avoid.

God bless,
Pam