Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful & relaxing weekend. Ours was action-packed & went way too fast and now I’m facing this Monday morning with a messy house to clean, 2 (still!) jet-lagged girls to contend with, a huge stack of yet-unopened mail & bills to sort through, several weeks’ worth of coupons to organize, & a mountain of laundry yet to fold. Sometimes I wonder if going on vacation is really worth dealing with the aftermath. Sigh. I’m going to need a lot more coffee…
And now that that the whine fest is over–I just had to get it out of my system–here is what I got:
At CVS I spent $17.11 for $77.97 worth of groceries & drugstore merchandise, a savings of 78%
I always hate spending more than $10 OOP when I go to the drugstore, but I didn’t have any ECBs to start with, so there wasn’t much I could do. It also killed me to not have any coupons to use for the Raisin Bran I found on clearance but $0.99 is still a great price, and since Raisin Bran is Husband’s favorite cereal, I grabbed it anyway. On a brighter note, everything I got was stuff we really needed (or wanted, in the case of my all-time favorite drink, Honest Tea!) Sometimes I feel like I come home with a load of stuff that I will use eventually, but don’t necessarily need in the immediate future.
Transaction 1 Get $6.79 Extra Bucks WYB RepHresh Brilliant Tampons, 18ct (limit 1) @ – $6.79 (bought 1) (1) $1 off RepHresh Brilliant Tampons Printable Final price: FREE + $1 profit Get $2 Extra Bucks WYB (5) Honest Tea, 16.9oz (limit 1) @ – $1.00 (bought 6) (6) $1/1 Honest Tea printable (recyclebank) Final price: FREE + $2 profit Total OOP: $6.62, got back $6.79 & $2 ECBs Transaction 2 Get $4 Extra Bucks WYB (2) Huggies Pull-Ups (limit 1) @ – $9.00 (bought 2) (2) $2/1 Huggies Pull-ups printable Final price: $5 each Used $8.79 ECBs, Total OOP: $6.47, got back $4 ECBs Transaction 3 Wisk Laundry Detergent, BOGO – $8.49 (bought 2) (2) $2/1 Wisk Laundry Detergent, exp. 6/26/11 (RP 05/15/11) or (RP 06/26/11) Final price: $2.25 each Kellogg’s Raisin Bran, CLEARANCE-$0.99 (bought 3) Used $4 ECBs, Total OOP: $4.02, no ECBs leftover
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At Publix I spent $31.65 for $82.16 worth of groceries, a savings of 62%.
Once again, my focus was on healthier Weight-Watchers friendly items. I decided to grab some more cottage cheese and was shocked to discover that the regular price had gone up by $0.40 since I bought it 4 days ago! Food is definitely getting more expensive, which makes saving money with coupons that much more important!
Grocery Breakdown Lean Cuisine 7.5 to 10.87 oz – $2.00 $1/3 Lean Cuisine Product, exp. 7/10 (Publix, Summer Pleasures) Final Price $1.67 each Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese 4-pack-$3.09 $1/1 Breakstone’s Cottage Cheese 4 pack (SS 5/22/11) Final price: $2.09 each Sundown Natural Vitamins – $3.79 (Green Advantage Flyer) $1/1 Sundown Naturals printable $6/2 Sundown Naturals or Osteo Bi-Flex Product, exp. 7/15/11 (Publix Green Advantage Flyer) Final price: FREE + $0.21 profit! Caribou Coffee – $5.99 (Yellow Advantage Flyer) $2/1 Caribou Coffee, exp. 7/18/11 (Publix Smart Saving Booklet) $1/1 Caribou Coffee Printable (use zip 60514) Final price: $2.99 Dixie Crystals Sugar, 5lb bag-$2.99 $0.55/1 Dixie Crystals Sugar, 5lb or larger (Publix Smart Savings Booklet) $0.50/1 Dixie Crystals Granualated Sugar, 5lbs or larger printable Driscoll’s Raspberries-$2.00 $0.50/1 Driscoll’s Berries printable (subscribe to receive email coupon) Strawberries-$2.50 Blueberries-$2.00 $2.00 off Publix Produce printable (sign up & then share with 3 friends) Publix 2% Milk, 1 Gallon-$3.85
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Altogether I spent $48.76 for $160.13 worth of groceries and drugstore merchandise, an average savings of 70% for the day.
