More Than Moderate, but Not Quite Extreme, Couponing
Heaven help me if I become like those people on Extreme Couponing like the woman who bought 134 boxes of couscous just because she could. She admitted that she had never had couscous. Hope she and her family like the stuff or they have the sense to donate it!
Anyway, I have started using coupons more regularly again and have been venturing into more advanced couponing strategies like stacking. Yesterday, I made 2 trips to CVS and was able to score some good deals by stacking manufacturers' coupons, store coupons, and Extra Care Bucks (ECBs).
Let's review one of my deals.
Okay, it's a pack of Band-Aids and a tube of Neosporin. When The Revolution comes, that's not going to help much unless The Revolution involves getting a bunch of paper cuts, but stay with me.
Here is the cost of the items:
Band-Aids $4.69
Neosporin $6.79
Total: $11.48
Since neither items was on sale this sounds kind of pricey, but it gets better.
When I made my first trip to CVS, I used the coupon dispenser and received several coupons, two of which I later applied to this scenario. One coupon was for 30% off the entire purchase, but that did not apply to sale or promotional items. These items were full price so no problem there. I also had a store coupon for $3 off any first aid purchase of $10 or more and a newspaper coupon for $1.50 off of these two items when purchased together. Here's the breakdown:
MFR coupon: $1.50
store coupon: $3.00
store coupon: $3.33
Total: $7.83
Now for you math wizards out there, you are probably thinking, "hey, 30% off of $11.48 should be $3.44, not $3.33". My guess is that their policy is to apply the manufacturer's coupon first, which would bring the price down to $9.98. Regardless, it's still an excellent deal and here is how much I ended up paying:
$11.48 - $7.83 = $3.65
I also did not figure tax into the scenario or the 2% earned toward ECBs that can apply to future purchases. This was also not the best deal of the day, which was getting Zyrtec on sale for $5.99, then using a $5 coupon, and getting $5.99 back in ECBs. On this deal, the item was free and I actually earned $5! When I went back to CVS today I used that ECB to apply toward buying the remaining items I needed to earn a $10 gas card. I used some MFR coupons and bought several items on sale. In the end, I paid $11.87 for the items and netted the $10 card. What this amounts to is paying $1.87 for 5 boxes of cereal, 5 small bottles of dishwashing liquid, and 5 bottles of Sprite. There's nothing special about the number 5; it just worked out that way.
Now, of course, if I had been an extreme couponer, I would have gotten most of the items for free and the store would have been giving me cash! But I am not that skilled yet. Baby steps and all that.