Coupon clipping

GenXFinance asks whether people clip coupons to save money grocery shopping.  I have never been one to do that, because I cannot always tell whether I am saving money on products that I would not have otherwise bought in the first place (e.g. Golden Grahams), but I do think that one oft-ignored source of savings is the CVS coupons that come attached to your receipt if you use a CVS card.  Just the other day, I bought:

1 memory card (value $14.99)

1 bottle of shampoo (value $3.34)

1 bottle of conditioner (reduced value $3.50)

1 bottle of hand lotion (value $8.19)

1 card (value $2.49)

With my CVS ExtraCare savings, I got a $2.64 reduction on the shampoo and conditioner.  Additionally, with those pesky coupons that I often just throw out, I saved $5 on the entire purchase, because I had spent $25+, and $1 off of the lotion, because I had a coupon that made that offer.  All in all, I paid $23.87 before tax on items the value of $32.51, for a savings of $8.64.

I used to think that CVS automatically subtracted the discounts that they advertise on those coupons, because they automatically discount the savings that they advertise below the racks of their products, but they do not.  No, they rely on the inertia of the typical customer–the one who forgets about or throws away their paper coupon chain–so they can assure savings to people who are not inclined to go through the effort of saving their coupons. 

Though you may question where one’s time goes as a frugal drugstore shopper, it honestly took me five minutes to remember I had the coupon, and a few extra minutes trying to figure out everything I needed, so I could make it to the $25 mark in order to get my $5 discount.  That is to say: it’s well worth it.  Plus, I don’t have to go back to CVS for a while.