Coupons and CVSing

I think this is a fairly common thing when it comes to blogs, but sometimes I'll click from someone's blog to someone else's and so-on and so-forth until I'm at a complete stranger's blog and have no idea how I got there.

This happened to me last week and I came upon a woman's blog who does something called 'CVSing'. We have a CVS near our house (a few actually) but I've always gotten my prescriptions from Walgreens so I had no reason to set foot in it. Well, it appears I've been missing out on a lot.

I should preface this all by saying that although Corey and I both make what we think are pretty good salaries, we always wonder where our money goes. $100 trips to Target, and $300 trips to the mall, and groceries always add up, and we don't end up saving as much as we'd like to.

I should also say that some people refer to me as a bit of a snob, and although I act offended when I hear it, deep down I know it's probably true. I would never think to use coupons or search for a deal because I never wanted the cashier or other people in the store to judge me. "Oh, look at that poor girl who can't afford her groceries," I hear them saying in my head. Sad, I know. But true.

But, this woman had piles and piles of purchases on her table and beneath it all she said that her total out-of-pocket cost was $0.85!!!! 85 cents for a table full of stuff! I was intrigued.

So, I did a little research and found that there are tons and tons of people who, with a little planning and research, save mounds of money at CVS. Yes, you have to use coupons, and yes you have to search for deals. But, it looked like it was worth it to me. So, I gave it a try.

Here's how I did:

5 tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste - $3.49 each
5 tubes of Arnicare pain relief gel(basically homeopathic Icy-Hot) - $9.49 each
4 Covergirl outlast lipsticks - $9.99 each
1 Covergirl lipgloss - $5.99
4 bottles of Dawn dishwashing detergent - $2.79 each
2 3-packs of paper towels - $1.99 each
2 nail glues - $1.99 each
2 bottles of water - $1.39 each
1 Accu-check blood sugar monitor - $75 BUCKS!!!
King size Reeses peanut butter cups (I had to buy it because my coupons went over, and the boy loves them anyway) - $1.00
1 Fiber One bar - $0.69
1 bottle of Dr. Pepper - $1.39

Total of $210.83

I got it all for $18.71. BUT, I also got $23 back in ExtraCare Bucks (basically CVS gift certificates for future visits). So essentially, they paid me $4 to buy all that stuff!!

I did have to use coupons, and it was very hard for me - but I survived and ended up saving a ton of money in the process. The best part of it is that Corey's mom's best friend has diabetes (no one we know here does) and she can't really afford the $75 monitor for herself. So, we're sending it to her. I'm so happy to be able to give it to someone who needs it - and we got it for free!!!

So, we're going to keep trying the CVSing and see what kind of deals we can get. We're also going to - gasp - cut out coupons for our groceries. Yes, the snob in me hates typing that. But, when we have more money in our savings account for vacations and other big purchases, I think it will be worth it.