Savy Shopping: CVS big time savings.

Yes, I have succumbed to the seemingly cliche phrase: Savy Shopping. Cute huh? Play on my name? :P

Ok, moving on. So today I had the pleasure to take a friend coupon shopping with me. She saved 68% on beauty products. I think I have made a believer out of her. 

My goal in this is to encourage people that, although it takes a little bit of time and a little bit of commitment, coupon shopping is totally worth it. Our budget has been tight since we moved, due to higher bills and other random happenstances,etc. But I am thankful that my diligent couponing and stockpiling has brought us through with a bit more ease than I would have suspected before I started couponing. So I thought I would share with you examples of successful coupon shopping. 


 

These are real live shopping trips. I actually do the work ahead of time, got to the store, and (hopefully) come out victorious. Does every trip go the way I planned? No. But when it does, I feel like a pirate finding treasure. *cue Pirate theme song* (You know you hear it)

So today I went to CVS for a couple of needs we needed to stockpile on,  as well as some lucky finds that I got super cheap. :)

Total on this shopping trip, you ask? $4.34 :)

Allow me to explain. 

Transaction #1
Robitussin $4.99 (saved 2.40, sale price)
Robitussin $4.99 (saved 2.40, sale price)
Buy 2 Robitussin Products, receive $3.00 Extra Bucks
     Manufacturer coupon, -3.00/1 (clipped from redplum insert)
     Manufacturer coupon, -3.00/1 (clipped from redplum insert)
     CVS coupon, -1.50 (received from coupon machine when I got there, didn't expect that :)
final price: $3.33 total, Received $3.00 CVS coupon

Transaction #2
Pepsi Next $1.00 (saved $0.99, sale price)
Pepsi Next $1.00 (saved $0.99, sale price)
Pepsi Next $1.00 (saved $0.99, sale price)
Pepsi Next $1.00 (saved $0.99, sale price) 
Nabisco Chips Ahoy $2.37
Nabisco Chips Ahoy FREE (Buy one, get one free sale)
      Pepsi coupon, -1.00/2 items (clipped form pepsi insert)
      Pepsi coupon, -1.00/2 items (clipped form pepsi insert)
      Nabisco coupon, -1.00/2 items (printed online)
      CVS coupon, -3.00, received from transaction #1
final price: $1.01

Trip totals:
Spent: $4.34
Saved: $24.63

That's 85% savings! :D

My friend also made a pretty darn good amount of savings. 
Spent $5, saved $12 on beauty products? not bad for a first trip. :)

You might be thinking, "She's a witch! BURN HER!"
But if you're wondering what my tricks are, I'll help you out a little. 
 

• I follow The Krazy Coupon Lady. She does most of my work for me.On her blog you can find an entiree list of every coupon available online. She also outlines weekly reports of store sales and coupon match ups. 
• I buy four papers every week that there are coupon inserts.This week I got really lucky, because there were four different inserts. Sometimes there is only one, or none. Make sure the inserts are in there before you buy the paper. Made that mistake before. 
• Typically you will find a Smartsource and/or a Redplum insert. Periodically (once a months, sometimes twice) there will be a Proctor & Gamble insert. If you are really lucky there is an extra one. For example, this week Pepsi put out one of their "Pepsi Moments" inserts. Thats where I got my Pepsi coupons, as well as other snacks and drinks. 
• Don't blow your coupons because they are there. Save them up until you find a great sale to match them will. The best occurrences of this are when store put out store coupons, which you can combine with corresponding manufacturer coupons (from inserts or online). You can also wait for buy one get one free sales, on which you can usually use a coupon on the first item, AS WELL AS the free one. Double savings. Such places include Publix and Winn Dixie. 

There are way more tips. I learned pretty much everything I know from the Krazy Coupon Lady's blog, or the book, titled Get another Check Out Lane, Honey.