Getting Paid to Shop is Awesome!

Being the last weekend of the month, I went through my coupons to check for awesome ones that were about to expire.  I found a great deal that allowed me to not only get $50 of stuff but actually leave the store with more money than I came with.

Here's the scoop:

1. I had 3 expiring coupons for $8 off 2 Covergirl products.  (Lesson #1: Print/Collect ALL high value coupons). 
2. CVS was having a "Buy 1 Get 1 50% off" sale on Covergirl products.   These products are also part of the "Buy $30 worth, get a $10 gift card" promotion.  (Lesson #2: Check your favorite coupon deal site and/or circulars carefully - these products were not pictured, just written at the bottom of the page). 
3. A few days ago I got a $5 off $30 coupon for CVS that I knew could be used in conjunction with manufacturer coupons.  (see Lesson #1 above).

So I got 6 Covergirl foundation products, and with sales and coupons my total was reduced to $9.  My pre-coupon total made me eligible for the $10 gift card so my net gain was $1 - a 102% savings!  I also had $5 of CVS ExtraCare Bucks which reduced my out-of-pocket about to only $4.  Couponing rocks!

For the record, the couponing sites were listing this deal as buying 8 of the Covergirl blushes, and getting everything for free plus making $10.  The deal didn't catch my eye at first because I don't wear blush.  Once I started calculating I figured out products that I actually use and how I could make that work.  Just because you see a deal on a site doesn't mean you cannot customize it to fit products you use.