$135 worth of items for $7

So recently, I posted on social media my latest cvs trip where I spent $7 for $135 worth of product and received $25 extracare bucks (ecb).  Everyone asked me to share the details of how I was able to accomplish such a shopping trip.

 

The main key in making this trip work was being PATIENT and saving all of my high value coupons.  In total, I used $79 worth of coupons (including ecb) and combined that with the weekly sales ad in order to get maximum savings.  As mentioned before, I utilize coupon websites such as thekrazycouponlady.com and iheartcvs.com in order to plan my shopping trips.  I am also enrolled in the CVS Beauty Club, in which you earn $5 ecb for every $50 you spend on beauty products.  The $50 is calculated before coupons, which means it’s actually REALLY EASY to earn the $5 ecb.  So even if you only pay $10 for $50 worth of product you still earn the $5 ecb.

 

This is a breakdown of the types of coupons I used in this transaction:

Manufacturing Coupons are coupons that the manufacturer distributes to the public.  These can be found in the newspaper or online (coupons.com, facebook, and other social media outlets).

Extracare bucks are like CVS “money”.  They can only be used at CVS and can be used on almost anything in CVS.  You can earn these by enrolling in the beauty club, pharmacy club and purchasing certain deals at CVS.  I earn most of my extrabucks from purchasing certain deals in the CVS weekly ad.  

CVS Coupons are coupons that are distributed by CVS and can only be used in CVS.  These coupons are usually targeted at certain products or categories in the store.  An example of the ones I used in this transaction was $4 off $14 worth of body wash, liquid soap, or hand sanitizer and $4 off$15 hand or body lotion.  CVS also emails coupons to email subscribers, which I get just about every week.  For this trip I used a $10 off $40 purchase.

For this trip, I had $10 in manufacturing coupons, $51 in extracare bucks, and $18 in CVS coupons.  I had been saving all of my coupons for this trip for two weeks.  

How much have you saved in one couponing trip?

Save over 4k with FierceFitFoodie in 2016!!

Hey Loves!

Happy New Year and all that jazz. Welcome to 2016. Since we are approaching two weeks into the new year, I hope you've taken some time to reflect upon your 2015 goals, how many of them you achieved, and those you need a bit more time to complete.

Most of us enter each new year talking about two main goals: money and weight loss. Could you use over 4k going into 2017? Maybe a down payment for a house? To pay off Sally Mae? Buy a new car? Max out an investment account?

Well FierceFitFoodie is here to help! I'm sure many of you have seen the ever popular weekly savings plans where you put away a sum of money that corresponds to the week of the year. Well for the the last 2-3 years I've used my own version of that plan. I flip it backwards, then triple it. Here's why:

• Follow Through: Most of us never really follow through with our new years resolutions or goals for the ENTIRE year. I am one of said people. For example, last year I got laid off at the end of June which meant I could no longer reasonably contribute to this savings plan. Then once I found new employment I never resumed it. By flipping the plan backwards (thus starting the year by contributing the most money and decreasing weekly), you take advantage of your new years enthusiasm. 
• Plan Ahead: It kind of plans for the unexpected--there's no guarantee you'll have the money at the end of the year (for a variety of  reasons), why not save it while you have it? Not to mention, as we get a little more lax as the year trucks on (we all do it), it's much easier to put away less than more.
• Triple it: Because in my honest opinion, I can do so much better than saving a single dollar (or two, or three, and so on) a week. Yes, in the grand scheme of things saving a thousand for the year is great, but why do less when you can do MORE. Let's not be mediocre in 2016. Only you know what you can afford, but be honest with yourself. If you are hitting happy hours or buying lunch or coffee a couple times a week, you can afford to save more than a dollar or two a week.

Download the pdf version here.

Tip: My credit union only allows 6 free transfers a month, so I usually combine deposits. For example, combine weeks one and two for one total deposit of $309, then do the same for weeks two and four. This way I only use two out of 6 transfers per month due to this savings plan.

You can mix and match the deposits however you'd like, even take breaks if need be. Things happen. The important thing is to make them up. You will feel good come December 31, 2016 with an extra 4k to enter 2017 with.

So who is joining us in the challenge?! We will be checking in once a month. Use the hashtag #Fiercefitfoodiesaves to let us know you're in. Look out for periodic posts to encourage you to stay on track!

What are you saving for? Comment down below!