The Frugal Musician and CVS

Special K had an excellent buy at my local CVS last week. I wish I would have had time to write about it LAST week but The Frugal Musician is in the throes of summer tour season with a dozen bands.  I love my work. It  just doesn’t give me much time to write at the moment, which I am grateful for. I love to write but it is important to pay the bills and put bread on the table too. Or maybe cereal…..

CVS had a BOGOF (buy one get one free- I know I probably don’t have to explain that to most of you!) on Kelloggs Special K cereal. Each box was a shocking $4.49 BUT since it was a BOGOF offer, that brought the cost to only $2.25 per box. I had a dollar off manufacturers coupon on two boxes, knocking down the price to a nice $1.75 each.

When I arrived home and was putting my purchases away, I discovered $6.00 in coupons for other Special K items like milkshakes, cereal bars and fitness water.

So the way I see it I actually made money on the purchase of this cereal! I LOVE when that happens!

The Frugal Musician gets a whale of a deal…

Last week, my local market (not a chain) had a spectacular sale. With the purchase of 4 12 packs of Coke products for $12, you received, for free two tubs of Deli Select sandwich meat and an 8 pack of Coke product in bottles.

I don’t know if you can see the tale of the tape, but I spent $12 and got $12 worth of merchandise for free. My total savings was $19.00 which is more than I paid for the items.

It’s travel season and I really like to pack a cooler with a sandwich or two and a can or two of Diet Coke when I am out for the day. Throw in a bag of chips and the necessity to stop during a busy summer day for food is negligible. I live in a historic American city, and when I’m out and I see a particularly nice place to take a break, it’s fun to have an instant picnic.

I took advantage of this offer twice and now have a nice stock of sodas for the summer. I know. Sodas are bad for you. But I also drink a ton of water and fitness water (I make my own from a Kroger mix). Having chips, a sandwich and a nice soda keeps me from spending money at fast food joints where french fries, ice cream and crunchy apple pies are SOOOOO tempting!

The Frugal Musician vs The Call of the Mall

 

After a snowy week inside working, I was a little stir crazy and when a Victoria’s Secret free panty coupon landed happily in my mail box Friday, the call of the mall finally won.  I had offers for free lunch from Chick Fil A, a $30 rewards card from Express  (Son Two had purchased dress shirts and ties for work at deep discounts after Christmas resulting in an A List Rewards voucher) and the aforementioned free panty ($9.50 value) at Victoria’s Secret.  Honestly, the mall holds no magic for me and I am not tempted by “stuff” at all. I’m not an emotional shopper and am still a little confused by that phrase, though I understand lots of people have that programming.

I ate my free-with-the-purchase-of-a-beverage ($1.73) chicken strips lunch  and checked the mall directory for Express and Victoria’s Secret (like I said,  it’s been a while). I was amazed that on a Friday afternoon, the mall was nearly empty. Many stores had paper over the windows and were closed.

I went to Express and picked up a new top for me, the first new thing I’ve purchased for myself in a LONG time and a cool belt buckle for Son One who, mercifully, starts a new job this week. The top and belt buckle were $40 (shirt was on sale for $19.00) and I had a $30 reward card, making the purchase $10.00.  Victoria’s Secret  was totally free and the clerk wrapped my purchase in perky pink paper and a VS bag.

Total spent : $11.73

Feeling good about frugal shopping : Priceless