My CVS Shopping Trip Today and a Simple Lesson in Rolling Transactions

Today, I got fussed at for running out of dishwasher detergent tabs. I heard all about it from my husband over lunch today about how did this happen? and didn't I coupon a small stock pile of stuff like this??!! So, I sighed and studied the CVS circular for the week and squeezed a very small run in between errands and a play date. And, I was thrilled to get some great stuff and only spent $2.28 out of pocket.

First, I looked at the circular and pulled my coupons and EB's (Extra Bucks, remember?) out of my Bargain Binder. 
As soon as I walked into CVS, I went straight to the coupon kiosk and scanned my Extra Care Card. Voila! I got a coupon for 50 cents off one bar of Dove chocolate!

On the first transaction, I worked the deal that CVS has this week for "FREE after EB" Dove and Hershey Brand chocolates.
I bought:    1 Gingerbread Peeps (clearance candy!)  reg. .75       for   .19
                 1 Dove Dark Chocolate Bar, reg 1.32                        for   .89
                 1 Hershey's Milk Chocolate Drops Candy, reg. 2.12  for 1.59
                                                                                  
                                     TOTAL:  $2.67  pre- tax, pre- coupons

                                     CVS Store Kiosk Coupon for Dove             -.50
                                     CVS  EB from previous weeks' transaction  -1.00
                                     CVS EB from previous weeks' transaction   -1.00

                          NEW OUT OF POCKET TOTAL:  .36 After Tax and Coupons

   PLUS! Hershey Deal EB back = 1.59

Dove Deal EB back = .89

In Transaction #1, I spent .36 out of pocket, and received  $2.48 worth of EB back!

Transaction #2, My main reason for the CVS trip:
I worked a deal where you bought $20 in participating Lysol, Airwick, Finish products and got $10 EB back.
I bought:
       Lysol Crisp Linen Disinfectant Spray (12.5 oz) reg. 5.49           for    4.00
       Finish 20 ct Power Tabs for Dishwasher reg 5.99                      for    3.00
       Finish 20 ct Power Tabs for Dishwasher  reg 5.99                     for    3.00
       Airwick Freshmatic Refil (.8oz)               reg. 6.29                    for     5.00
       Airwick Freshmatic Refil (.8oz)               reg 6.29                     for     5.00
 
                                                TOTAL:        $20 pre-tax, pre-coupons
                     Manufacturer's BOGO Airwick Coupon               -5.00
                     Manufacturer's LYSOL coupon                           -1.00
                     CVS EB from previous weeks'                             -1.00
                     CVS EB from previous week's Excedrin deal       -10.00
                     CVS EB from Transaction #1                               -1.59
                     CVS EB from Transaction #1                               - .89

                                                        SUB TOTAL WAS .52!
                                                         After Tax Total = 1.92

                                            AND I earned another $10 in EB!

I spent a total of $2.28 out of pocket. AND I came back with another $10 in EB bucks to use on my next trip!

Now, before you say "that's not an entirely fair deals post because you had EB going into the transactions". That's true. I did bring $13 in EB with me along with my coupons. But, you could, too! Even adding the $13 back in, the total out of pocket would have been $15.28 with $10 EB back to use next time.  IF you pay attention to the circulars, you can work your own EB and rewards deals and have shopping trips like this one, or better, all the time.

Did you notice how by using a 50c CVS coupon from the kiosk I was able to make buying that Dove bar a money maker deal? It was free after EB back offer. The EB back were for the original cost of the Dove bar, not the cost post-coupon. Since I had a 50 c coupon, and I got 89c EB back, it was like I made 50 c to buy that bar of candy! I decided to do the candy deal because I was going to spend that money, more actually, anyway. This way, I still had the same out of pocket expense (well, 50 c LESS out of pocket expense) but came home with more items!   AND, by doing that smaller EB deal on the candy in a transaction first, I was able to roll the transactions into eachother to optimize the deals and spend the least out of pocket.


This was a good trip because I needed the dishwasher tabs and got soo much more along with them. And, no, I dont have a need for the Airwick refills. But buying them helped me get a lower over all cost on everything because it let me get the $10 EB back deal the cheapest way possible since I had a BOGO coupon for them. I will be putting those refills up on EBay soon for even more "bang" for my out of pocket buck on this trip!


*When you see a deal such as the Airwick, Lysol, Finish tabs deal and it says spend $20, get $10 EB back, in the case of CVS stores, they consider the full current price of the item to get you to the $20 cost. This is the PRE-COUPON cost. As in, since the Airwick refills were on sale for $5 each, and I had a BOGO coupon, I got credit for buying $10 worth, even though my coupon dropped what I would actually pay by $5. This is an excellent thing when you have lots of good coupons and EB to use towards a given deal! That way you can roll your EBs into more EBs... your out of pocket stays way way low, while you get more and more products cheaply or even free!


In this shopping trip, considering the final out of pocket expense of $2.28 and the $10 in EB I received, it was almost like I got PAID $7.72 to walk out of the store with 3 candy items, 2 Finish tabs boxes, 2 Airwick Freshmatic Refills, and 1 full-sized Lysol disinfecting spray.


Now if only I had remembered to buy baby wipes. ;)


**My receipts claim I saved More than $30.