A Newbie Goes Shopping!

Well, this was my first big shopping trip since discovering Money Saving Mom. I had a trial run at CVS last week and it was successful, so I felt ready to take on more. I searched the ads for CVS, Wal-green’s and Fry’s, matched my coupons, and read the blog entries. I wrote out my scenarios very carefully and tried to calculate how much I would be spending. I felt pretty confident that I would get some good deals, especially considering that my coupon stash is still pretty small, as is my ECB stash.

I decided to add in Wal-mart after reading MSM’s blog entry this morning.

So, my list for the afternoon was:

Wal-mart
Library
CVS
Wal-green’s
Fry’s

Here’s how the afternoon went: (Of course the newbie forgot to take pictures! My excuse, however, it that is was hot and we needed to get the food in the fridge)

1. Wal-mart: I should have remembered the YMMV rule and checked my Wal-mart ad online before venturing out. And, having not shopped at Wal-mart for about a year due to pregnancy and new baby exhaustion, I forgot why I hate it so much. So, I was all geared up for this trip, but it wasn’t as wonderful as I had hoped. My prices in general where not as great as those listed on MSM, so my saving were not as good. Also, I had to pass on a couple of things, like the Kashi cereal and the Honey Bunches of Oats cereal because my coupon said a specific brand and they didn’t have that specific brand. Oh, and they were out of the Gold Bond travel sizes, so no-go there.

My greatest mistake here was using the self-checkout. I forgot that using coupons were a problem here. First, I couldn’t get my internet coupons to scan. I guess I wasn’t doing it right. The associate was thrilled to help me, of course (sarcasm). Then, my Johnson’s Best Buddies coupons wouldn’t scan for the soap that I bought and I didn’t want to bug her again, so I let it go. I figured that I could do it at another store on my list (which I promptly fotgot to do).

The breakdown was:

Kotex pantyliner 18 ct $1.00 - $1 coupon = Free (This was the only Kotex that I could find for free. I can use it when I’m pregnant again.)

Colgate toothpaste $2.17-.75 coupon= $1.42 (Not on sale, but the kids were out)

Johnson’s Best Buddies EZ Grip Soap = .94 x 2 (my coupon wouldn’t take for this)

Bertolli Pasta Sauce $1.84 - $1 = .84

Kashi crackers $2.78 - $2 = .78

Cheerios snack mix $1.97 - $1.00 = .97 x 2

Total spent = 7.28

2. CVS: I was a little disappointed because they were out of the sticks. I’m not sure if it would have worked anyway, though, because the sticks label didn’t have the little ECB label on it. I debated back and forth and finally decided that I needed the sunscreen and it was a good deal, so I bought the bigger types, which were $9.99 each, so I basically got them for half off. When I checked out, the associate said “Oh, you get a free umbrella for buying two Coppertones.” We needed an umbrella and the price tag said $10, so I think in the end it worked out well. GRRR: I was holding a screaming baby in the end and didn’t notice that I lost 52 cents in the second trasaction.

Transaction 1:
Coppertone sunscreen 9.99 x 2 = 19.98

Used 9.49 ECBs that I earned last week

Paid 10.26 OOP

Earned 10.00 ECB, plus a free umbrella

Transaction 2:
Vaseline Lotion 5.99

Stay-free pads 4.49 x 2 - BOGO coupon - $1 coupon = 3.49 for two!

Gold Bond travel-size lotion .99 - .99 coupon = FREE

Used 10.00 ECB (really only 9.48; I wasn’t paying attention or I would have thrown in a candy bar)

Paid .52 OOP

Earned 3.50 ECB

3. Wal-greens: This turned out a little yucky. I accidentally got the wrong size of Desitin, so my Register Reward didn’t print out. When I asked the associate why my RR didn’t print, he called for the manager. The manager had an attitude and made this comment “I hate all this ‘deal-getting’.” He was quite snotty and rude and let me know by his words and body language that this was a huge inconvience for him. Especially when he found out that I intended to re-do the deal, and THEN purchase the Pringles and the Kleenex AND I also had coupons for them. I decided that I was going to be as kind as possible and said "Thank you" multiple times, but he was a jerk through and through, especially when we found out that it was my fault that the RR didn’t print. Then, he told me that he wouldn’t let me re-do the deal a second time. So, I cheerfully said “Okay, I’ll just put this second set back.” To which he looked quite bemused because he realized that he had just lost that sale! I honestly don’t know if I’m going to go back to that Wal-green’s, but seriously, there is a Wal-green’s on every corner, so it’s not like it matters.

Transaction 1:

Johnson’s Body Wash 5.99 – 1.00 IVC – 1.00 coupon = 3.99

Children’s Tylenol 4.99

Desitin 4.99 (should have been 5.99) – 1.00 IVC = 3.99

Total 14.30

Earned $5 Register Rewards

Transaction 2:

Pringles chips 1.50 x 3 – Wal-green’s coupon to reduce to .79 - .30/3 = 2.07

Kleenex 2.19 x 4 – Wal-green’s coupon to reduce to 1.00 = 4.00

Used $5 Register Rewards

Paid 1.38 OOP

4. Fry’s: Fry’s was great. I’m not going to write out my entire receipt, I’ll just give you some high-lights. I’m not a stranger to grocery store sales, so I felt much more confident here. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see all of my coupons bonused to $1 total. Due to the wording of the policy, I thought that it only applied to coupons up to .33, but all of my coupons had X amount added to make it $1.

Dole salads, Bush’s baked beans, popsicles and Bar-S Franks were all .77 when you spent $25

Pasta Roni 1.00 - .50 coupon doubled = Free! X 2

Fry’s chips 1.00

Lawry’s marinade 1.00 – 1.00/2 = .50 each

I can’t remember everything else. My total was 178.94, minus 28.17 in manufacture coupons, minus 4.15 in bonus coupons, minus 74.24 in VIP

Total spent: 72.38, total savings 60%

So, my Grand total for the day was $257.72

Total OOP: $106.12, plus 3.50 ECBs left-over, 59% saved

I'm happy! and I learned some good lessons. I'll do better next time.