I'm officially a CVS'R!

Okay, today marks the day . . . . I've become an official "CVS'r"! LOL

No, really..... I think I have it down. I've made a couple of mistakes that could have saved me about $10-$12 but that's okay, I learned from them. :o) I've learned to buy coupons off of Ebay, print them online, cut EVERY coupon out of the Sunday paper and that's about as deep into the "coupon collecting" I'm getting right now, just don't have time to do more that.

I don't really spend much time reading blogs that are pretty much journals, I have them in my reader and if it catches my eye, I click on it, otherwise the little time I have for "blog reading" goes directly to sites like moneysavingmom and thecentsiblesawyer and blogs linked to them. By doing that I have slowly become more educated in CVS and the ways to not only SAVE money but to MAKE money too. And being a stay at home mom who is no longer responsible for the family finances (Thank God!) I have to find ways to cut corners, save our family money and get a little extra to treat myself to the nice little make-up extras, moisturizers, bath and beauty stuff...you know "girly things"! And I am successfully on my way...YAY!!!!

I've kept every receipt since I started CVSing on April 6th and this is my monthly total since I don't forsee myself going back this week. :o)

So with stacking Manufacturer Coupons from 3 different sources (online,newspaper,ebay), CVS printable coupons ($3off15, $5off$15,$3off$20) (thanks for the jump start Heather!), LOTS of Extra Care Bucks (ecbs)...this is what it looks like number wise...

I've spent a total of $29.78 Out of Pocket (could have been about $15-$18 but I screwed up at the beginning!)

April Merchandise Purchased:
11 Packs Huggies
20 Bottles of Softsoap
17 Boxes of Alavert
20 Boxes of Colgate
20 My Buddies Bars for kids
5 Febreeze Noticeable Plug ins
3 Bottles of Windex
2 Bottles of Shout

Total approx. $438.12 retail price.

And NOW I'm left with $84 in Extra Care Bucks to use next month! YIPEE!!!!

Now it's taken work, organizing (I have all coupons in a box with dividers, 4 separate cvs cards, organized receipts, ecb's, printable coupons, etc.) and quiet time to make one-two trips a week, can't do more because of gas and really just make 1 "CVS Trip" the other one or more would be driving by one on my way to do something else and having my CVS Binder & Box ALWAYS in the car with me just in case... and I may have spent about $30 out of pocket but now I'm up all this product AND I have actually made $54 dollars! Thanks CVS! I know it looks like a ton of crap, but it's ALL stuff I use. I DO NOT advocate wiping out the store in one trip, nor do I get it JUST BECAUSE IT'S FREE, since some people need those items but when it comes to meds, soap, or daily necessities, I'm on it! :o)

So take some time ladies, sit down, read and then jump in to earn your first set of ECBs, that's all it takes. My first investment was some diapers which I would have needed to buy anyway and it generated my first $14 in ECBS, I haven't spent anything since! Maybe a dollar or two here and there but that's only because I was still learning how to do it. IT IS WORTH IT!

SO JUMP ON BOARD! :o)