Milk and contact solution for $.50!

One of the biggest comments I see and hear from people who are new to couponing or who are “coupon skeptics” is “I can never find coupons for the things I need.” I also have people ask me how they can save on the things they REALLY need but don’t often see coupons for like milk, meat, fruits, and vegetables.

The answer is that it’s a bit like a game. There are sometimes coupons for milk and when they come out, it’s good to jump on them and get your hands on as many as you can (that’s why coupon clipping services are so handy!). I often am able to get frozen fruits and vegetables for free or close to free using coupons and combining them with sale prices (again it’s a matter of getting multiple coupons when they come out).

Meat is a bit trickier. Sometimes there are wine tags for meat (wine tags are basically coupons that you find around the top of the wine bottles – sometimes they will say NWPN which means “no wine purchase needed). If you can find wine tags for meat, that is one way to save on meat. Another way to save is to stock up when it is on sale. You can check out my “What I’m Willing to Pay for Things” post to get ideas about what my “stock up” prices are for meat. Most stores also have a special section for marked down meat and this is a great way to get meat inexpensively if there haven’t been any good deals on meat. Just make sure you plan to use it quickly or freeze it right away.

Another way that I am able to offset the cost of milk, fruits, vegetables, and meat is by using OYNP (on your next purchase) catalina coupons, Extra Care Bucks from CVS, Register Rewards from Walgreens and gift cards from Target that I earn.

Here’s an example of a deal I did yesterday. In my CVS ad, there is a deal where you buy milk for $2.99 per gallon and you get a $1 ECB (this is a regional deal, so check your ad for details). The Biotrue contact solution is also $2.99 and you get a $2.99 ECB making it “free” after ECBs. I had a $5 ECB from a recent “deal” and a $.50 ECB from my quarterly earnings.

Here’s what I did:

TRANSACTION #1:
Buy 1 Oak Farms milk – $2.99
Buy 1 Biotrue contact solution – $2.99

Use $5 ECB
Use $.50 ECB

Spend $.50 OOP (there must have been a little bit of tax in there), get a $1 ECB and a $2.99 ECB (plus I got an additional $1 ECB from using my “Green bag tag”)

TRANSACTION #2:
Buy 1 Biotrue contact solution – $2.99

Use $2.99 Biotrue ECB

Spend $0 OOP, get a $2.99 ECB

So, I started with $5.50 in ECBs and ended with $4.99 in ECBs plus I got milk and contact solution (both items that I needed) for just $.50 and saved $8.47!

Make sure you check out my CVS weekly deals post for more scenarios, match ups, and information about CVS!