My New Obsession

The background:
I love stuff. Always have. And I love shopping; doesn't matter what kind. Sometime in college my grandmother started a new tradition. Instead of giving us just money or whatever new trendy (but totally worthless) item we had on our Christmas lists, she would give us a laundry basket or Rubbermaid tote filled to the brim with the essentials. Sometimes you got 6 tubes of toothpaste and 12 toothbrushes, 3 deodorants, toilet paper, paper towels, Glade plug ins, air fresheners,foil, coffee, sandwich bags etc. Just imagine; the best part about the baskets was going through them. Sometimes we traded items with one another, sometimes we "stole" items when the other wasn't looking. It got to the point where we expected these baskets, and if we happened to run out of toothpaste in early December we just started using the samples from the dentist;there was no point in buying a full tube, we knew we'd be getting some. Christmas 2008 was the first Christmas in years that she didn't do the baskets. It had become too much work, cutting the coupons, getting the best deals, driving from store to store, not to mention the fact she had a walk in closet that was just storage for everything she collected over the year. I really missed my basket.

Current State:
I have a new obsession; CVS/Walgreens/Target couponing (is it any wonder?). I discovered some other blogs about how much money you can save when you pay attention to the ads, the easy saver books, using your Extra Care Card, Register Rewards, Manufacturer's coupons and store coupons. I've never had the patience for all of that before. But in this weakening economy I'm starting to think it would be well worth the effort for a few hours/week of research. So I started this week. I've always had the Extra Care Card and I remember getting the coupons but I don't think I ever used one (gasp, I know its a sin to let one go to waste, its pure $$$).

On Sunday I grabbed a paper from the grocery store when I did the banana run. Then I sat down went through all the store ads and coupons (plus I had coupons I had printed online earlier in the week) and I matched up all the best sales with the best coupons. When I was done I had three adds, with items circled in black sharpie and the corresponding coupons clipped to them.

Sunday afternoon I dropped off a new prescription and transferred an old one from WAG (Wal-Greens). CVS gave me a $25 gift card for the prescriptions. Then I used my coupons and the CVS ads to buy the great sale items that also gave me the CVS Extra Care $$. Here is what I got:

• 4 12 packs of Coke Products $13; earned $3 ECB's
• 1 box Cheerios, 2 boxes of Nature Valley granola bars $10; earned $5 ECB's
• 1 Gallon 2% milk (just because we were out)

I spent the $25 gift card, used 2 $.60 off Nature Valley MFG's, $1.00 Cheerios's MFG. My total OOP expense was $1 (tax) and I earned $8 in ECB's!

Sounds like a winner to me. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture before the granola bars and half the Cheerios's had been consumed. We like our cereal and granola in the Wear house.