Black Friday Sales - at a Pharmacy?

One of the great things I discovered in couponing is that Black Friday is not only for electronics and toys, but killer deals on household products!

Last year I went to CVS for their sales. I wanted to keep my out of pocket (OOP) cost as low as possible, so I wanted to find a way to "roll" my initial 9.98 in ECBs (see The Krazy Coupon Lady's CVS 101 for more information on these) into as much free stuff as possible. This meant four transactions. However, the store was pretty dead when I went in the morning, so I think the cashier was glad I split things up and gave him more to do!

A breakdown of my trips is as follows:

Note: It would have been more efficient if I had purchased the Old Spice deodorant first. However, since it was my first time CVS Black Friday shopping, I had arranged my purchases according to importance to me. That way if certain items were low, I could concentrate only on those things I wanted most. 

I later came to find out CVS does offer rain checks on items - but when I tried to use a rain check later on a Black Friday item, the manager was not very pleasant (although he did honor it). 

Target - March 21, 2011

Target is probably my third favorite store (behind CVS and Kroger). Got some great deals today!
Only $31.98 - not too bad considering the black dress was originally $30 on its own!

Item	Original Price	Clearance Price	Coupon	Final Price	Savings off Clearance*	Savings off Originial*	Percent Savings
Baby Pants	$7.00	$1.75	$1.00	$0.75	42.86%	10.71%	89.29%
Shift Dress	$29.99	$7.48	$2.00	$5.48	73.26%	18.27%	81.73%
Hanes Tights	$7.99	$1.98	$1.00	$0.98	49.49%	12.27%	87.73%
Top	$14.00	$7.48	$3.00	$4.48	59.89%	32.00%	68.00%
Sweat Pants	$9.99	$2.48	$1.00	$1.48	59.68%	14.81%	85.19%
Onesie	$7.00	$1.75	$0.00	$1.75	100.00%	25.00%	75.00%
Jet Dry	$2.59	$2.59	$2.05	$1.04	40.15%	40.15%	59.85%
Orbit	$0.99	$0.99	$0.75	$0.24	24.24%	24.24%	75.76%
Yoplait (6)	$3.54	$3.54	$0.40	$3.14	88.70%	88.70%	11.30%
Up&Up Floss	$0.89	$0.89	$0.89	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%	100.00%
Up&Up Ibuprofn	$0.99	$0.99	$0.99	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%	100.00%
Up&Up Allergy	$2.49	$2.49	$2.00	$0.49	19.68%	19.68%	80.32%
Grater	$2.24	$1.12	$0.00	$1.12	100.00%	50.00%	50.00%
Up&Up plastic wrap	$1.99	$1.99	$0.50	$1.49	74.87%	74.87%	25.13%
Fiesta Blend	$2.29	$2.29	$0.25	$2.04	89.08%	89.08%	10.92%
Asparagus	$3.29	$3.29	$0.25	$3.04	92.40%	92.40%	7.60%
Frozen corn	$1.04	$1.04	$0.25	$0.79	75.96%	75.96%	24.04%
Frozen corn	$1.04	$1.04	$0.25	$0.79	75.96%	75.96%	24.04%
cheese	$1.94	$1.94	$0.50	$1.44	74.23%	74.23%	25.77%
cheese	$1.94	$1.94	$0.50	$1.44	74.23%	74.23%	25.77%
	$103.23	$49.06	$17.58	$31.98	65.19%	30.98%	69.02%
Paid $31.98 (only 30.98% of original prices)
Savings Over Full Price	$71.25	30.98%
Savings Over Just Clearance	$17.08
Total Percent Off:	69.02%
* What percentage I actually paid

Why Couponing Actually Saves Money

As I mentioned before, I was astounded I taught a class on couponing and many women did not believe they could save much money on anything useful!

To illustrate the advantage of couponing over, let's say, just "lucking-into clearance," I decided to use the following case study:

Item	Original Price	Clearance Price	Coupon	Final Price	Savings off Clearance*	Savings off Originial*	Percent Savings*	Savings over Clearance off original price
Mr. Clean	$4.99	$3.48	$0.75	$2.73	21.55%	45.29%	54.71%	15.03%
Cascade Powder	$2.99	$2.54	$1.00	$1.54	39.37%	48.49%	51.51%	33.44%
Cascade Gel	$4.39	$3.73	$1.00	$2.73	26.81%	37.81%	62.19%	22.78%
Cascade Gel	$4.39	$3.73	$1.00	$2.73	26.81%	37.81%	62.19%	22.78%
Tide Stain Release Gel	$6.99	$5.94	$3.00	$2.94	50.51%	57.94%	42.06%	42.92%
Tide Stain Release Gel	$6.99	$6.94	$3.00	$3.94	43.23%	43.63%	56.37%	42.92%
Tide Stain Release Gel	$6.99	$7.94	$3.00	$4.94	37.78%	29.33%	70.67%	42.92%
Tide Free and Clear	$10.99	$7.68	$1.00	$6.68	13.02%	39.22%	60.78%	9.10%
Tide Free and Clear	$10.99	$7.68	$1.00	$6.68	13.02%	39.22%	60.78%	9.10%
Tide Free and Clear	$10.99	$7.68	$1.00	$6.68	13.02%	39.22%	60.78%	9.10%
7th Generation Detergent	$3.99	$2.78	$1.00	$1.78	35.97%	55.39%	44.61%	25.06%
Suave 3 pk (2 s, 1 c)	$5.00	$2.50	$1.00	$1.50	40.00%	70.00%	30.00%	20.00%
Suave 3 pk (2 s, 1 c)	$5.00	$2.50	$1.00	$1.50	40.00%	70.00%	30.00%	20.00%
	$84.69	$65.12	$18.75	$46.37	28.79%	45.25%	54.75%	22.14%
Paid only $43.12 or 54.75% of full price (45.25% off)
If I had only gone with clearance (not coupons), I would have paid $65.12 or 76.89% of full price
Additonal savings of $18.75 or 22.14% over just clearance finds

