Study Break!

I was taking a break from studying today (surprise, surprise! --although I actually did get quite a bit done), brooding a little over our finances, not the least of which is that I've gotten called off of work twice this week and also our ING Savings rate has dropped another point. Then I saw that there was $22 left in our charity budget for the month and thought that a little charitable CVS-ing might be just the thing to cheer me up.

And so it was. Here's what I got:

Sure deodorant (3), $2.79 each
Pert Plus Shampoo (1), $3.99
Colgate MaxFresh Toothpaste (1), $2.99
Powerade (1), $1.69
2-pack CVS-brand sensitive-skin bar soap (2), $1.99 each
Not pictured: WellPatch Arthritis Relief Patches (4), $5.99 each

Here are the coupons I had:
$0.75/1 Sure
$1/1 Sure
$1/1 Pert Plus
$1/1 Colgate MaxFresh (CVS coupon)
$5/$30 CVS coupon (printed out when I went in the store and scanned my card)
$2 ECB

Total before coupons: $34 and change
Total after coupons: $22 (right on the money, or what? I didn't even necessarily calculate it out, just took advantage of whatever deals they had. My mom would call that shopping with God)
ECB: $24

Net: -$2

Not bad at all!

The way I did this trip was to take a certain amount of our predesignated charity budget and go to the store (with a list of the sales and my corresponding coupons pulled ahead of time) and see what I could get for it. Anytime I make a list ahead of time, one which intricately requires buying one thing to qualify for another, I am inevitably frustrated when something is out of stock and my plan is derailed. This was much better.

During my first transaction (in which I bought everything except 2 of the WellPatches), the clerk asked me if there were any more WellPatches left because she really depended on them for her arthritis. I told her no, I'd snagged the last two, but that I would be happy to give them to her because I was planning to donate them anyway and wasn't sure whether the shelter would take them. She went back and forth with me a time or two but I could tell she actually did want to take them, and finally she did. She also raved over my receipt at the end, saying "Smart girl! God bless! Look at all these Extra Bucks!" Yes, that's how I was feeling too.

I was bummed that they hadn't had any of the GUM toothbrushes in stock (2-packs for $3.99, free after ECB, limit 5; that's 10 free toothbrushes, and $1.25 in overage after coupons) so I went ahead and went to the other CVS in town. They also didn't have them (bummer), but they did have two more WellPatches, so I went ahead and bought them with my ECB from the previous two, received $11.98 more in ECB, and went back and gave them to the clerk at the first CVS, who was thrilled.

So now I have a net earning of $2 to spend, plus a pile of stuff to donate to the shelter, plus the experience of having personally helped somebody out in a little way. Not bad for an hour's work, and it definitely gave me back some perspective about the value of a dollar--or an Extra Buck.