sorry for slacking...

Ok, so I have actually gone to the store a couple times since my last post. I thought I had put at least one of those trips on here, but I guess not... Anyway, I am not going to go back through all of the receipts to catch this up because the sales I went to are over, and it would be irrelevant to all of you. I did want to mention a nice little bonus I noticed, that at least some of you may be able to cash in on...
When Rite aid had the Bayer glucose monitors for free with the coupons from the Sunday paper, I bought 3 of them. That is how many coupons I had. The total before the coupons was like $44.97. After the coupons, I paid nothing. Now I don't even need one glucose monitor let alone 3, but I donated them to the Salvation Army. I am sure someone in need will be pleased to have them. Then later I was checking out the February rebates for rite aid and submitting receipts. I didn't think that these would count towards anything since I paid nothing for them. You know what? I was wrong. The receipt for the monitors came back as qualifying for not only the $10 gift card for Rite Aid, but also for the heart health tee shirt offer from them. So... I donated 3 monitors to people who needed them. It cost me nothing, and as a reward for my good deed, I will receive a $10 gift card and a free tee shirt. Which is even better because I did not expect anything for it. Not bad, not bad at all.

If you bought the monitors you may qualify for these rebates, check the Rite Aid site to find out. Be sure to do so soon. I think you have to submit before the end of the month.

As always, remember, if you can get a freebie that you don't need, get it anyway, donate it to someone who can use it. You will get the pleasure of doing something for others, and someone will appreciate your kindness...heck, you may even be rewarded for it. How can you beat that?

Today at CVS. I think I did much better this time :}

Transaction#1

2 ear rinse 7.99 each
1 CVS chewable asprin 1.99
1 bodyheat heat wrap 3.99

used $1.00 off peelie from heat wrap
Total due: 20.96
Used medical flex account {so no out of pocket}

recieved :
1.99 ECB
7.99 ECB
7.99 ECB
3.00 ECB
_______
20.97 ECB

Transaction 2:

Gillete Gamer razor 7.99
pampers easy ups 9.99
Charmin TP 16 ct. 9.99
Dawn dish soap .99
Madagascar 2 4.99 {after 15$ off for buying $20 in select products}

used :
.50 dawn mq
4.00 gellet mq
2.00 pampers mq

1.99 ECB
3.00 ECB
5.00 ECB {from last week}
15.98 ECB

OOP $1.48
recieved:
4.00 ECB


Transaction 3:

6 hour energy 4.99

used:
4.00 ECB

OOP: 99cents
Recieved:
4.99 ECB

Transaction 4

3 johnson and johnson travel first aid kits 99 cents each
used:
$3 on 2 printable J+J first aid coupon {adjusted down to 2.97}

OOP: $ 0
I still have those $4.99 ECBs for next week. I told you I did better... :}

My first attempt at CVS...

2/3/09
I needed to go to the dentist on Wednesday afternoon so I decided to try out the CVS thing since I was up town anyway. {first I stopped at rite aid and bought the Bayer glucose monitors that I had a coupon for so I can donate them next week} For those of you unfamiliar with CVS they offer something called extra care bucks or ECB's. When you purchase something on the ECB list, the reciept prints a coupon for a certain amount of credit towards your next CVS purchase. This is what I did...

I needed cortizone cream and was going to buy it anyway, CVS just happened to offer $1 back in ECB's for it. I also had a manufacturer coupon {mq} for $1 off.
For my first transaction I bought:

Cortizone 10 on sale at $4.99
used $1 off mq
out of pocket {OOP} $3.99 {used health car flex plan debit}
recieved $1 ECB

transaction# 2
Excedrine 10 ct. {travle vial} $2.49
paid $1 ECB from transaction 1
OOP: $1.49 {from flex acct.}
recieved $2.49 ECB

transaction#3
2 jergins natural lotions on sale $7.99 each
used 2 $3.00 off mq's
used $2.49 ECBs
OOP :$7.49
Recieved $5.00 ECB

transaction#4
4 Glade candles on sale 4 for $10
used 2 $1.50/2 mq's {looked at the coupon wrong, thought I could use 4 of them...goofed}
used $5.00 ECBs from trans#3
OOP: $2.00
Recieved $5.00 ECB

so
$5.48 out of health account
$9.49 OOP
have $5.00 left for next time.

I know I could have done better. Like I said, this was a first attempt. I am sure I will get the hang of it eventually. I had planned on doing one other deal to get $10 ECBs, but the item was out of stock. I did get a rain check for next week though.
Good luck to all of you on your savings adventures!

Remember, even if you don't need something that you can get for free, someone else might. Donate your extra deals to charity!