Getting the most out of your CVS card

This is not a profound tip on how to be frugal but it sure helps. I have noticed that people often get their new CVS Extra Care card at the checkout so the cashier hands back the form and customers often don't fill it all out and completely register the card. This can be a big mistake as CVS.com sends out frequent coupons by email. By not registering your card with an email, you will miss out on some great coupons. So make sure you register your card immediately if you have not already. Simply go to http://www.cvs.com/ to register your card. Along with that, make sure you regularly check your email to get those coupons so you can use them in time.

Another way to get the most out of your card is to look for the price scanning machine located in many CVS stores. Not all of the stores have them, and those that do seem to have them in different spots in each store. But if you find one, you can score some great coupons! Simply scan your Extra Care card and coupons will print out the side. I have found that a majority of the time, the coupons coincide with sales already going on. And for those of you new to CVSing, this is a big bonus because you can pair CVS coupons with manufacturer coupons for additional savings often making the item free!

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Need Some Proof?

Total Paid for all this stuff? $15.98!!!! (the diapers alone are worth more than that)

Total I would have paid without coupons and sales? $53.94

Total Saved? $37.96!!!!!!!

I was all set to do a blog on how to gather and organize your coupons, but then I went to CVS and decided to get everyone excited about all that can be saved before I dive into the specifics. So let me take you through my recent trip to CVS.

I really needed diapers and I also had a coupon about to expire for $5 off a purchase of $15. So I checked out my favorite blog http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ for any deals she could tell me about. She had quite a few although not all worked for me due to price differences and lack of stock but I did score some good stuff. Here is how I rang it all up.

For my first transaction, I got three bottles of tylenol, 4 SOBE vitamin waters, and 1 thermacare heat wrap product. The complete total without sales and coupons would have been $27.89.

The tylenols are usually $5.99 each, but they are on sale this week for $3.99. Then I had 2 coupons for the tylenol; one was for $2 off 1 bottle and then a $3 off 2 bottles. This brought my cost for each tylenol bottle down even more. With sales and coupons the original total of $17.97 minus tax (3 x $5.99) for the tylenol became $6.97. Still a great price especially because I needed tylenol, but wait, it gets better! I got something on the end of my receipt called extra care bucks (ECBs) for purchasing the tylenol. Basically, extra care bucks are CVS money to use for future purchases. This month you can get $2 ECBs per bottle of tylenol you purchase up to 3 bottles. So I paid the $6.97 for the tylenol but got back $6 ECBs on the end of my receipt for my next transaction (I will cover that in a minute)which means I basically paid $0.97 for 3 bottles of tylenol.

Next I got the SOBE waters. I have wanted to try those anyway but not at $1.49 per bottle when I can drink water for free. 4 SOBEs at normal price would have been $5.96. But this week they are on sale for buy one get one free (B1G1) which is already tempting, but wait! I had two coupons printed from the internet (known as IPs) that were also B1G1 thus making my bottles free. Make sense? Let me walk through two of the bottles: With CVS sale, I would pay $1.49 for the two bottles since one was free. Then I gave a coupon also for B1G1 which made the second one free as well. Then I did it again for the next two which gave me all four for free.

The Thermacare heatwrap did not ring up as it should have but was still a good deal. It was on sale for $2.49 and I had a coupon for $1 off. I was supposed to then get $2.49 ECBs back but it did not print for some reason so I need to go back and have the store fix it. Had it printed, I basically would have made money on the whole thing since it was free with ECBs plus $1 was taken off my total due to my coupon. As it was I only paid $1.49 which is still a good price.

So I rang those all up and got my receipt back with my $6 ECBs on the end of my receipt. I tore those off and stuck with my coupons for my next transaction.

For the next transaction, I had the two packs of diapers and a package of cookies rung up. The total without sales and coupons would have been $25.37 minus tax. But the diapers were on sale for $8.99 which is good for Huggies. They were cheaper even than CVS brand which I often get. On top of that, I had two coupons for $1.50 off 1.