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Shopping lists prepared at:
Be sure to check out next week’s Publix matchups posted today! It is going to be another awesome week!
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Tasha June 27, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Question! My Publix takes Kroger coupons. The Sundown vitamins have a $6 off of 2 in the green advantage flier. I also have 2 $1 off of 1 manufacturer coupons and 2 $1 off of 1 Kroger coupons. Can I use all three of these?
Ruth June 27, 2011 at 4:10 pm
In days gone by many Publix stores (mine included) would’ve accepted all 3 but now the new corporate coupon policy specifically states that EITHER a store coupon OR a competitor’s coupon will be accepted.
http://www.savingwellspendingless.com/coupon-policies/publix-coupon-policy/
Dawn June 29, 2011 at 7:04 pm
I have a similiar question…Publix takes Target coupons. Can I use a manufacturer’s coupon and a Target store coupon on the same item?
Krista July 8, 2011 at 12:00 am
Dawn, if your Publix store accepts Target as a competitor (call to make sure) then the answer to your question is YES!! You can use one manufacturer’s coupon and one store coupon (either Publix or competitor) per item purchased. Therefore, always remember you can have up to two coupons per item purchased at Publix.
Heather June 27, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Hey Ruth! I found you on YouTube awhile ago and have been a follower since, and I use the honest tea coupons at CVS as well, I was wondering if you have any problems using 5 at a time because mine say that you can only use 1 per customer, per transaction.
Ruth June 27, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Really? Oh shoot, I didn’t catch that at all! The manager that was ringing me up didn’t look either, but if you have a store that is more stringent, you could just do them all in separate transactions. Your CVS card will track how many you purchase and then print your ECB after 5. Thanks for letting me know!
Rachel June 27, 2011 at 6:24 pm
Ruth I’ve stumbled across your videos back in May and I was immediately hooked. I’m on maternity leave right now and I am loving it. I really want to coupon so that I can take a longer leave with my next kiddo. I absolutely love your site and can’t wait for your next video. I had my best CVS extreme couponing ever today. I spent 24 cents for over $48 worth of stuff. I got 4 cans of pringles, 4 dove men’s body washes, 2 dove men’s deodorants, 4 palmolives, and 2 caramels. I did have $10 in ECB from last week which helped w/ my total. My CVS had the dove men’s products priced at $3 each instead of $3.50 and $5 so I lucked out so much and those are my hubby’s favorites. PLUS I have $5 in ECB for next time. Who knew shopping could be so fun?
Kempy June 27, 2011 at 8:24 pm
I have been following you for a few months and amazed at everything you do. I just can’t seem to figure this whole thing out. I have a big supply of Q and try to work the ads like you say in the 8 week baby steps. I just never seem to get more than a 40% savings and my oop is WAY higher than your ever are. I am so frustrated!!!
Patricia June 28, 2011 at 12:32 am
Kempy- Some weeks are better then others when you coupon its just a matter of matching the coupons with the sales to save the most money. Sometimes I save 25% and sometimes 90%. It’s getting alot harder to get all the good deals but you can still save alot, it just takes alot of work.
I’m glad that you had a great vacation Ruth! I’m soo jealous that you wento to Alaska!! Me and my hubby want to do an Alaskan cruise, hopefully soon!
You did great on your shopping trip!
Mary Ledford June 28, 2011 at 3:09 am
Today is Monday. One day after the sale started at CVS. I went to CVS in Waynesville, NC this afternoon and they were already out of 4 of the items I had on my list to buy. Do they not realize that they have a sale and people want to buy the items without having to make 2 or more trips. UGH! Ideas?
Thanks! Mary
Paige June 28, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Hey Ruth, just a heads up. Keep those UPCs from the Raisin Bran. when you get 10 UPS, you can send them into Kellogg’s and get a FREE $10 gas card.
http://www2.kelloggs.com/aarp/rewards/FIMSingle.pdf
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Ruth June 29, 2011 at 11:35 am
Ruth,
I am pretty new to your blog and I love it. Thank you for all the great advice you give. I am trying to save more and more using coupons. Things are getting more expensive and we need to save wherever we can.
Love your videos, too!
Ruth