DH and I disagree on CVS deals!

**Mamaw** · 06-09-2008, 06:56 PM

While I am not nearly as good as some of you with the CVS deals, I think I have been getting better. Yesterday I hit the store and got the following items:

2 Dove Body Wash
6 General Mills Cereals
2 Dove Deodorants
1 Schick Quatro Razon
2 Oral Cross Action toothbrushes
2 Nivea body wash for men
1 Nivea shaving creme

I used CVS Bucks and coupons to the tune of 32.56 and paid an additional 37.24 in cash
I know that sounds like alot but, I got back CVS bucks in the amount of 36.98 for my next shopping trip.

So in theory, I am really out of pocket a grand total of .26 cents.
My goal in buying the items that I did was to add to the stockpile items that I know we will need eventually.
I think this is the goal of the CVS bucks. DH, while he sort of understands, is stuck on the idea that I spent 37.24 in cash for items we do not need right at this minute in time. I understand his opinion but it seems to me that if I can keep rolling over bucks to buy more and more items for the stockpile then it is worth it.

What do you all think? Am I missing the whole idea? Am I making a mistake? I could go and spend the bucks and call it quits if I have this all wrong. HELP!

**dancar3** · 06-09-2008, 07:08 PM

I think you definitely got it. CVS is a great place to get such good deals and hopefully he knows that you can actually make money when you have the cpns for these deals. I love being able to roll over the ECB's to keep getting free items, and sometimes when you have a nice amount built up, like you do, it can help time to time in buying milk, eggs, ect....when you've already used up your grocery budget money and then build it back up again. Has he gone w/ you on one of these shopping trips? My dh undertstood, but when he actually shopped and saw how much money in ecb's we were getting back, he couldn't believe it....he was hooked too. I think you're doing a terrific job!

**Jskell911** · 06-09-2008, 07:54 PM

My DH is the same way. I have learned to leave the H&B stuff behind unless they pay me or we really need it. But the food and drinks, paper products, etc are fair game!

**FrugalMomof3** · 06-09-2008, 08:05 PM

I think you did good, I have to start getting into shopping at CVS and learn the ropes myself.

**Frugal Nurse** · 06-09-2008, 08:20 PM

Devils Advocate here!
Sorry!
2 Dove Body Wash- Body wash? Do you NEED body wash or will a .20 cent bar of soap do.
6 General Mills Cereals- Do you NEED GM cereal? full of fake stuff. Would buying longlasting staples of oatmeal, WW flour, blueberries and such offer a better more healthful breakfast?
2 Dove Deodorants - do you really NEED deoderant. Kidd'n ya! probably do... but I would have bought the generic lowest cost one. (you didn't REALLY get it for free yanno)
1 Schick Quatro Razon - he NEEDS a disposable razor? what is more frugal ... a reusable or disposable?
2 Oral Cross Action toothbrushes -excellent purchase. I'm all about dental hygeine. It's not about the cross action... its about the 'action'. so a generic would do just fine as long as it's done.
2 Nivea body wash for men - Does your husband ACTUALLY admit to using this? Does he NEED it? A cheap bar of soap is what men really want to use. Ask him.
1 Nivea shaving creme - Some men are real fussy- I'm not a man, so I don't know for sure about this. But is Barbesol cheaper? or the kind you fluff on with a brush? Ask him

Just wanted to point out a serious flaw with WANT vs NEED.
Not picking on you. I think you got marvelous deals for someone who likes to buy that stuff. I just get a little funny feeling to hear it called.... 'needs' when what it really is .... is a 'want'.

Need is something simplistic. Want is something 'fashionable'.

Cheer- ree- o!

**Grandma Lewis** · 06-09-2008, 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by Mamaw

I used CVS Bucks and coupons to the tune of 32.56 and paid an additional 37.24 in cash
I know that sounds like alot but, I got back CVS bucks in the amount of 36.98 for my next shopping trip.

So in theory, I am really out of pocket a grand total of .26 cents.
My goal in buying the items that I did was to add to the stockpile items that I know we will need eventually.

What do you all think? Am I missing the whole idea? Am I making a mistake? I could go and spend the bucks and call it quits if I have this all wrong. HELP!

I think you are headed on the right path, but I want to make a few points.

1. If you count the ECB's you received again on the next deal, as you did on this one, you are counting them twice. Your OOP wasn't .26, it was 37.24. I can further explain how you are double dipping on the OOP if you want. However, you did roll your ECB's and actually increased them, so that was VERY good.

2. There are 2 points to stockpiling
a. To purchase future needs at today's prices, so you don't have to pay tomorrow's increased prices. You did this.
b. To do this as cheaply as possible. You did this and will get better at it in the future.

So yes, you are on the right path.

Frugalnurse is right on one point....the bodywash. Yes, a bar of soap is cheaper, most of the time. But CVS recently had Softsoap bodywash for free and free beats .26 per bar any day of the week.

Also last week I got 10 cans of Gillette shave cream for .45 per can, which beats Barbasol's price.

The Oral B Toothbrushes were free, so you did a fine job there too.

Hang in there and keep working at it. You'll get better over time. If DH is giving you a hard time, break it into smaller transactions I know this sounds silly, but to him, he sees 37.00 as a chunk of change but I bet he wouldn't say as much if it was two transactions for 18.50. Know what I mean?

Oh, take some of those ECB's and go get some free bandaids.

**Frugal Nurse** · 06-09-2008, 09:23 PM

GrandmaLewis.. good points.
I didn't notice that she got the toothbrushes free. Did it say that somewhere?

She paid $37.24 for 16 items that makes it $2.32 per item.
Not really a super deal after all.

But.. in order to get CVS bucks.. you have to SPEND money at CVS. Spend lots of money. (maybe just your scripts will bring you up there.) on things you don't NEED- like air fresheners, swiffer refills etc.
To me, the theory doesn't hold water.

