I think I’m in love. I have no idea why it took me so long to learn to shop CVS, but the store and I are now inseparable.

I love things that smell good (thus my love of perfumery) but I don’t splurge on things that smell good for my home because they’re just so expensive! But this week at CVS, I got 10 Airwick refills for my warmers, and CVS paid me $5 to buy them.

That’s $25 worth of beautiful smelly-good goodness for FREE plus money back.

My total OOP (out of pocket) for this shopping trip came to a whopping $4.72 and I received $30 worth of products. Not to mention the fact that I spent less than $100 at the store this week to feed my whole family and saved over 50% on my purchase. Even Spence is amazed!

Which brings me to a bigger point. Have you seen Morgan Spurlock’s 30 Days? It’s an older show but just started streaming on Netflix, so I’ve been catching up on all the episodes. There’s a great episode about minimum wage where Morgan and his fiance walk into the store to buy just a few odds and ends and they pay almost $40 for all of it.

It seems like such a waste, doesn’t it? