Contact Solution - Shopping brag

I just got home from a little shopping trip.  Just had to get some meat, cereal, and contact solution for Josh.  The first stop was Publix.  Nothing special there.  Spent 20 bucks for some ground meat, chicken breasts, and breakfast stuff.

Then I stopped in to CVS because I had a coupon for $5.00 off two bottles of Clear Care contact solution.  Josh uses this and it is the best.  Being the best, it also has a hefty price of 8.99 per bottle.  But with my 5.00 coupon, I figured I would get a pretty good deal.

Then, at the CVS coupon printer (it's a machine at the front of the store.  Scan your rewards card and it will print out store coupons!) I received a couple of surprises.  The first was a $5 ECB because I'm a member of the CVS Beauty Club and apparently I have purchase $50 worth of beauty items since signing up.  The second was $3/$10 healthcare purchase.  I also had some ECBs leftover from my last few trips to CVS.  So my grand total was....

I don't know how to rotate pictures on blogspot.  Sorry for the awkward angle.

95 cents!!!

Saved: 95%

This was a very exciting trip!  I knew I could save 10 bucks, but had no idea I would get the other 8 dollars in coupons.  So if you are going to CVS, remember to always check the printer at the front of the store.  And, scan your card multiple times.  It will print things for you until it the screen reads "No more coupons available today."  The best part of this trip though, was playing the how much game with Josh.  He's really good about guessing high so that my actual total sounds extremely good.  His first guess was 14 bucks.  He was shocked at the .95 cent total.  Awesome!

Couponing brings out my stubborness

Before I get to my Friday finals, I have a short story to share.  This past week, I left an entire cart of groceries at a store.  I'm not really proud of this fact.  I had written a long story to give all the details, but really, I think I just need help in keeping my cool when a cashier won't allow me to use coupons the way I think they should be used.

So, anyone have some suggestions for a girl who is very stubborn and gets highly frustrated when plans don't work out?  I would greatly appreciate them, because if I would have simply asked for a manager, I might have ended up with a good amount of items for a good price.  Please, let me know what tips you have for dealing with the little frustrations of couponing..

Moving on.  I did get some great deals at Publix and at Rite Aid this week.  Here's what I got.

Publix

1 Hunt's ketchup

2 Mahatma rice packets (money makers!!!)

1 Knorr Chicken flavored noodles packet

3 Mentos gum

2 Edy's shakes

1 gallon milk

1/4 of watermelon

1 bag of salad

2+ lbs of ground chuck (poor chuck)

2 boxes Toaster Streudel

1 roast

1 loaf of bread

2 Scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaners

2 boxes of Ziploc sandwich bags

2 Kraft Homestyle macaroni bags (excited to try these out)

1 Publix aluminum foil

2 boxes Kellog's Special K cereal

Total before sales tax: 49.64

Total value of all goods: 80.72

Saved: 39%

Rite Aid

1 box Viactiv chews

1 package Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (money maker!!!)

1 Finesse shampoo

1 Finesse conditioner

1 Orbit gum

2 4-packs Gatorade

2 Tylenol Precise

1 box Tampax

Total before sales tax: 4.31
Total value of goods: 54.70
Saved: 92%
+Up Rewards earned: 5.50 and a 125 pt wellness shopping pass worth 10% off.
Also on receipt - do survey to receive $3 off $15.

All in all, I'd say I had two really great trips and one bad experience that was mostly negative because of my own impatience.  Looking forward to my next trips to Rite Aid and CVS because I have a good amount of +Up Rewards and ECBs now, too.