But before I gave those coupons, I gave a coupon that printed off one of my previous receipts (from the week before) for $5 off $15. I gave this first so that there would be no question about my total being high enough. Once that coupon was applied, I gave the two diaper coupons. Then I gave my ECBs from the first transaction bringing my grand total to $6.05. It would have been even less had my ECBs from the Thermacare printed off.

Hope that explains it all. . .or at least begins to. The crazy thing is there are so many more deals and free things there this week if I was more organized and they restocked stuff that other couponers like me had already wiped out. I plan to go back to mine or visit another nearby CVS before the sales go off to get more stuff but we will see how the budget is looking. I will post those deals if I do go.

Let me know your questions as you think of them. This can feel a bit overwhelming at first, but I promise you can soon do it in your sleep like me. Just ask my husband who has to hear about my CVS trips all the time!

Cutting down the cost of milk

Lots of stores are now offering great deals on milk, but it still cost a lot more than I would like to spend. While I still buy some when I have room in the budget for it and am at the store, I mostly use powdered milk. This is especially helpful for when I am trying to do once a month grocery shopping. I simply do not have the space to freeze milk so am limited in what I can buy from the store. So powdered milk it is!

Okay, I know a bunch of you just got grossed out but give me a chance to explain. My family and I are not huge milk drinkers but we do use it a ton in cooking and baking. I especially go through milk when I make our yogurt (stay tuned for a post of that). By buying powdered milk very inexpensively either in a box at typical grocery stores or in the bulk section at my favorite store in the world, Winco, I can always have it on hand. It is very easy to make up a half gallon in two minutes and you cannot taste any difference if you are using it for cooking. The kids and I even use it in our cereal. I do not drink milk so I cannot vouch for the taste on it's own, but I am guessing true milk lovers will find a difference in taste.

Give it a try and let me know what you think! This has seriously saved me so much money in the last year. It is one of my favorite frugal tips.

Introduction to living more with less

After much prayer and encouragement from my mentor, Pam, and my husband, Jim, I decided to start this blog to see how God wants to use it. I have been surprised at the reactions of others to my use of coupons and other things I do to save money. To me, many of these things have always seemed like common sense or just what I have always done because my family did it or I learned it along the way. In fact, if anything, I think of how much more I want to be doing. But the more I look at other blogs and talk to women in my community, the more I realize that frugality is not automatic but needs to be learned. And it needs to be taught which I am hoping this blog will help do. I am by no means the expert I would like to be yet, but I have learned a few things and am daily learning more. Feel free to join in with me on this blog.

A few disclaimers, or I guess, just things to throw out there.

• There is a big difference between being cheap and being frugal. Being cheap is spending the least amount while being frugal is getting the most value. While these terms usually refer to money, I think we could apply them to all our resources ie time, energy, resources, etc.
• As I said above, there is always more one can do to save whether it is time, money, resources, etc. It is easy to come down on yourself and look at all that you are not doing when really you need to celebrate all you are doing. Every little step is more than you were doing before. Just take it one step at a time.
• You are the only expert on what works for you and your family. Some of what I post or the blogs you can link to from here will have great tips you can use while others things may sound great but just don't end up being feasible. Or you may even know right away it will not work. That is fine! I am just here to tell you what I am learning. Take what you like to use as is or to tweak or feel free to ignore things!
• Don't spend money to save it! You may be able to get a ton of stuff at CVS for twenty bucks, but that does not make any sense if you do not have the twenty bucks to spend. So evaluate your budget and know what you have and then don't spend more than that!
  

I think that sums things up fairly well for now. I will start laying out some simple steps such as how to collect and organize coupons, how to "CVS" and get other free items combining sales and coupons, how to stockpile and more in the next few posts. Stay tuned for lots of exciting things! I will also get some links up in next few days for some blogs that have been very inspiring for me in my journey to living more with less.