The Discovery of CVS ing

Recently I came across a website dedicated to the science of shopping CVS to get the most value for your dollar. I read and soaked up as much information as I could. Frugality is my new GAME. (Is frugality a word)... .anyway, let me explain.... recently my husband put me on a cash budget. Although some people think my budget is a ridiculously large amount of money (and it very well may be) - I 'm trying to find ways to stretch every dollar so that I can get and do more of what the kids and I want (eating out, games, movies, new clothes - for me- stuff like that) and still keep up with all the necessities. If I weren't trying to stretch every dollar for my shopping trips (I'm a bit of a shopaholic) I would have plenty to meet our weekly needs.

So, I began perusing the internet for coupons (Lots of printable coupons available). I started clipping coupons from my Sunday paper.... now I must say, unlike some diehards, I only clip coupons for items I would normally buy. Under most circumstances I will not buy something I don't need or normally use just to save money. I find that ends up being a bigger waste of money and adds to the clutter in my home that I am currently trying to declutter. While I was websurfing I came across a website called 'themoneysavingmom' - she has dedicated her entire blog to the science of CVS. If I could sum this up quickly and concisely- it would go something like this.... every week/month CVS offers up certain products at a special rate and with the added bonus you get back 'ecbs' (extra care bucks) on your register receipt to use toward a future purchase. These ecbs work like cash on your future purchase. So if you plan carefully, use coupons, collect your ecb's, you can almost always save a lot, spend nothing, or ultimately make money on certain deals. I have figured it will take some time of coupon clipping and ecb collecting to work yourself up to a point where you almost NEVER spend out of pocket money... clearly I am not there yet... but I have to say.... I'm pretty happy with this weeks purchases ... Let me run it down for you:

3 bottles of Palmolive dish liquid @ 99cents each
2 bottles of SHOUT @ 2.99 each
2 bottles of FANTASTIK @ 2.99 each
1 bottle of WINDEX @ 2.99 each
1 DVD ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS 19.99 ( I know I could have paid less elsewhere, but this purchase made sense with the coupons I had available to me.)
3 Maybelline Cosmetics @ 15.00 total
= 53.00 (plus tax)

ok here's where the 'science' comes in:
ECB deals for this weeks order are as follows:
Buy $15 worth of shout, fantastik, palmolive, windex - get $5 ECB's back
Buy $15 worth of Maybelline Products - get $5 ECB's back
Ok - so these are the coupons I had to subtract from the $53.00
1.00 off Palmolive
1.00 off 2 Shouts
1.00 off Windex
4.50 ECB's
2.99 ECB's
5.00 ECB's
10.00 off a 50 dollar purchase

When the total comes up I owe 26.50... but I also received 10.00 in ECB's for next time...... bringing my total (in my head atleast to 16.50 - the cost of the movie at one of those places where it would have cost me less --- such as Walmart or Target)

I think thats pretty good for a newbie.....

Tell me how you save money.....