CVS Challenge 2010 Begins!

Last week I posted here about showing everyone how to do CVS deals like me. I challenged myself to start with $20 and not pay anymore (unless tax) for things for the rest of the year. It's going to be difficult, but I'm going to try. Here is what I did today!

CVS is currently having an ECB sale where if you spend $10 on Nivea Products, you get $5 back. It just so happens that in yesterday's paper, there were several Nivea coupons:

-Nivea Lip Care, buy any one .17oz and get one Nivea Lip Care .17 oz. free valid up to $3.99
-$5/2 Nivea Body Lotion (13.5 fl oz, 250 ml), any
-$2/1 Nivea Body Lotion (13.5 fl oz, 250 ml), any
-$2/1 Nivea Body Wash for Women (16.9 fl oz, 500 ml), any

Here was my transaction:

2 Nivea Body Wash ($5.99)
1 Revlon (cleananced cosmetic!) ($2)
1 Revlon (cleananced cosmetic!) ($2)
-$2 Revlon Color Cosmetic product (from 12/13 paper)
-$2 Revlon Color Cosmetic product (from 12/13 paper)
-$2/1 Nivea Body Wash for Women
-$2/1 Nivea Body Wash for Women
Total: $8.73 (BUT, I received $5 ECB for the Nivea deal).

Also, CVS gives you ECB at the end of each quarter based on how much you spent during that quarter. I got a nice coupon for $4 ECB on my receipt for my Fall spending!

So- spent $8.73, have $9 ECB to roll into next week!

I also made a small trip to Giant today during lunch, picked up 6 boxes of Pillsbury brownies and 2 things of floss for $3.25.

Rude at the Rite-Aid in McLean!

So, I went back and showed them the policy. The manager maintained that she'd done it right and told me that I was wrong. Then, I just asked for a return and she said fine. She gives me my money back, and then BEFORE I EVEN LEAVE THE COUNTER, she starts talking to the cashier about me! About how I don't know what I'm talking about (nevermind that I showed her Rite-Aid's own coupon policy that proves she is wrong). I will not be shopping at THAT Rite Aid again.

I just got off the phone with customer service rep Steven (who was very nice) and he assures me that this is not a habit in Rite-Aid stores.

Going Back to Rite-Aid... For a Refund

One of the lovely ladies over at Hot Coupon World (see links) directed me to Rite-Aid's coupon policy. (Let me take a moment to saw I LOVE HCW and highly, Highly, HIGHLY recommend you join up there if you haven't already).

This is the OFFICIAL Rite- Aid Coupon Policy (as applies to my situation):

"If a customer presents a Buy One Get One Free coupon for the purchase of two items that are on a Buy One Get One Free promotion; we accept the coupon, essentially making both items free." Not half off, not half off a half minus the half plus half or whatever crazy "half" interpretation you come up with. FREE. (With tax)

So, looks like I'm going back to Rite-Aid to get some money back.

Rite-Aid Trip... Disappointing

Using coupons does not always work out the way you want it to, and with success sometimes comes failure.

Rite-Aid this morning went horribly, horribly wrong.

Rite-Aid has a sale where all Stayfree products are BOGO free, and all Nivea Lip Care are BOGO free. Yesterday's paper came out with BOGO coupons, so, in a perfect world, I would have paid only tax for 6 Stayfree and 6 Nivea. This was my plan.

Went in at 7:15. Got 6 Stayfree, 6 Nivea Lip care, and 1 Listerine. Went to register. Cashier said computers were down so they had to do everything manually and could only take cash. I say that's fine, as I have cash. Well, the cashier (who was very nice, btw) kind of freaked a bit at my coupons (BOGO for Stayfree and Nivea), so she called the manager. What SHOULD have happened, was I SHOULD have paid ONLY $5.37 (BOGO sale plus BOGO coupons SHOULD equal paying only tax plus price of Listerine).

The manager decided that the ad meant that the Stayfree and Nivea Lipcare should be entered as half off, and that my coupon applies to one of the halves. So, two of my Stayfree were $6.99- she entered them in as $3.49 each and took off one, so I paid $3.49 for two. And on this went. I finally got out of the store at 8:00am. What was supposed to be a quick transaction ended up being 45 minutes. Good thing I didn't use all my BOGO coupons.

My total was $20.41 and I'll submit the receipt for the $3 SCR (Single Check Rebate that Rite-Aid does monthly). I'm not that upset about it, b/c full price would have been $60.25, so I saved 66%, but it's disappointing.

It's important to remember two things when transactions don't work out:

1) You never win by losing your temper.
2) Courtesy gets you further than rudeness.

So even though I was overcharged, I kept my head, remained polite, and I've learned my lesson for next time.

SFW 1/2/10

Went to SFW today for their $1/lb chicken sale. It's a good thing I went early b/c the sale started today and there was hardly anything left. I saw 8 packages, and I took 4, which amounted to 18lbs of chicken. DH assures me he can make it stretch for at least two weeks. Here is a breakdown of what I spent:

$17.84 lbs of chicken
$7.79 hair color (No, I did not use a coupon, but I really wanted to treat myself to a new hair color since I haven't really changed anything since getting pregnant with DD, but in my defense, I got the cheapest brand that had the color I wanted)
$0.84 tax.

Total: $26.47, but again, I used the giftcard I got for Christmas (thanks Aimee!) so I spent nothing oop.

Total left on giftcard: $12.76

First Trip of the New Year

Hit Giant tonight. Here is what I got:

1- All Laundry Detergent
2- Pillsbury Brownie Mix
2- Pillsbury Frosting
3- Pasta Roni
4- Progresso Veg Classics soups
2- Green Giant Veggie Steamers
1- Ronzoni Smart Taste thin sphagetti pasta

Total before coupons/sales: $32.04
Bonus Card Savings: $11.71
Coupon savings: $10.10
Tax: $0.54

TOTAL PAID: $10.77
However, I used the $50 gift card I got for Christmas (thanks Aimee!), so I paid nothing oop.

Happy New Year! Time for a New Start!

Happy New Year to all my family, friends, and readers! I'm so excited that 2010 is here at last!

As many of you know, it was my goal to do a $2500 spending challenge for 2010. I am sticking to that, and I am also adding another new goal for 2010. I want to put an extra $2500 in savings by the end of the year.

Here are the guidelines for my challenge:

-Money from mail-in-rebates (MIRs) can either be put in savings or re-invested back into my grocery budget.
-I am starting 2010 off with a $50 Visa giftcard I got for Christmas, $50 in MIR money I am expecting at any time, and a decent stockpile of laundry detergent and HBA items (such as shampoo, razors, and toothpaste).
-Each time I go shopping, I will make a list of what I spent, what I saved, and what I got.
-I will keep totals throughout the year of what I spend and save.

Here's to a great 2010!