CVSing: Sunday's Bargain Shopping

We're going away on vacation for the next week or so (I'm actually typing this from the road), and we stopped by at CVS on Sunday to onload the $33.98 worth of Extra Bucks we picked up last time.

We'd had a busy weekend with a family event followed by the first session of my new Dungeons & Dragons game on Saturday, and then the Chowderfest on Sunday, so I didn't get a chance to look over the CVS circular until we were actually in the store. I wanted to use up all the Extra Bucks because I was concerned they would expire if we didn't use them before our trip. I didn't stick to only sale items this time. I also tried something new: I bought a book that I'm going to put up for sale in my online bookstore at half.com (note: I included the link, but the shop is actually on vacation until next week). This is definitely not an efficient way of converting Extra Bucks to cash, but I might continue to throw a book purchase into the mix every once in a while. My store could benefit from more selection, especially of stuff in like-new condition.

We also had a "$5.00 off a $25.00 order" CVS coupon that was on its last day.

We did find some nice deals. Soy Joy powerbars were "free after Extra-Bucks" AND I had a buy-two-get-one-free manufacturer's coupon. CVS brand bandaids were also "free after Extra-Bucks". There was a good deal on Colgate toothpaste that had it at about $.50 after Extra Bucks. We didn't need toothpaste, but bought some for the box we're putting together to donate to a local shelter.

There is also a deal this week on toilet paper and paper towel that looked pretty good, but that we didn't take advantage of because we're well stocked on those items.

Here's what we ended up getting (once again, this is not as focused on sale items because we were scrambling to spend all the Extra Bucks we had).

Unfortunately, some of the "regular" prices on our sale items didn't print on the receipt, so I don't have all the information on sale pricing.

We bought:

3 tubes Colgate Total Advantage toothpaste @$2.49 (reg. $2.99)
4 Soy Joy bars @$1.00 (sale, not sure of reg. price; also one was free due to manufacturer's coupon)
2 boxes CVS Plastic Bandages @$1.99 (reg. $2.49)
1 paperback book (a Dean Koontz novel) @$7.99
1 pair Magnavox headphones @$6.99
1 Revlon hair-band @$4.99
1 pack barettes @$2.99
2 padded mailers @$1.99

Total Before Sale Pricing (estimate): $43.85

Total after sales but before coupons/Extra Bucks: $42.52

When we subtract out the two coupons and all the Extra Bucks and add in the sales tax, we get...

Total I Actually Paid: $3.59 (!)

And, of course, the best part is the Extra Bucks we got back.

Extra Bucks Received: $13.98

This was the first time I actually got to the point that the Extra Bucks received was more than the total in cash I paid. You better believe that felt good.

If you're looking to do some bargain-hunting, all the sales and Extra Bucks promotions mentioned in this article should be good through Saturday.