CVS Coupons

Last night I went with a friend to the grocery store because she had a long list and wanted to get out of there as quick as possible because we were bringing her 5 month old.  We went to Publix instead of Wal-mart because it was closer to our house and Publix truly does making shopping a pleasure!  So before we checked out I told her to hold on I had some coupons from CVS.  I had two coupons for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more.  Well, I knew my friend had way more that $100 combined in both shopping carts.  So when we got up to the cash register I asked the lady if we they took CVS coupons (Publix does take competitor's coupons but I wasn't sure about CVS since it was more of a pharamacy than a grocery store).  To my excitement she said YES!  So I asked her if she didn't mind splitting up the order into two so we could use both coupons.  She said no problem.  I was able to save my friend $20 buy just using this method plus had I known what she needed ahead of time I am sure we could have found additional coupons online that she could have used to lower her order even more.

This morning I decided to go by CVS on my way to work since there is one right by my house and on the way to work.  I stopped in to their coupon machine and it spit out some great coupons for me.  Here is a list of the coupons I received:

$2 off Secret Clinical or Old Spice Clinial Deoderant expires 10/8/10
$5 off Halloween costumes, accessories or decor expires 10/8/10
$1 off any 2 Aussie or Herbal Essences Hair Care items - on sale this week at CVS expires 10/8/10
$2 off 2 Lysol Wipes expires 10/8/10
$1 Extra Care Bucks expires 11/21/10 - Not sure if this one can be used at Publix

So I will go back today during my lunch or tomorrow morning when I get my next day's coupons and definitely use the $5 off of Halloween stuff and maybe the $2 off of Secret Clinical Deorderant depending on how much it is.  I will also see if there are any coupons online for the deorderant.

Everyday I am going to stop by my local CVS to see what type of coupons I get.  I hope this post was helpful!!!

Coupons!!!

So there are tons of blogs out there regarding the art of using coupons.  So I am going to start to get the Sunday paper to see if this is worth all of the craze and savings people are saying it is.  First they recommend that you not only get 1 newspapers but 2!!!  This week I am only going to start out with 1 newspaper though just to see how this all works out.  Also, you must start saving your coupons because the deals normally come weeks later so that is when you can use the coupons.  So I took the advice of another blog and bought the larger city's newspaper rather than the Ocala Star Banner and bought the St. Petersburg/Tampa newspaper.  It only cost me $1.06 at Publix and it had more coupons in it than the Ocala Star Banner.  So I will hold on to these coupons until the specials come on for those products.  Of course I am only going to purchase the products I will use.  I shall keep you all informed.

E-Clubs

A lot of the restaurants and stores have e-clubs that you can sign up for.  So I started signing up for restaurants around town that we would eat at.  Here is a list of places I signed up for and received something for signing up:

IHOP - Free Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity entree

Applebee's - Free Appetizer

Logan's Roadhouse - $5 off any $20 food purchase

Moe's - Free cup of queso

Beef 'O Brady's - Free appetizer with purchase of entree
Sonny's - $5 off any $25 food purchase

I still have many more restaurants and stores to add so I will keep you updated.  I am also doing my research for the meals and restaurants we will be eating at for my study.  I am looking forward to seeing what the results are.

Sunday I will be getting a newspaper for the coupons and will begin seeing how much I can save from coupons.  

Thanks all for now!

Tip of the Day

Okay this is not a money saving tip at all but rather I tip I came up with and is geared towards people who have children.  When you go out to a restaurant order your child's meal as an appetizer.  This way your child's food arrives in plenty of time before yours so by the time your meal arrives they are almost finished eating.  This way you can eat your meal while it is still hot.  Just a little tip of the day!  Have a great weekend.

Intro

I know I spend countless hours online and never accomplish anything useful because I am normally on
Facebook looking at people’s pictures, reading what people have to say, etc. Well, that is a total waste
of time and instead of researching people I decided that maybe I should do something more productive
with the internet such as learn how to save money! There are tons of websites out there already
dedicated to money saving tips and where to find the best deals. It just takes time and patience to do
the research. Now some may say ‘my time is worth more than researching just to save a $1.’ Well, this
is true in some situations, but once you find the places with the resources it will not take nearly as much
time and just watch how the savings add up!!!

So I have decided to start a blog on how to save money and various tips I may have. Actually, what
inspired me was a found out there were others like me out there! I was speaking to my co-worker
and learned she too was frugal. I learned her or her husband NEVER cooks, which means no dishes to
be cleaned after a meal, no coming home to slave over a hot stove, no going to the grocery store, no
forgetting an ingredient at the grocery store and having to make a separate trip and no deciding what
to make and getting tired of the same old same old (those are quite a few pros to eating out every day
instead of cooking). So you are wondering how do they manage to eat out every day when eating out
costs so much? Well, they look for the deals around town. Most restaurants have one or several days
of the week with specials, but it is researching and finding those deals. Most restaurants have an e-club
where you can sign up and they will send you an e-mail to update you on current specials/offers they
have. Now this does sound like this will clog up your e-mail with tons of mail, but what I do is open a
separate e-mail account just for this type of thing!

So my husband loves to eat out and hates the clean up process of cooking at home. So I decided I will
do a study to see is it cheaper to eat at home or eat out every day for dinner? Of course we will have
to get the specials the restaurant is offering. The meals I cook at home must not be made from a box
but rather homemade where I buy all of the ingredients. Even if I already have the ingredients I will buy
new so I can get an accurate cost of everything. I have decided the following days October 11th – 15th
we will eat out for dinner every night. Then, the following days October 17th – 21st I will cook dinner
every night. These will be five day blocks due to our busy schedule and days I know we will be away.
Each day I will write about where we went, how much it cost, etc.

So before I start my study on October 11th I will be providing information on savings tips that I
find. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any tips as well. I am always looking for new ways to save!

Future Topics:

Get Every Meal Free For Your Birthday

Using Credit Cards to Pay You

Thanks!

~Frugal Girl~