The Beginning

Hmmm, where to begin?  I guess I can begin by sharing my motivation to even start blogging in the first place.  My sister blogs and she blogs a lot about yummy recipes.  She even posts pictures of her baking creations in a way that shows you the whole process from start to finish.  I thought that was such a great idea!  Words can tend to get boring but pictures will make your mouth water!  I have a 13 month old son, Parker, and I have learned that a book with pictures can hold his attention for at least two pages.  If it doesn't have pictures you can forget about it!

I have journaled on and off again since the second grade when I had one of those diaries with a lock and key so that no once else could read about how mean Sara was to me in school or how devastating it was to have my long time crush, Josh, break up with me.  (Is it just me, or is second grade way too young to "go out"??)  I journal regularly now and have been since we found out we were pregnant with Parker.  I wanted a way to document the pregnancy process and hopefully share it with him someday.  I get to journal now about all of his milestones so that I can look back and remember October 28th, when he first slept through the night; December 9th, when he first laughed; June 5th, when he took his first steps, etc. etc.  But journals don't have pictures so I found my answer in blogging.  I also feel like I can cover a wider variety of topics.

So today I want to talk about CVS!  So deep, I know.  I started couponing a few months ago and have fallen in love with CVS and ExtraCare Bucks (ECBs).  For those familiar with ECBs, I have found that the key is to find those deals in the CVS weekly add and use the same amount in ECBs from previous purchases to get the new ECBs deals.  For example:

You have $10 ECBs from a previous purchase

One of this week's ECBs deals is to buy $25 worth of P&G products and get $10 in ECBs.

So you use the $10 ECBs from a previous purchase to get another $10 in ECBs.  That way, you are constantly getting "money" from CVS to spend on your next purchase!  

This information is so un-original, I get all of my coupon bargains from www.southernsavers.com.  But there is a lot of information out there so for someone who is a beginner to couponing like me, this is a lot less overwhelming (I hope).


For me, it ends up becoming a challenge...how much can I get from CVS for how little money?  Well, here's what I got today.

This was the deal: Spend $25 on P&G, get $10 ECBs

So I bought:
Downy Liquid Softener

Gain Laundry Detergent

Tide Laundry Detergent

This was the deal:Get $2.99 ECBS on Colgate Total

So I bought:
Colgate Total

This was the deal: B1G1FREE on Softsoap Bodywash
So I bought:

2 Softsoap Bodywashes

All for a total of $14.09 out of pocket with $12.99 in ECBs for future purchases.  I saved a total of $40.35 today!

Here's what I used to get this deal:

$10 ECBs

$3 ECBs
$5 off $40 purchase (I got this in an email from CVS)
$1.00 off Tide Coupon (PG 9/26)
$1.00 off Gain Coupon (PG 10/10)
$.75 off Colgate (SS 10/3)
$.75 off Softsoap (SS 10/3)
$2.50 off Downy (I got this from a free Downy sample I requested online using www.freebies4mom.com)


Happy Couponing and Happy Savings!!!