Money Savings
So lately I have been doing my best to save money. And by that I mean, either not spending it or not paying full price for any particular item.
This actually takes work. I spend time on the Internet, looking up coupons and sales (did you know you can print some coupons from websites nowadays?). I check the flyers and the coupons I have on hand. I make up my list for the stores I am going to go to.
I now go to more than one store. It used to be that I would just go to the grocery store and buy everything there. The only exception to that was the monthly trip to Costco to get paper goods, bottled water and weight loss shakes. Now, I go to my grocery store, but I have added CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and Target to the list of places to get my deals.
So today, I went to CVS, Walgreens and Stop & Shop. Here’s the breakdown:
CVS: $6.56 OOP (out of pocket) bought 2 packs of Kotex and 2 packs of Lifesaver candies. I used 2 coupons to get to that total. CVS has a program called Extra Care Bucks (ECB), which is basically money you earn when you purchase specific items. I didn’t have any ECB’s from any previous purchases, but when you do, it’s cool to see the prices go down even more.
Walgreens: $12.14 OOP on my first transaction bought Windex bottle, Crest Pro Health rinse, 2 Listerine bottles and a can of Scrubbing Bubbles. I had manufacturer’s coupons, plus Walgreens Register Rewards to bring down that total to 12.14. Register Rewards are just like CVS’s ECB’s – free money for buying specific products. In theory, you use the Register Rewards (or ECB’s) on your next transaction… which of course can be about 2 seconds after you have earned them! So, on my second transaction, with the Register Rewards I earned and Walgreens + manufacturer’s coupons, I spent $12.18 on: 3 cans of Progresso soups, Chex mix, Centrum chewables, Neosporin ointment, Tylenol PM and a 4 pack of Duracell AAA batteries. So overall, according to the receipts, I have “saved” (aka not spent) $33.95.
Stop & Shop: According to my receipt, I saved $21.00 and the amount charged was $48.32. That $21.00 was made up of Stop & Shop card savings, personal thanks savings, and manufacturer’s coupons. This is very low for groceries – but I didn’t buy much meat or junk food this week.
I still have Target on my list – they have soda and Nutrigrain bars on sale. I may or may not get there – it’s not particularly close to home, but if I end up taking The Boy to karate, I can drop him off and run there quick during his class.
I have also started a price book. This is basically a reference guide to determine what I have paid for an item (either on sale or regular price) – so I can tell if the deal I have in front of me is really a deal or not. I have it set up in Excel for easy sorting. Categories I have:
Store
Date
Category (this matches my coupon organizer book)
item
size (1 lb, 16 oz, 3 packs, etc)
Price Paid
Unit Price (automatically calculated by Excel)
Sale/Regular price – so I can tell if the item was at a regular price or sale price
I just made this on Saturday, and already it’s helped me out. I’ve read for a while that you really need to have a price book, and now I see why. I can now figure out if a unit price is good or not. And this is particularly helpful in this age of “grocery shrink”. Ever hear of that? It’s when the size of a product is reduced, usually slightly or not enough to notice a change in packaging size – but the price stays the same. So, for instance, say you paid $2.00 for a jar of peanut butter. And then two weeks later you pay another $2.00 for a jar of peanut butter. But the first time, it was 32 oz. and the second time it’s only 30 oz. But you couldn’t tell looking at the jar on the shelf – the company changed the bottom of the jar and took away those 2 ounces. So instead of paying $0.0625 per ounce, you are now paying $0.0667 per ounce. And with a price book, you can figure that out instantly.
The other benefit of the price book is I now have a “bottom line” price. That means, I won’t pay anything above that “bottom line” price for an item. I now will not purchase any soda if I am paying more than $0.25 per can (excluding deposit).
Of course, it is a bit weird to realize that a square of toilet paper can range from $0.00161 per sheet to $0.00323!!