Weekly Spending Summary

This week was just what I needed...a week where I didn't spend much out of pocket! I'm really hoping to end the year with some extra in my grocery budget and this definitely helped out.

Total Spent: $11.83

CVS: $0 Out of Pocket
I actually would have spent $5.98 on this, but I have some CVS gift cards that I got through MyPoints which I have been using anytime I have any out of pocket expense. As usual I used some rain checks to get a few of these items. Seems "my" store is often out of things and so I'm forced to get rain checks.

What I was really excited about with this purchase though, was the fact that I got $23.93 back in Extra Bucks! So essentially I made $17.95 on this purchase. Wondering how you can do this too? Check out Michelle's blog for weekly CVS deal updates.

Giant & RiteAid: $3
I must have missed taking a picture of my Giant and Rite Aid purchases but it was rather boring since it was only three 16 oz. Daisy sour creams and a bottle of Prell shampoo (that I made $2 on thanks to Rite Aid rebates!).

Walmart: $9.64
I bought the candles to submit for the SC Johnson rebate. And the creamer was free...gave it to a friend since we never use creamer around here. Oh, and the Kotex were all free too after coupons.

BJ's: $0.99
Okay, so I am sure you are wondering two things. Since when did I start shopping at BJ's and how did I only pay $0.99 for all of the above? Well, I was sent a $25 BJ's gift card provided by BJ's and General Mills through MyBlogSpark and was asked to go shopping at BJ's and give them a try. (You'll hear more about that whole experience later!) I was pretty tickled to be able to get all of this for practically nothing. Sure helped our grocery budget out immensely.

So all told, I don't think I did too bad for this week. However, you might be thinking, "Sure, it's easy to say that IF you get $25 gift cards for BJ's and use MyPoints to get CVS gift cards, but I don't do those things." Fair enough. But, hopefully this can still inspire you to think outside the box to find ways to keep your grocery budget low. Maybe it means that you redeem Swagbucks for Amazon.com gift cards and buy diapers online. Or maybe you do online surveys and use your earnings there to boost your budget a bit.

The point is, anything you do- from using coupons, to mailing in rebates, to using CVS gift cards earned at MyPoints- helps you save money and be a more savvy shopper. And that is what this is all about, right?

Did you find any amazing bargins this week? Or maybe you have a question about how to use rebates or coupons? Feel free to leave a comment below!