This sale actually coincided with the after-Valentine's Day sale. My full cart looked like this:

Item	Original Price	Clearance Price	Coupon	Final Price	Savings off Clearance*	Savings off Originial*	Percent Savings*	Savings over Clearance off original price
Mr. Clean	$4.99	$3.48	$0.75	$2.73	21.55%	45.29%	54.71%	15.03%
Cascade Powder	$2.99	$2.54	$1.00	$1.54	39.37%	48.49%	51.51%	33.44%
Cascade Gel	$4.39	$3.73	$1.00	$2.73	26.81%	37.81%	62.19%	22.78%
Cascade Gel	$4.39	$3.73	$1.00	$2.73	26.81%	37.81%	62.19%	22.78%
Tide Stain Release Gel	$6.99	$5.94	$3.00	$2.94	50.51%	57.94%	42.06%	42.92%
Tide Stain Release Gel	$6.99	$6.94	$3.00	$3.94	43.23%	43.63%	56.37%	42.92%
Tide Stain Release Gel	$6.99	$7.94	$3.00	$4.94	37.78%	29.33%	70.67%	42.92%
Tide Free and Clear	$10.99	$7.68	$1.00	$6.68	13.02%	39.22%	60.78%	9.10%
Tide Free and Clear	$10.99	$7.68	$1.00	$6.68	13.02%	39.22%	60.78%	9.10%
Tide Free and Clear	$10.99	$7.68	$1.00	$6.68	13.02%	39.22%	60.78%	9.10%
7th Generation Detergent	$3.99	$2.78	$1.00	$1.78	35.97%	55.39%	44.61%	25.06%
Suave 3 pk (2 s, 1 c)	$5.00	$2.50	$1.00	$1.50	40.00%	70.00%	30.00%	20.00%
Suave 3 pk (2 s, 1 c)	$5.00	$2.50	$1.00	$1.50	40.00%	70.00%	30.00%	20.00%
	$84.69	$65.12	$18.75	$46.37	28.79%	45.25%	54.75%	22.14%
Paid only $43.12 or 54.75% of full price (45.25% off)
If I had only gone with clearance (not coupons), I would have paid $65.12 or 76.89% of full price
Additonal savings of $18.75 or 22.14% over just clearance finds
Philly Cream	$2.64	$2.64	$1.50	$1.14	56.82%	56.82%	43.18%	56.82%
M&M	$2.89	$1.44	$0.75	$0.69	52.08%	76.12%	23.88%	25.95%
M&M	$2.89	$1.44	$0.75	$0.69	52.08%	76.12%	23.88%	25.95%
Conversation Hearts	$2.29	$0.57	$0.00	$0.57	0.00%	75.11%	24.89%	0.00%
Conversation Hearts	$2.29	$0.57	$0.00	$0.57	0.00%	75.11%	24.89%	0.00%
Pillsbury Cake Mix	$1.69	$0.42	$0.00	$0.42	0.00%	75.15%	24.85%	0.00%
Pillsbury Cookie Mix	$1.99	$0.49	$0.00	$0.49	0.00%	75.38%	24.62%	0.00%
Cookie Cutters	$4.99	$1.24	$0.00	$1.24	0.00%	75.15%	24.85%	0.00%
Dinner Plates	$1.50	$0.37	$0.00	$0.37	0.00%	75.33%	24.67%	0.00%
Snack Plates	$1.50	$0.37	$0.00	$0.37	0.00%	75.33%	24.67%	0.00%
	$24.67	$9.55	$3.00	$6.55	31.41%	73.45%	26.55%	12.16%
Total Trip	$109.36	$74.67	$21.75	$52.92	29.13%	51.61%	48.39%	19.89%
Paid only $52.92 or 48.39% of full price (51.61% off)
If I had only gone with clearance (not coupons), I would have paid $139.79 or 72.04% of full price
Additional Savings of $21.75 or 19.89%