Short Shopping

My usual Monday shopping routine of CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Publix, and Kroger was cut short this morning. I went to CVS just fine, picked up a prescription, and earned $1.50 bringing home these two items. Both were already free after Extra Bucks, and I had a $0.75 coupon for each item. I have such a large stash of toothpaste that I Do. Not. Need. Toothpaste. Ever. Again. But when it makes me money, I'll get it and throw it immediately into my giveaway bin.

When I leave CVS each week, I head for the other four stores that are within about 1/4 mile of one another. As I got close to the area, I could see that there was no power anywhere. All the stores were dark. Around these parts, we've had heavy rain and today there are sustained winds of around 20 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph. When the soil is saturated, a wind of that force will knock big trees over. And when big trees go down, power lines often do too. Since Publix was functioning on generators, I went ahead and stopped there. Would you like to take a guess as to the total price I paid for the seven items pictured? I won't make you. I paid $1.19, a savings of 94%. Here's how I did it.

• Hershey Bliss Eggs: on clearance for $1.00, and I had $1.00 coupons = FREE CHOCOLATE!
• Pam cooking spray: BOGO or $1.70 each. I had .55 Publix coupon plus two $1 coupons = .15 each
• Betty Crocker potatoes: BOGO or $.79 each. I had .35/2 coupon that was doubled to .70 = .44 each
• Publix bleach: This was the penny item, and you are supposed to spend $10 (before coupons) to get the penny item. My total was only $7.00 or so. I had planned to buy more, but they were frozen items, and Publix had all the freezer aisles blocked off. The freezer cases are apparently not on generators, so they were trying to keep the frozen stuff frozen. When I told them this and asked for an exception they agreed.

I could have driven to other parts of town and finished my shopping, but I decided to come home and try again later today. I'll call first to be sure they have "juice."