Companies don't offer this unless they are making a profit.

Get right down to the nitty gritty... Want vs Need is the best way to figure out how to live frugally and simply.

If I REALLY crack it down.. that .20 cent bar of soap could eliminate the body wash, the shaving cream (I use soap to shave my legs), AND the deoderant (just wash the pits a couple of times a day)

AND, AND!!! If you were my mother! you'd be washing my mouth out with soap too!

that eliminates the toothbrush. lol!

I'm dying to hear dh's response to washing with body wash vs soap.

**Bethany** · 06-09-2008, 09:25 PM

I'm slowly getting the hang of CVS ECB's too. Today I spent70 dollars on a ton of stuff, but I got back 60 ECB's. They were all stock pile items and I won't list them all separately. However, my problem with ECB's is that sometimes they "burn a hole in my pocket." I sometimes use them up before I "roll" them. Does anyone else have this problem?

**Bethany** · 06-09-2008, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by Frugal Nurse

Devils Advocate here!
Sorry!
2 Dove Body Wash- Body wash? Do you NEED body wash or will a .20 cent bar of soap do.
6 General Mills Cereals- Do you NEED GM cereal? full of fake stuff. Would buying longlasting staples of oatmeal, WW flour, blueberries and such offer a better more healthful breakfast?
2 Dove Deodorants - do you really NEED deoderant. Kidd'n ya! probably do... but I would have bought the generic lowest cost one. (you didn't REALLY get it for free yanno)
1 Schick Quatro Razon - he NEEDS a disposable razor? what is more frugal ... a reusable or disposable?
2 Oral Cross Action toothbrushes -excellent purchase. I'm all about dental hygeine. It's not about the cross action... its about the 'action'. so a generic would do just fine as long as it's done.
2 Nivea body wash for men - Does your husband ACTUALLY admit to using this? Does he NEED it? A cheap bar of soap is what men really want to use. Ask him.
1 Nivea shaving creme - Some men are real fussy- I'm not a man, so I don't know for sure about this. But is Barbesol cheaper? or the kind you fluff on with a brush? Ask him

Just wanted to point out a serious flaw with WANT vs NEED.
Not picking on you. I think you got marvelous deals for someone who likes to buy that stuff. I just get a little funny feeling to hear it called.... 'needs' when what it really is .... is a 'want'.

Need is something simplistic. Want is something 'fashionable'.

Cheer- ree- o!

I bought the Schick Quattro razor today too and it's not disposable. If the coupon from the Sunday paper was used, I think the razor ended up costing something like 1.99. It contained two cartridges. The cartridges alone would have probably been 8.99 for 4 at the cheapest place, so I think it was a good deal. Just wanted to clarify that point. Not sure if you can get cheaper generic cartridges, but my husband is totally not about airs, and he said that there's a huge difference between a good name brand razor and a generic. And we buy EVERYTHING (almost) generic so we're not name brand snobs by any means.

**Grandma Lewis** · 06-09-2008, 11:02 PM

Here's the deal I got last week at CVS

4 Dawn Dishwashing soap
2 Softsoap spa bodywash
7 Duracell 4-pack AA batteries
2 boxes bandages
2 boxes of 625 ct cotton swabs
1 box 500 ct cotton swabs
8 bags Chex Mix
1 can Suave Hairspray
4 Scunci Hair Accessories (a want, not a need--Grandma's a sucker for the granddughter's wants)

Total OOP 16.72 Total Savings 75.43

Total ECB's earned 21.98

The Scunci hair accessories totaled 12.50 plus tax.

Yes, I have a 5 year supply of cotton swabs.

**jkelstaten** · 06-09-2008, 11:38 PM

I agree that you are on the right track, but you could most likely do the separate transactions like was mentioned earlier and have a lower oop.

I very rarely pay full price for HBA items anymore. I may go to CVS this week for some of the $0.19 Dove Shampoo that is B1G1, but usually I get shampoo and that for free or very close to it. Last week I spent $6 for three 9-packs of Charmin (I don't like cheap t.p.) and two pks of Duracell. I then got $10 back in ECBs. If someone knows what grocery store or Target that you can get those items for cheaper please let me know, but we were almost out of t.p. and that alone would have cost more than $6. We also go through tons of batteries.

Before I got into couponing and doing CVS and triple coupon deals, I might have agreed with FrugalNurse (except I really don't like bar soap since it holds germs on it...yuck!) about buying cheaper versions of items. But now that I have the hang of couponing and have a small (compared to some) stockpile, I don't have to deal with generics and such. I can get the "good stuff" and pay much less if anything.

With Triple coupons last week at the grocery store I bought $285 worth of groceries for $26. I couldn't have done that by buying generics.

**Holly** · 06-10-2008, 07:00 AM

I have got to figure out this CVS thing ..

**baxjul** · 06-10-2008, 07:16 AM

I think you did a great job!!!!

**baronmom** · 06-10-2008, 07:39 AM

my biggest problem is after I get my ECB's, I tend to forget I have them and then they expire and they are wasted. I hate that! It has happened more times then I can count. Cause if I don't need to go to the store, I don't go just to spend ECB's but I guess I need to get a better system so They are not wasted.

**Grandma Lewis** · 06-10-2008, 09:38 AM

My system for keeping track of my ECB's is simple. I have an envelope in which I keep my ECB's, any gift cards that I have received in lieu of ECB's, and my CVS card. I also use the envelope to write down my shopping list. I tuck any coupons I plan to use inside before I head out the door. When the clerk hands me the receipts with the new ECB's I put it back into the envelope ready for the next trip. I change out the envelope as needed once there's too much writing on it.

If I go to CVS, my envie goes with me.