CVS: Spending spree!

I wasn't too excited by this week's CVS ad. I was thinking of skipping it this week, but I was definitely going to Walgreens, and CVS is right on the way home from Walgreens. So I checked again, but the only thing that remotely interested me was the deal on Ajax dish liquid, 88¢ each. A $1/2 coupon would bring the cost of each bottle to 38¢. I have several bottles of dish liquid in stock, but, what the heck. So I went to CVS. Maybe there'd be great deals on the clearance shelf.

No such luck. The clearance shelf was almost completely empty. So I got the dish liquid and a greeting card and went to check out.

I paid for my purchase with a $1 ECB I had from before my vacation. I looked at the others that I had. "Um, what's today's date?" I asked the clerk.

"August 7th," he said.

Uh-oh. I had two more ECBs, one of which would expire on Tuesday. For $7.99. The other was a $2 expiring the next week. And there was nothing that really interested me on sale this week.

So, I decided to spend them now. $9.99 (or at least $7.99) on anything I wanted. But what to get? I checked through the aisles for some products I buy regularly, but couldn't see using them on items with such high prices. That would be a waste!

I contemplated the frozen food case, and the candy aisle. Maybe I should just blow it on sweets or ice cream treats?

But, I decided to do the nice boring thing. I bought toilet paper with it. Who can't use more toilet paper? And it was on sale, though maybe not at a rock-bottom price.

Having written that, now I'm a little disappointed at myself. Maybe I just should have blown the money on something frivolous. Oh, well.

Here's the details:

Transaction 1:
2 Ajax @ 88¢ = $1.76
- $1/2 Dynamo, Ajax, Fab or Niagara Product, exp. 8/22/11 (SS 05/22/11)
= 76¢ for two, or 38¢ each

1 greeting card @ 99¢

Total product: $1.75
Pay with $1 ECB from a previous visit
Total after ECBs: 75¢
Tax: 17¢
Total out of pocket: 92¢
Total saved compared to CVS full prices: $3.58

Transaction 2:
2 Charmin Basic 12-pack @ $5.49 = $10.98

Total product: $10.98
Pay with $9.99 in ECB ($7.99, $2)
Total after ECBs: 99¢
Tax: 66¢
Total out of pocket: $1.65
Total saved compared to CVS full prices: $17.99

Total out of pocket for two transactions: $2.57
Total saved: $21.57