CVS 10/28

I know I've been absent for the last seven weeks, but I did a great deal today and needed to write it out.

Background: We are going on vacation next week and one of the things that works well with the kids is to give them each a CD player with their own headphones. Well, one broke, so we needed a new CD player, and two sets of headphones. However, I knew that my husband would not be pleased to see money spent on that, so I had to come up with a way to get the items without breaking the bank.

Here's what I came up with:

1. First of all, I needed to have a prescription filled. We just switched over to private insurance after being on state aid for a few years and so I'm finally eligible for those "$25 gift card deals"! My co-pay is $10. I had a coupon for the $25 gift card deal and a $10 ECB. That would give me $35 to work with.

2. When I got to CVS, the first thing I did was scan my card at the coupon center. I got a $10/$50 coupon and a coupon for $1/2 Gold Emblem candy.

3. After turning in my prescription, I looked for the CD player and headphones. They had a CD player for $19.99 that would work and came with one set of headphones. Unfortunately, they were out of the cheaper headphones, so I held off on that for the moment.

4. Next, I turned to the batteries. Duracell is on special: Buy $15, get $5 ECB. I got C and AA batteries for the CD players. As I held the AA battery package, I noticed that it came with a free set of earbuds!!! I'm sure that they are cheap, but as long as they last the trip, I'm thrilled. I don't have to buy another set of headphones!!!!

5. I added up my purchases so far and had $39. I wanted to use the $10/$50 coupon but wasn't sure what to buy, and didn't really want to spend more the save more. Then I remembered that I had more free Pampers gift cards in my wallet. A package of Pampers would put me over the $50 amount, but I wouldn't have to pay another because the diapers would be free.

6. Finally, I added five snack packs of cookies and crackers that were on sale 5/$5. These will be good for our trip.

Paid for my prescription: $10 and got my $25 gift card.

Here's the breakdown of my checkout:

5 cookie/cracker packs @ 1.00 each
3 packs of batteries @ 5.99 each, plus free ear-buds
1 CD player @ 19.99
2 Gold Emblem candies @ .99 each
1 pack Pampers @ 11.99

Used:

$10/$50 CVS coupon
$1/2 Gold Emblem Candy
Free Pampers gift certificate (only took off 10.99)
$10 ECB

Total was $27.34

Used $25 Gift Card

Paid $2.34 Cash

Earned $5 ECB

I'm so excited to tell my husband that we got a CD player and 2 sets of headphones for free!!!