So, I um did a little school supply shopping today

and I totally scored! I don't have a picture, because I was a good girl and put everything away right when I got home. I'm always so excited when I get home from a big couponing/money-saving run that I've unfortunately trained my children to descend like vultures on my bags of loot. They wanted to immediately use all of the new crafty stuff, so I had to get the majority of it out of sight out of mind.

disclaimer: I started out with 2 $5 RR (Register Rewards) from last week's Walgreens' Huggies deal and I had a $2.99 ECB (Extra Care Buck).

I ended up with:

Walgreens (2 trips):
6 - scotch tape (on sale for .39 ea - used $1/3 Scotch tape manu q from 7/12 RP)
3 - 12 packs Crayola colored pencils
5 - folders (planning a really cool color project for the kids with these)
8 - white poster board
1 - 2 pk erasers
1 - 5 pk highlighters
2 - 10 pk pens
2 - 2 pk G2 gel pens
1 - paper clips
2 - hefty storage bags (BOGO $3.29 - used 2 $1/1 manu q's from 5/17 RP)
1 - toilet brush (it's a glamorous life, I tell ya)

spent: a whopping 12 cents
saved: $50.27 (of course that savings refers to the me of 3 years ago. I would never spend money like that on office supplies now. I <3 coupons.)
ended up with: 2 - $1 RRs from the gel pens.

CVS (2 orders):

2 - pkgs filler paper
2 - 10 pks pens

spent: nada
saved: $9.36
ended up with: my original $2.99 in ECB

Total spent: 12 cents
Total saved: $59.63

The past couple of weeks I've had the loveliest checker at CVS and no one waiting in line. So I've been doing two orders in a row. I just tear the ECB off of my receipt and hand it right back. I don't do back-to-back orders if there is anyone waiting, though. I just get back in line.

Even if you don't have any RRs or ECBs to start with, this is a great week to jump in. At CVS, you could just buy the 2 packs of pens - spend $1.98 (plus tax) and get the $1.98 ECB and then roll that onto one package of notebook paper - spend .02 (and possibly tax) and get the $2 ECB. Then roll that onto the 2nd pack of paper and get another $2 ECB. Then roll that onto other stuff or keep it for next week's deals.

At Walgreens the gel pens are $1 and you get a $1 RR. Buy your pens then spend the $1 RR on a bunch of the .09, .19, or .29 goodies.

Lots of yummy shopping endorphins for pocket change.

And one funny story: On Friday I did the Huggies deal and my RR didn't print. The checker said that they were having problems with the machine before I checked out, so it wasn't a surprise. She called the manager and said, "I need you to come print this RR. It didn't print and I know it should have, because this lady knows her stuff." LOVED that.