The Frugal FireWife: CVS

With the luck I've been having lately, I decided to not bother with trying for the early deals last night, so I got up and out early this morning, and was at the first CVS by 8:00am. At least, my body was there...apparently my brain was still home in bed asleep. Even though I was carrying a list, spelled out, what I was supposed to buy, I forgot the Listerine.

The boy rang up my $5/$30 first, then my ECBs, then my coupons. Of course since my total was $3.00 less than I had been planning, I had overpaid in ECBs, and then it wouldn't accept my last coupon.

Transaction #1

$6.99 Revlon Lipstick x 3

$5.99 Nivea Body Wash

$2.49 Thermacare x 5

$1.99 Aleril

= $41.40

-5.00/30.00

-2.00 Revlon x 3

-2.00 Nivea

-1.00 Thermacare x 4

-3.99 ECB

-5.00 ECB

-6.99 ECB

-10.00 ECB

Total: -1.58 + 1.85 tax = $0.27 oop

Received: $1.00 Green Bag Tag, $1.99 Aleril, $5.00 Nivea, $12.45 Thermacare, $15.00 Revlon = $35.44

= $9.19 Profit

*I had $55.54 ECBs, and had planned to blow the remaining $29.15 left after today's purchases - since I was getting back over $35.00 ECBs to work with later on - but I couldn't find anything worth blowing them on.

Transaction #2

$6.99 Revlon Lipstick x 2

$5.99 Nivea Body Wash

$2.49 Thermacare x 5

= $32.42

-5.00/30.00

-2.00 Revlon x 2

-2.00 Nivea

-1.00 Thermacare x 5

-1.99 ECB

-3.99 ECB

-10.00 ECB

Total: $0.44 + 1.92 = $2.36 oop

Received: $5.00 Nivea, $10.00 Revlon, $12.45 Thermacare = $27.45

= $9.11 Profit

*Happened again; I had another $32.00 ECBs in addition to the ones I spent on my purchase I was planning to blow, but couldn't find anything I wanted to buy today. Maybe later in the week.

Transaction #3

*The first time I tried to do Transaction #3, I knew I was in trouble when the cashier pointed at my coupons on the counter and asked "Do you want me to scan all those?".

The Revlon coupons beeped - as usual - so she slid them back at me. I wouldn't take them, and told her they always beep, I don't know why, but at the other CVS, they push a button and it takes them. So she called a manager, who was actually only a Shift Supervisor. Then she scanned the Listerine coupon and it beeped, too.

So the Shift Supervisor came out and looked at the coupons and the items and scanned the Revlon and it said Item Not Found. I said well you can clearly see I bought Revlon cosmestics. So she comes up with that stupid "It's only for the items pictured on the coupon" BS. I pointed out it says ANY, but she argued with me. She was right, I was wrong, Case closed.

She offered to take the lipstick off...I told her she could take the whole thing off, I was taking my business elsewhere.

Since my $5/$30 had already scanned, it would beep as already being used at another CVS, so I had to come all the way back home and get another one. I figured she'd call the other CVSs in the area and tell them to not take my Revlon coupons anyway, so fie on her. I went to another town.

At the next one, the girl didn't even try to scan them, and entered them manually from the first, and didn't have any problem selling me my items.

I was late getting there, though, and they only had 4 Thermacare left :-( Had to substitute with an Aleril to bring my total up near $30.00.

$6.99 Revlon x 2

$3.99 Listerine

$2.49 Thermacare x 4

$1.99 Aleril

= $29.92

-5.00/30.00

-2.00 Revlon x 2

-1.00 Listerine

-1.00 Thermacare x 4

-3.99 ECB