A Little Savings Here, A Little Savings There . . .

The stuff that makes couponers heart beat fast:

Monday I went to CVS.  The first thing that a veteran couponer does is go to the kiosk, scan her/his card and voila -- a coupon OR coupons!  I had a quarterly reward coupon to come out worth $2, but I also got a $4 for $20 worth of facial products.  Whoo-hoo.   I could apply a $3 coupon from the Procter Gamble circular from Sunday, and if I buy $30 more of products, I can submit for a $10 rebate on the Olay.  I have another $3 coupon from another Procter & Gamble circular (I love my non-couponing neighbors who give me their coupons!)  soooo, basically that means:
Purchase of facial products                                              $30
Kiosk Coupon                                                                   -4
Procter & Gamble Newspaper insert                                  -3
Procter & Gamble Newspaper insert                                  -3
Rebate                                                                            -10
Net pay on $30 worth of "facial product"                         $10
and to consider that this $30 is part of a $50 that I need to spend in order to get $5 credit from purchasing  $50 worth of beauty products                                        -   3
                                                                                     $   7


Yeah, it wouldn't make "Extreme Couponers," but I am thinking it's pretty dang good to get $30 worth of facial product for $7--a 77 percent savings OF STUFF THAT I WILL USE!!!

Onward to the finding the $5,291
(Please note that I only list this when I apply the coupon or cash the rebate, so some of the detailing above is not reflected below)

Last balance                                                                   5,231.00
CVS coupons and buy one/get one free 7/2                       -28.92
Walgreens savings & coupons  7/3                                     - 3.25
CVS buy one/get one free & coupons 7/3                         -14.24
                                                                                       5,124.59

Kroger -- The Ongoing Experiences

I did it!  I saved $2 a gallon on gasoline at Kroger!  See the photo for proof! Please see my blog of June 6 for details.

Earlier yesterday we went out to the new Kroger at Cedar Bluff.  "I feel like I am in Walmart," said my husband.  Our entrance had taken us to the non-food area.  

This was the last day of the grand opening specials.  It was packed, the kind of crowds you see before a predicted snowstorm.  We got a few of the specials, but I should have known better than to think that the $4.99 a pound beef tenderloin would be something we would take home.  They were frozen (that's ok) and the smallest one cost $70+.  
Interesting point on the gasoline--we thought about using our $2 off a gallon there.  We would have gotten an additional $.10 off as a part of the grand opening.  Price was $2.94 a gallon.  We ended up going later to the Kroger on Broadway near Fulton High School to get the gasoline.  Posted price was $2.84. 


I snagged a Kroger $10 gift card for $5 from Half Off Depot this morning.  However, I think they are all gone.  I can't find it on the site anymore.  A $5 certificate from Kroger means more than $5.  For example, if we use it on Wednesday, it really means $5.25 because of the senior discount.  (hmm, that doesn't sound like much.  bad example.) Update:  it might still be up Kroger $10 for $5

Today is July 1, half-way through the year.  I am going to see how long it takes me to realize $5,291, which was my first job's annual salary.

Start:           $5,291

Gas Savings       60

Balance       $5,231

Here are some good coupons  (the General Mills cereals are always good ones to have around):

55¢ off when you buy any TWO packages of DOLE® Frozen Fruit Single-serve Cups

$1.00 off any 2 Welch's Sparkling Juice Cocktails

$2.00 off two or more frozen Bacardi Mixers

$1.00 off any Banana Boat Sun Care

$0.55 off 1 Sargento Sliced Cheese

$1.00 off 3 General Mills divisional cereals

$0.50 off Newman's Own Salad Dressing

$1.00 off TWO BOXES Cheerios cereals

$1.00 off 2 General Mills adult cereals

COUPONS.COM


Baby & Toddler

New Coupons!
$5.00 off MY LITTLE SNUGABUNNY™ Seat


Foods

New Coupons!
$0.30 off 4 oz. or larger HARIBO product


Household

New Coupons!
$1.00 off Comet stainless steel cleaning item


Toys and Games

New Coupons!
$3.00 off Thomas & Friends™ Talking Engine

$3.00 off BARBIE™ in A Mermaid Tale 2 Merliah

$2.00 off WWE FlexForce Figure

$5.00 off Laugh & Learn™ Fun With Friends™ Table



SMART SOURCE

Food

New Coupons!
Save $1.00 on any SPLENDA® Product

Finding $5,291

I have written about this before, but $5,291 was the annual salary of my first full-time job after college. Just for fun, I have targeted this amount to "find" savings. I keep starting this little exercise over and over, and here I go again.

Today I went to CVS. It's interesting that when I first started couponing, Walgreens by far and away had more savings. However, they eliminated a rebate program and don't have the incentives that CVS has to stack savings. The main difference between Walgreens and CVS is that CVS does have loyalty cards. The Big Brother of CVS tracks your purchases, but I have nothing to hide--track on, CVS!

So, here is my first step in identifying the $5,291:
Bought four boxes of Kellogg's cereal on sale, saving 5.86
used Kellogg's coupons: 2.20
3 boxes of Hefty Bags on sale, saving 9.00
1 Maybelline Mascara on sale, saving .50
Used a $1.00 Maybelline coupon I got at the store 1.00
Extra Care Bucks earned because I bought a certain
amount of cosmetics 5.00
Previously earned Extra Care Bucks applied 4.00

All these purchases went to the $30 purchases
earning me $10 in gasoline credit 10.00

Total $37.56

Balance to save: 5,253.44

Please note that I didn't buy a whole lot. I can't keep track of a lot of items when I am stacking the coupons. I typically do two or three trips to Walgreens and CVS on a weekly basis.

Label Post

Savings, Enjoying Life, Finding $5291