Choose your friends wisely and weekly CVS Haul

Chose your friends wisely
You know how you go to the mall and are hounded by the survey girl? Rather then roll your eyes at her you need to make friends with her, here's why. The company that she works for is bigger then a tiny room at the mall, they are a marketing firm that are looking for people to be part of a focus group. Granted spending 15 minutes of your time to do a survey on soap is not the idea thing to do on a Saturday it's in your interest to still make friends with her. Today I completed a survey at headquarters for such a company. They called me I didn't call them. "Hey are you willing to try this new sandwich on Tuesday? We will pay you $40.00." $40.00 in hard cash for about 20 minutes of my time, dude sign me up. Who can't use $40.00?

This is why the annoying survey girl can be your best friend. there is always a new product that Dial, Softsoap, Always, Charmin and others need real people's opinion and they actually pay you. There is no scam, no we need to sacrifice your first born during a full moon on the third Tuesday of the month stuff going on. This is why focus groups exist to better tweak a sandwich or the fluffiness of toilet paper. So in a week that I missed out on $150 because of Murphy's Law that $40.00 I received in an envelope included angels singing as it went in my gas tank.

Weekly Cvs Haul

This week really had to scan the paper to find deals but having $30.99 in ECB's it was time for redemption. There were a few oops in this trip but it worked out. First thing the coupon machine was down so no coupons today, will stop by tomorrow. Then Planter's peanuts were wiped out, glad I brought backup coupons. So here's how the shopping trip went. In this weeks circular if one bought $30.00 in certainly marked products you got a Cvs Cash Card. It looks like this:

This cash card is different then the red Extracare Bucks card or a gift card but works as a gift card. Not sure if they had these before as I'm kind of new to the couponing circuit. 

To get this little green card this is what got purchased:

2 packs of Duracell batteries

1 box of Always 

2 Covergirl Nail glosses

2 Dawn Dish Soaps(little bottles)

2 Kleenex Hand Towels

total cost= $34.93

Then for the other deals not associated with the Spend $30 deal included:

Johnson and Johnson Natural baby products B1g1 50% off 

OOPE=$8.98

Third deal was buy 3 American Greeting cards and get $3.00 in ECB's. Had to be $1.99 or more, not one card was $1.99 though so got three different priced cards for Valentine's Day. 

Fourth and final deal was the big bottles of Suave Almond and Shea butter shampoo and conditioner for 2/6 but buy $12.00 worth and receive $4.00 in ECB's back. 

Overall

Cost $66.88

Extracare Bucks $30.99

Coupons $11.80

Gift Card $25.00

My total cost out the door=$3.08

Rewards

$10.00 Cvs Cash Card

$7.00 in Extracare Bucks

$10.00 coupons from Duracell 

Not a bad day of shopping. 

How I save on diapers

Someone the other day asked how I save on diapers because out of the three cases bought thus far the total out of pocket cost is $15.00 for all three. Sounds pretty nice right? The first thing is my favorite store CVS because of the extracare bucks, but will touch base on deals at other stores.

First things first

Before going to any store to buy diapers make sure to price compare them and check coupons to make sure they are not expired(everyone has done this). In this household how we do that is by websites that have already created the wheel.

Websites I swear by
Coupon Preview
The Krazy Coupon Lady
Crayons to Coupons
Babies R Us

There's why these are great sites, the Sunday Preview site gives a list of what will be in the paper by way of Sunday's inserts. Pampers for example is a P&G product and they typically release coupons once a month. So when you know by Wednesday that on Sunday a P&G insert is coming out you can buy more then one newspaper to cash in on these deals.

The second site is beyond amazing because she will matchup the coupons that will be released in the paper on Sunday to stores. Just select the store you shop at and bam you know what coupons to use for the week. Also on Saturday's Sunday's weekly circular is released so that way before getting a paper you can lay out your coupons and price compare stores. TKCL use to do a section where they would post who was having diaper sales this week but I haven't seen it since before Christmas so I just do the work myself.

Crayons to Coupons is a blog based site but sign up for the daily coupon rundown there is always diaper coupons in there as they get released not to mention limited grocery coupons that if not printed that day you will be sol on( I learned the hard way).

Babies R Us is a store as every new mom knows but reason I posted them is to sign up for the VIB(Very Important Baby) card. The first year you load it like a pre paid VISA gift card and for every dollar spent you can get a 20% kickback at the end of the year up to $200 free. Babies go through so many diapers why not cash in where you can. Plus on the weekends they keep having "Door buster" sales. I cashed in on wipes a few weeks ago. 528 of them for $9.00 and they were the Babyganics brand which is normally $14.99 for a box. Then this week they had an $80.00 value tote of diapers for $24.99.

Lastly how I save is going to CVS with Extracare Bucks which is the greatest invention that I never use to use until I was explained them from a fellow mama. Right now I have $28.99 that need to be redeemed by the end of the month or the equivalent to a case for free. Plus you can use manufacture coupons with these to maximize results.

Other stores have deals too, just seen that Family Dollar is going to start selling cases of Huggies diapers.  Family Dollar also takes manufacture coupons you can pair with the sale price to get better results.

So this is how my family we save on diapers for my munchkin on the way. It's all about price shopping, clipping coupons and stacking them to get them for the cheapest price.

Couponing for Charity

So my friend that turned me on to CVS aka the Mecca of all couponing places in my opinion turned me on to couponing for charity. I never understood those extreme couponers that would buy stuff just to buy stuff. My tiny apartment does not have room for a stockpile of crap.

Here's her thinking, if you can benefit from the couponing whatever you get just give away to charity. Genius in my opinion when it comes to EB's. Here's an example, yesterday they had a glucometer for $9.99 and you received $9.99 back so it is like getting it for free. I win by getting 9.99 back in EB's that can be used for diapers and baby products and someone will benefit from a new meter. My friend is a nurse and volunteers at a clinic that can use it. Essentially that is how one would coupon for charity.

My trip to CVS yielded a return of $28.99 in EB's and only cost my about $17.00. Toothbrushes were on sale with EB's given back, the meter, probotics and Maybelline(sp) makeup. Plus they had stayfree pads(which) I don't use but the church will benefit from them for when they house the homeless in two weeks. Homeless women still get periods so for $6.99 I got two big packs and they can give them to the ladies if need be. Total cost was $56 and some odd change but cost me $17.03 and I got back $28.99 that I plan on using for things for the baby.

The thought of couponing to save money is a great idea, however couponing to help others never crossed my mind until two days ago. This is going to be a new way for myself and my family to look at couponing. Granted charity starts at home but food, a roof over my head and a healthy child I am blessed more then most. With a fixed income it is always hard to find a way to donate to charities but now I have a new way to collect things for charities throughout the year.