My Stockpile

I started 'couponing' about 4 months ago. I started out only shopping at CVS, swearing that I would never get into the 'extreme couponing' (i.e. going to multiple stores). Well, almost two months later I am now eating my words and I'm glad because it's so much more rewarding and I am saving like crazy! I decided to get serious about saving money in January of this year and I'll tell you, if you are not living like this you are missing out and over spending on everything!
So I thought I would share my stockpile with you at this point so in a few months when I show you how big it's gotten, you'll have something to compare it to.
Keep in mind most of this stuff was just been accumulated in the past 2 months and every item you see (just about) has multiples behind it. Also keep in mind that you are looking at 100's of dollars worth of products and a lot of that I got for FREE.

Where there's a will-there's a coupon! :)

Check It Out!

Yesterday was my first CVS shopping trip of 2011. I know in my last post I said this year my goal was to only buy things that were on sale and that I had a coupon for. Well after thinking about it I can't fully stick to that commitment because a lot of times they have really good sales on Coke products and Coke hardly ever has coupons. Plus my husband drinks far too many cokes not to get them on sale. Other than that, I think I can manage to stick my guns this year.

Yesterday I had a pretty good trip - here are my purchases:

Purchase #1

Retail value of products: $31.03

Total out of pocket: $24.16

Amount saved: $6.87
Extra bucks received: $10.00 (free money)

Purchase #2

Retail value of products: $23.82

Total out of pocket: $-0-

Amount saved: $23.82 (%100)

Because of coupons the total actually came to $14.50 but because of all the extra bucks I received from purchase #1 and the extra bucks I had been saving I got it all for FREE!

This week CVS is having pretty great deals. You should check them out! :)

-A

Check It Out!

I thought I would update you on my lastest purchase at CVS. I haven't been going as often as I was because it has been busy with the holidays, but I plan to pick things up after the new year begins and to start fresh. By that I mean, I thought it would be neat to start my totals over at the beginning of 2011 and to track my savings throughout the year. By doing this it will give me a good idea of what I would have spent, what I saved and how much out of pocket spending I'm doing.

I only made one purchase this week because there weren't any items that I needed that would give me extra bucks so I didn't think it was worth the time to split it up.

Purchase:

Retail value of products: $103.76

Total out of pocket: $59.29

Amount saved: $44.47

This may seem like a lot of out of pocket, but in reality it's not! This gave me a great chance to stock up on items that I will need for the future that will more than likely not be on sale when I need them. I might also add that I went to CVS with NO extra bucks so I did have to spend more out of pocket this time than usual.

For the new year I plan to really focus on only buying the items that I have coupons for and that are currently on sale and to also begin fresh with collecting Extra bucks. By doing this it will help cut down on my out of pocket spending. :)

CVS Deal

This week only CVS is offering a deal. IF you buy an itunes gift card worth $15 or more you will receive a coupon for $10 off the new release of Despicable Me. The movie is originally $19.99.

What is CVSing?

Recently I heard about a new way to save money. I know, my ears perked up when I heard that too! :)

A friend of mine and I were talking the other day about coupon shopping, which we both do. She started explaining a new “hobby” (if you will), that she just started doing. She coupon shops at CVS!

Now, you may be thinking, “Okay what’s the big deal? Anyone can clip a couple coupons and save some money but I really don’t want to go through all that trouble just to save a few bucks.” Well I’ll tell you, it’s not just a few bucks – sometimes if you plan it just right you can spend little to no money out of pocket. You can go to my friend Lindsey’s blog and look at her purchases to get an idea of what I mean.

There are lots of resources such as: blogs, newspaper ads, and websites that you must visit weekly in order to get the best deals.

I started this past week and I made my first purchase as an official CVS coupon shopper(also known as CVSing). My first shopping trip I saved $40.00 and received $16.00 in Extra Bucks back (free money). So in actuality I only spent $24.00. Since I’m new at this I haven’t quite remembered to do everything but I will get on track this week and begin sharing my purchases with you. I forgot to take a picture this time but I will for the next purchase so you can get an idea of what I’m getting and how much I’m saving. It would have been great to show you a picture of all that I purchased last week because I received a lot of things for the amount I paid.

If you would like to learn more about CVS coupon shopping go to simplycvsshopping.com and click on the CVS 101 tab. It will tell you all you need to know to get started! It’s so much fun - and you can save lots of money! :)