Week 48

This is the week of February 14th.

Good Deal Alert!

CVS has a few great offers this week.

Crest Pro-Health Enamel Shield rinse and toothpaste. On sale for 3.50, and you get 3.50 in Extra Care Bucks back. The limit is 2 (which means you can do the deal 2 times).
BONUS- there were coupons in last week's paper for 2.00 off Crest rinses. If you can get two of them...

2 x 3.50 = 7.00
- 2 coupons x 2.00 = -4.00
= 3.00 out of pocket. AND GET SEVEN EXTRA CARE BUCKS BACK!

Even if you don't have the coupons, this is a great deal to get your feet wet with.

Also, certain Cover Girl cosmetics are Buy 2, get 5 ECBs. One of the items included in this sale happens to be the powder that I prefer at $6 each. And, of course, there were coupons in last week's paper. The limit is 1 deal.
2 x 6.00 = 12.00
- 1 coupon for $1.00 off any Cover Girl cosmetic = -1.00
- 1 coupon for a free CG face product when you buy a CG face product = -6.00
= 5.00. And get 5 ECBs back. Breaking even is great!

Aussie shampoo/conditioner/stylers on sale for 2.99, get 2.00 ECBs. There was a coupon in this Sunday's paper for 1.00 off any Aussie.
1 x 2.99 = 2.99
- 1 coupon x 1.00 = -1.00
= 1.99. And get 2.00 ECBs back.

They have a few other items that are pretty good, but nothing is as good as free!

If you are a newbie and don't have any Extra Care Bucks yet, but do have all the coupons, here is what I suggest:

Do the Crest deal. Spend about 3.50 out of pocket, and get 7.00 ECBs.
In a separate transaction, get the Aussie and the Cover Girl and a small filler that costs as little as you can get. (TIP: CVS knows people like us are going to need small fillers, and they often have bins of these really good caramels on the counter that are about 35 cents. Also, this week would be a good week to hit the V-Day clearance candy. Find yourself something yummy to use as a filler.)
So, you'd have stuff that ends up costing just over 7.00, pay with the 7 ECBs you earned in the first transaction and some change from the bottom of your purse, and get another 7 back!

It seems like you're doing a lot of work to get just a few items, but if you do that just once a week, you'll soon have a closet full of stuff that you can use.

If you can get items for free, even if you will never use them, you should buy them. There are several local charities that would be thrilled to get the toothpaste, mouthwash, soap, bodywash, soup, fruit roll-ups, etc, etc, that you paid nothing for.

Weekly spending total: 27.35
Weekly savings total: 76.56
YTD spending total: 2308.72
YTD savings total: 3526.59