CVS makes me almost like shopping

I almost liked shopping today, but it was only because of the amount of money we saved. Sometimes I think that I am the only female who doesn’t like to shop – I hate buying clothes, shoes, and don’t own any make-up (unless you count my yearly purchase of a tube of chapstick). When I do shop, I know what I want/need, and like to get in and out as fast as I can.

All that being said, I have to admit that I don’t mind shopping as much when I know there is a great bargain to be had. Also, I do like taking my time when selecting gifts for others. This all ties into our finances because our family tends to spend a decent amount of money on shopping. The three biggest holes in our finances that need to be fixed are:

1. The amount of money we spend on gas.

2. The amount of money we spend on groceries.

3. The amount we spend on extraneous “stuff” each month. This category covers everything from those little emergencies (like a couple of months ago when our dog got bit in the rear end) to the purchases of things we want (but don’t need).

For now, there is not a lot we can do about the amount we spend on gas. My husband has a truck (older model Chevy S10) with about 200,000 miles. The gas mileage is not that bad (approximately 23 MPG combined). However, he has a 70-mile commute (round trip) each day. Other than saving our grocery points for fill-ups and putting the gas on a credit card with rewards (that we pay off in full each month), we’re kind of stuck. The truck is paid off, and is in great condition for its age, so we won’t be purchasing another vehicle until we absolutely have to.

This leaves groceries and “stuff”. I am working hard on both of those categories – let’s take a closer look at today’s shopping trips as an example.

Our first stop was CVS. I have recently become a fan of Extra Care bucks. Extra Care bucks are printed at the bottom of your store receipt when you make particular advertised purchases. For example, in this week’s ad, there was a deal where you could get $10 ECBs if you purchased a combination of Advil and Robitussin products totaling $20 or more.

I used the slickdeals.net forums as a reference for coupons, and we also have money from our HSA (health spending account) that we need to spend by March 15.

Here’s a summary of our first trip:

2 Robitussin cough syrups – 2 x $6.00 = $12.00

2 Advil – 2 x $4.00 = $8.00

1 rubbing alcohol (impulse purchase) = $1.79

I had $10 in manufacturer’s coupons for the Advil and Robitussin, and a CVS coupon for $4 off $15. My total was $7.79, which I will get back since all of my items were HSA eligible. I also got $10 in ECBs for my next purchase.

There was another deal where you get $10 ECBs for purchasing $20 in selected Pepsi products. I had already purchased about $9 from a previous deal, so I needed to spend another $11. I bought some Doritos, 4 two-liters, and a fridge pack of Diet Pepsi. After applying the $10 ECB from the last purchase, I spent $2.34 out-of-pocket for our contributions to a Super Bowl party.

Not too shabby!

Next, we went to Waldenbooks. After filling out some surveys at e-rewards, I was able to get $15 in Borders Bucks (also good at Waldenbooks). My son is still reading/eating board books (as soon as he keeps them out of his mouth, we will be getting books from the library), so we got him 2 new books. I also picked up a new planner since they were deeply discounted ($4). After using my Borders Bucks with a 30% off coupon, our total was $3.91.

I can handle spending $14.04 (0r $6.25 after we get reimbursed for the HSA items)!

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