Today's CVS Trip

I  told you about the $5/$30 coupon that came by email last week.  When I looked through the CVS ad this week, I was very disappointed in what I saw, and I almost decided it just wasn't worth it.  That was until my husband told me he was almost out of Prilosec.  I usually get the store brand, but this week the name brand was on sale for $24.99 and giving back $7 ECBs.  There are usually high value coupons available for it, but I was only able to find a $1 off coupon this morning in my hurried prep to get out the door with the kids in tow.  I also picked up two Welch's juices that were on sale giving back $1 ECB.

Sale Price Before Coupons:      $30.99
Price After Coupons:                $23.49
I used the $22 ECBs I had from last trip, total paid:  $1.51 on my gift card.
I got back $8 in ECBs to use next time


Things to note:

1. The box of Prilosec contained $15 worth of P&G coupons inside the box.
2. They were out of the Prilosec on the main shelf, but they had some behind the pharmacy counter.  When I was told to go to the pharmacy counter to get it, I kind of cringed on the inside.  The pharmacy tech's just don't deal with coupons all that often, and I've had trouble checking out at the pharmacy counter before.  This time, she did not believe that I could use all of my ECBs since I had four of them that added up to $22 along with my other coupons, so she called the manager, who told her just to ring until it beeped.  Of course, I knew it wouldn't beep since it didn't go over the cost, and it worked just fine.  I have once had a Target pharmacist refuse to let me use a Target store coupon with a manufacturer coupon.  So my point is, avoid the headache and just go to the front where they are hopefully better trained.  It's really not their fault.
3. I truly think that shopping with coupons at CVS has made me brain-damaged.  I somehow, in my crazy little mind, think that I have failed to get a good deal at CVS this week since I went in with $22 ECBs and came out with only $8 ECBs.  In an ideal situation, you want to pay as little as possible out of pocket and maintain a constant amount of ECBs to use for the next week.  So I keep having to smack myself and tell myself that I pretty much just got my husband's $25 meds for nothing and still made money off of the deal.  Some weeks you will get back more than others.  This week was not a good week for ECBs, in my opinion, but I was able to get what I really needed, which was prilosec and juice, and not pay for it, and that's what really matters. =)