My First Experience as an Extreme Couponer

My sister-in-law came for Thanksgiving at our house prepared for her annual CVS run.  She even had a spreadsheet of all of their deals and how to make the most of her money.

She asked me if I wanted to come along?  Of course!

We deviated along the way...how could we resist mint chocolate M&Ms (and at 4/$6 when you counted the ECB rewards)?

At the end we kind of winged it since they were out of a few things but for $29.97 with $16 in ECB that I still need to spend (so technically I spent $13.97, right?) we got a good deal.  I only bought things that we would use to so there will be no stockpiling in our basement.  My theory is if I keep using the rest of my ECBs to buy things that earn ECBs, I'll keep getting my money to work for me. 

My sister-in-law was right, you do get a rush doing this!  It was actually fun but of course my sister-in-law was the one who did all the work.  She said she spent hours this week working out the best deals and how to group the transactions.  I'm not sure I could spend hours taking the time to do this weekly.  Actually, I am not sure my husband would tolerate me spending that kind of time.  No doubt about it, it is a lot of work.

It also helped that we had an awesome cashier who was very good-humored about the whole thing and didn't mind us doing several transactions.

While we were out shopping, my mother-in-law was finishing the meal prep along with the guys who were watching the kids and being good sports about our little adventure. 

Now I'm off to make Chex Mix with the yummy Chex cereal we bought even though it is only 7:30 am!

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