2010-09-14 -- $8.83 + $1.37 = $10.20

Whoa.  An out-of-pocket total of more than TEN DOLLARS. Egad.  Horrors.

But there is a rationale.  My longest-held card, Card1, obtained in the early 2000s while I was traveling on the East Coast and mostly clueless about "how to CVS", had dwindled down to a mere 0.99ECB.  I was actually intending on retiring this card for awhile, despite the decent store coupons I have been getting.  Juggling purchases for three households can get confusing, especially with so many deals and wonderful coupons of late.

But the temptation was just to great.  When I scanned Card1 on Tuesday, out spit TWO "$4 Off $20+ Purchase" coupons.  And that was on top of the "$5 Off $15+ Purchase" coupon that I had gotten over the weekend.  I had been toying with a way to use the lowly 0.99ECB with the 5/15 coupon and had crafted a decent transaction with little out-of-pocket cost.  Of course, that plan was foiled when three items I had planned to buy were out of stock. These were all semi-pricey items with BOGO manufacturer coupons.  Had the items been in stock, I could have parlayed the 0.99ECB into enough ECB to then use the "$4 Off $20+ Purchase".

But alas, inventory issues stopped me cold.  I debated just not using these great store coupons, but then decided that in the long run, I could re-start Card1 and build from there.

So, began with 0.99ECB.

Regular Prices:
10.99 Alive Multi-Vitamins
5.99 Nivea Men Body Wash
0.99 Halloween Mix

17.97 TOTAL Regular Prices

Sale Prices:
9.99 Alive Multi-Vitamins
4.99 Nivea Men Body Wash
0.99 Halloween Mix

15.97 TOTAL Sale Prices

Coupons and Discounts Applied:
5.00 STORE Coupon "$5 Off $15+ Purchase"
1.00 MANUFACTURER Coupon "Nivea Men"
1.00 MANUFACTURER Coupon "Alive"
0.99 ExtraBuck

7.99 TOTAL Coupons and Discounts

My total came to $7.98, plus an additional $0.85 in tax for a grand total of $8.83.  I began with 0.99ECB, spent all of it, and earned back 15.97ECB (9.99ECB for Alive, 4.99ECB for Nivea, and 0.99ECB for Halloween Mix).

So, even with the huge amount of cash paid, the cash yielded nearly 100% more in ECB. Using those 15.97ECB, I made a second transaction.

Regular Prices:
8.99 CVS Swim Goggles
8.99 CVS Swim Goggles
8.99 CVS Swim Goggles
8.99 CVS Swim Goggles
7.99 Nivea Body Lotion
7.99 Nivea Body Lotion
2.49 CVS Charm
1.49 Altoid Minis
1.49 Altoid Minis

57.41 TOTAL Regular Prices

Sale Prices:
0.89 CVS Swim Goggles
0.89 CVS Swim Goggles
0.89 CVS Swim Goggles
0.89 CVS Swim Goggles
7.99 Nivea Body Lotion
7.99 Nivea Body Lotion
2.49 CVS Charm
1.49 Altoid Minis
0.00 Altoid Minis

23.52 TOTAL Sale Prices

Coupons and Discounts Applied:
4.00 STORE Coupon "$4 Off $20+ Purchase"
2.49 STORE Coupon "CVS Charm"
2.00 STORE Coupon "Any Lotion"
4.00 MANUFACTURER Coupon "Any Two Nivea"
9.99 ExtraBuck
0.99 ExtraBuck

23.47 TOTAL Coupons and Discounts

My total came to $0.05, plus an addtional $1.32 in local tax, for a grand total of $1.37.  I began with 15.97ECB, spent 10.98ECB, and earned back 6.00ECB (5.00 for Nivea and 1.00ECB for the fourth use of my cloth bag).  As a result, I ended the day with 10.99ECB for Card1.

So, yes, I spent a whopping $10.20 in real actual cash (yikes).  But I added 10.00ECB to Card1. So for two dimes, I bought 12 items, at least half of which will be used for holiday gifts/stocking stuffers.