CVS Haul 5/27/2013

So I was bad by stalling on this week's couponing trip and it showed. It was a bit of a disappointment that I had the swap the Jergens deal because the smaller size was out (snatched up by other couponers, I suspect!) and so was the Colgate deal I wanted to try. So much for those. In couponing, it really is the early bird that catches the worm. On popular deals, if you are not there to get them early on the first day they come out (Sunday), you won't get them at all. I also was unable to find the Neutrogena deal that the couponing sites are buzzing with. However, I was able to take advantage of a couple good extra care buck (ECB) deals this week. This week at CVS when you buy 2 Jergens products, you will receive a $5 ECB and when you buy a double pack of Crest toothpaste, you'll receive a $3 ECB. Also, all Dentyne Gum is buy one get one free this week.

Break Down: (including weekly sales)
Dentyne Ice Gum 16 ct x 4 total (1.50 ea wyb 2) + (B1G1 Free x 2) = 3.00 (essentially, you get 2 free)
Jergens Ultra Healing Lotion 10 oz (I got the bonus-sized 12.5 oz bottles!) x 2 (4.49ea) = 8.98
Crest Extra White 2 pk, 6.2 oz ea x 1 (6.29 ea) = 6.29

Coupons:
(2) 1 off Dentyne Gum Packs, 9 ct or larger.
(1) 1 off Crest Toothpaste, 4 oz or larger
(1) 25% CVS Coupon (received in my email, applicable to all non-sale items only) -total off: 3.82
8 Extra Care Bucks from a previous purchase. (equivalent to $8 off my purchase)

Final Outcome:
Dentyne Ice Gum 16 ct x 4 total (1.50 ea wyb 2) B1G1 = 3.00 [-(2)1 off mnf q] =1.00 total or 0.25 ea
Jergens Ultra Healing Lotion 12.5 oz x 2 (4.49ea) = 8.98 [-2.25 from 25% off]= 6.74, Get 5 ECB
Crest Extra White 2 pk, 6.2 oz ea x 1 (6.29 ea) = 6.29 [-(1)1 off mnf q] + [-1.57 from 25% off] = 3.72, Get 3 ECB

11.46 -8 ECB from previous purchase= 3.46 (rounding error in my math?)

Grand Total:
Subtotal: 3.45
Tax: 0.97
Total: $4.42 w/ 8 ECB

At the end of my transaction, the cash register spit out $8 in ECB for me to use on my next purchase. Now, don't go jumping for joy and thinking, "she only paid 4.42 and she got 8 ECB in store credit back -it must have been a money maker!" (Though admittedly, it's always a nice feeling to get more store rewards than your transaction just cost you out of pocket) Remember how I put in 8 ECB into my transaction from the Coupon section? Essentially, I just recycled my 8 ECB from my last coupon haul at CVS and applied that 8 to this transaction. And now, I will use that 8 ECB on my NEXT transaction. So I'm making that original $8 I invested work twice as hard by "recycling" it. This is a term known in couponing circles affectionately as "rolling;" the most common examples of how this phrase is used are rolling ECB's, rolling Register Rewards (Walgreens' store credit), or rolling UP Rewards (Rite-Aid's store credit).

So in total, my transaction cost me $4.42 for all that stuff.
A haul which included four packs of gum, two "bonus-sized" bottles of lotion, and one double pack of toothpaste. :) In comparison, if I had bought each pack of gum at the sale price of 1.50 some other week, it would have cost more than this whole transaction w/ tax (excluding ECB's). Just goes to show how important it is to wait and be patient when it comes to the sale cycles every week!