The Catch -- Self Control

My wonderful friend Charlotte told me about CVSing. I'll be singing her praises the rest of my life! Her sister shops there, and saves lots of money. Sure right??? I'm always skeptical about these great bargains you hear about. Well, add my testimonial to the thousands already online about this. If CVS will continue to offer the bargains, I'll be a customer for life!

Here's what I bought this week:

I spent $16.01 for $57.23 worth of products!

I have $14.49 in Extra Care Bucks(like cash) to go back again! So, my next trip will be virtually free!

What do you need to get started?

• A CVS Extra Care Card
• CVS current add
• a plan for your spending to maximize your Extra Care Bucks return -- this perpetuates the free bargains. The more you buy that gives bucks back, the more stuff you get for free.
• A Sunday Newspaper(or the coupons from as many as you can get your hands on)

The basic idea is that you buy things that will give you Extra Care Bucks to use on your next purchase so that your next purchase is as close to free as possible. So, I went in, purchased $14.58 worth of stuff in my first visit. Then with the Extra Care Bucks I received, I went in again for my second purchase, which totalled only $1.43. Now, I have Extra Care Bucks(ECBs) to go back again and earn more. Also, any coupons you have just lower the price even more. YEAH! The trick is sticking to your plan instead of just picking up a few things while you're there, no matter how tempting it is!

Here are some websites to help you catch the whole idea and they detail how to plan:

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/cvs_deals/index.html

http://www.afullcup.com/

http://free2befrugal.blogspot.com/

http://www.frugalfreebiesanddeals.com/

Also, by paying attention to the coupons and ads from Sunday's paper, I was able to go to Stop & Shop(our grocery store) and get:

I got $31.54 worth of products for $7.64

That's a savings of $23.90!

The part that kills me about all of this -- I was going to spend the money anyway! I might not have bought in quantity, or that particular brand, but I would have had to purchase all of these items in the next six months. Now, I've gotten almost all of it for such a steal! Amazing! Good luck to all of you -- hope you try it too!