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A CVS Tip: If the cashier is not busy, ask the cashier to scan your extracare card when you walk into the store, it will print out coupons even though you bought nothing. Then you can use them on your first transaction. Plus when you check out you will get more coupons!!
How I learned this: This past week I accidentally handed the cashier the wrong extracare card. They nicely canceled the transaction and started it again, but… just by them scanning it, it printed out coupons!! I don’t live in a city with the lovely self scanners. I have always heard of folks going in and scanning their cards and getting coupons that they could use on their first transaction. How many times have you gotten a $3 off $15 and wished you had it before you checked out?? While this isn’t as easy as the self scanner, it still works.
I have mentioned Quicken before. Their online version is completely FREE, forever (not just a trial thing). They just did a big upgrade and added lots of new features. Tracking your spending each month is the first step in seeing where you can save more. When you see that you spend $250 on eating out, believe me you’ll be ready to make some changes (that was my husband and I before kids with 2 incomes until Quicken showed us where we were throwing away money). Click the image above or here to sign up.
Want to be amazed at how much you are saving on groceries? I found a fun downloadable tracker made by another couponer that is great. It lets you see your cumulative amount saved and average savings percentage. The best part though, it lets you see the total value of your groceries. I entered information for just the last four months, here are my numbers:
Total Value of Groceries: $3,404
Total Savings: $2,344
Total Spent: $1,059
Average Savings: 69%
Maybe I’m the only person that thinks this is fun to see, but if you are like me and want to play around with it you can download it here.
