Frugal trips to CVS and Kroger

Around 2:00 today the weather finally broke for awhile (though we got hit by a really severe thunderstorm again this evening), and I decided to get my shopping done. I have Brayden Thursdays and Fridays from now on, and I needed to get some fruit and lunch items in before he arrives tomorrow. I went to CVS first. I am SO catching on to this whole ECB program, though I'm still a novice and learning. Today I purchased: 1 8 count package of Bounty papertowels - on sale for $5.99, less .25 coupon 2 pgk CVS brand bandaids - $1.99 each = $3.98 1 Old Spice deoderant - on sale for $2.99, less $1 coupon from Sunday's paper 1 bottle of Bayer Heart Healthy aspirin - $6.99, less $2.50 coupon (get coupon here) Total amount: $19.95 Less mfg coupons $3.50 Less $3.00 off $15.00 CVS coupon Total after coupons 13.45 I used $11.00 in ECB's from my last trip. I actually had another $4 ECB, but didn't realize they wouldn't give you cash back or another coupon back for your change (I'm new at this!). So if I'd spent another $1.55 I wouldn't have had ANY out-of-pocket expense, but I elected to take my $4 ECB back and pay $2.83 (including tax) out-of-pocket. However, I received $10 ECB's for the Bounty (it finished the needed quantity from shopping earlier in the week), plus $3.98 ECB's for the Bandaids and $2.00 ECBs for the Bayer aspirin, for a total of $15.98 new ECB's. So, for $19.95 worth of merchandise (and that's sale prices), I paid $2.83 cash, and received $15.98 back. Yeah baby! Next, I headed to Kroger for my weekly grocery shopping....which you know I've been trying to cut from an average of $140 a week to $60 a week. The first thing I did when I arrived was purchase their $300 gift card to receive the additional $30 bonus. Once again, Kroger had sent me some great "customer loyalty coupons" for items that were on sale this week. For example, they sent me a .60 cent egg coupon, and eggs were on sale for $1.00, so I paid .40. They had Chef Boyardee items (which Brayden likes for lunch now and then) on sale for $1 and I had a $1/2 coupon and a .75/3 coupon, so I bought 5 cans for $3 (Kroger up's all my coupons to $1.00). I purchased $77.60 for $50.27 when all was said and done. I used the gift card to pay for the groceries, which included the bonus $30.00, so I see it as spending $20.27 for $77.60 worth of groceries, including several "stock up" items. A side note: Every blog I've read infers that you can purchase only one of these Krogers gift cards. I talked with our store's customer service manager and she told me customers can purchase up to FOUR. They need to be in $300, $600 or $1200 amounts. This is the second $300 card I have purchased since the beginning of their offer, and I plan on purchasing two more. If you shop Krogers, this is a no-brainer. Pay $300 for $330 Kroger gift card -- instant 10% return on your money. By the time I've purchased my other two, I will have made a profit of $120 just for buying my groceries in the store I always buy my groceries!