Although I didn’t participate in Friday’s sales after Thanksgiving, there were still things that needed to be purchased or great prices that couldn’t be passed up for stockpiling. When making purchases I try to focus on items that my family can use. I try to avoid purchases that my family can’t use in a timely manner like twenty bottles of ketchup, even if I get a good deal on it. We use about one bottle of ketchup in a year, but I know that every families needs are different.

While getting items for free or nearly free is great, there are simply times that purchases have to be made where just getting the item on sale is worth it. One of the products that we purchase regularly at our house , are Nature Made vitamins. They have such a wide range of items available that I can find nearly any item I need in their line of vitamins. The bonus about purchasing Nature Made vitamins is that they frequently go on sale for buy one get free at CVS and Walgreens. In addition to the vitamins being on sale, I can use one coupon for each bottle of vitamins, plus I accumulate the rewards codes from each bottle of vitamins to add to my  Nature Made Wellness Rewards account.

While my total spent was $39.40 my total savings was $72.40 which included sale prices, and coupons. My Nabisco cracker purchases will be used for a $10 Rebate, and I was completely bummed when I realized that the Lutein vitamins I purchased also qualified for The Caregivers Marketplace Rebate, but they were purchased on the same receipt so I opted for the larger $10 rebate instead of the $2 rebate value of the vitamins.

While my total seemed high for the items purchased, the items that drove the total high were the Breathe Right Nasal Strips ($13.49), cat litter ($8.99), and Lutein ($14.99). These were purchased at the lowest price possible, but still accounted for more than half of my total. I was able to bring my total down with a $5 off $25 purchase at Walgreens that was available earlier in the week, and manufacturing coupons for nearly every item I purchased. Super Savings doesn’t mean that everything has to be free, although that would certainly help, but with the use of some great coupons combined with sale prices I was able to purchase items for my family’s needs at the lowest price possible.

Not pictured is the cat litter I purchased at Target.