Frugal Finds: Week of 05/30/10

Scored Big time this week at Target!

Started with a $5 gift card I received a couple of months back and a $9.99 Rebate Visa Card that I had received from CVS (didn't have 9.99 left, but still had some money on it)

Transaction #1:

Purchased:

10 Sobe Waters (10 for $10)

Minus:

$2.00 (4x.50 coupons from Target.com)
$1.00 (Buy 5 get 1 free coupon)
$5.00 Gift Card

Total due: $2.00 plus tax (paid with a rebate gift card so $0 OOP!!)

Received $5 Gift Card back!!

Transaction #2:
Purchased:

1 Scrubbing Bubbles Cleaner - $8.69
10 WW Dinners - 17.90 ($1.79 each)

Total: $26.59

Minus:

$3.00 Scrubbing Bubbles Target coupon
$5.00 Scrubbing Bubbles IP coupon
$4.00 WW coupon
$5.00 Gift Card

Total: 17.00

$26.59-$17.00 = 9.59 (9.90 with tax)

Still had money on my Rebate Debit card, used $6.00 of that
Paid $3.90 OOP!!

Aaaand, received a $5.00 Gift card again...

So I received $36.59 worth of product for only $3.90 that day!! And I still have a $5.00 Gift card to spend!!

CVS Experiment - Update

As of 6/9/10, the following purchases have been added to my "experiment"..."

I haven't updated in a while, though I have been taking pictures of my "finds".

Here is what I added to my orignial purchases:

Trans #6:

1 Blade 5 Razor - $6.99 (will get $6.99 ECB)
1 Herbal Essence Hairspray -$2.99 (will get $2 ECB)
3 Glade room spray - $2.50 (will use SC Johnson Rebate of $5 for 3 products)

Total: $12.48

Minus:

$1.00 Herbal Essence
$10.99 ECBs

$11.99 Coupon/ECB total --> $12.48-$11.99 = .49

Received $8.99 of ECBs and another $1 for scanning my Green Tag, so I lost $1 of ECBs, but will submit the 3 Glades for the SC Johnson $5 rebate for 3 items - which will make me almost $4 of 'real money'.

OOP $1.13 - so $30.87 spent to date.

Trans #7:

2 Gillette Body wash at $4 each (Charity donation) - (will get $4 ECBs per item)
1 Dial Trial size body wash - .99

Total $8.99

Minus:

1 B1G1 Body Wash (-$4.00)
$4.99 ECBs

Coupon/ECB Total = $8.99 ---> 8.99-8.99 = 0!!

OOP - .49 (Tax) AND received $8.00 in ECBs!!

Woohoo, only 49 cents!



Trans #8:

P&G came out with their new coupons for June and CVS had some razors on ECB deals.

Rolaids was also an ECB deal, but I did not buy the right ones, soooo, I lost some ECBs, but still got a good deal on the items:

Bought:

1 Venus Embrace - $8.99 (will get $4 ECB)
1 Gillette Fusion - $9.97 (will get $5 ECB)
2 Rolaids at $3.49 each
2 Caramels at .33 each (not pictured, but needed to use my ECB total)

Total: $26.60

Minus:

$5.00 CVS coupon (off $25 purchase)
$4.00 Gillette Fusion
$2.00 Venus Embrace
$4.00 Rolaids
$11.49 ECBs

Coupon/ECB total: $26.49 ---> $26.60-$26.49 = .11!!

OOP - $1.24 (with tax)

Received $9.00 ECBs - so, lost 2.49, but still got a good price. Had I bought the right Rolaids, I would have paid $1 more, but got $4 ECBs - Oh well...live and learn to read the sign!!

OOP $1.24 - cheaper than my previous Venus Embrace deal, and I got a second razor (and Rolaids)!




Trans #9:

Found out on a blog that CVS has monthly ECB deals, that may or may not be marked on the shelf...but do not necessarily show up in the ad. So, our CVS did have it marked which saved me having to figure out what was on the 'deal'.

Bought:

3 Power Bars - .99 each (will get .99 ECB back on each one)
1 Snack - $1.00

Total: $3.97

Used a $4 ECB that they reduced to $3.97 (ECBs only cover pre-tax cost) - soo...

Total OOP = 7 cents! And I received $2.97 in ECBs!!

To date, the result of my 'experiment': $32.67 all of these items so far! I am now a true believer that although some prices may be higher at CVS, the ECBs make it worth your while to buy items there.