And then we got pregnant and I read that we may end up spending $448,000 by the time we ship our kid off to college. Everything changed.
One day I came home to a husband who told me we were about to become Extreme Couponers. Anyone who knows my husband understands life will never get boring with him. This is one hobby I decided I could try. Our first trip happened to fall on Marsh's triple coupon week. With a little help from coupons.com we spent $30 and got all of these groceries:
Next up: CVS. Holy CVS bucks. Why have I always ignored you? Here is how we approached CVS:
1. Get a copy of your Sunday paper
2. Check out the ad and circle anything that gives you extra care bucks or green card bucks. With green card bucks, you get $10 back for every $30 you spend.
3. Make a list of the items you actually need that get you extra care bucks or green card backs.
4. Check coupons.com for additional manufacturer coupons on those items. Print off those coupons.
5. Go to CVS and only buy the items on your list. (This is the secret). Stay focused and don't stray from the extra care bucks path.
6. Buy items, use coupons and use your CVS card.
Normally this alone would have run me $7:
But we got all of this for $7:
How did we do it?
Our original cost was $55. We had an existing $10 in extra care bucks and a 25% off all items coupon from our last trip. We used $10 worth of manufacturer coupons and got $18 back in CVS bucks. Bam. $7. Not bad!
Please keep a few things in mind:
The planning takes time. If you are an impatient person (like me), realize there is a learning curve and you do need to pre-plan your trips. Organization is also key. With the bigger grocery stores you need to divide your coupons into categories or you may lose your mind. CVS is a two-step process. The extra care bucks are key and you need to build that stash to see the real savings.
Happy savings!
No comments:
Post a Comment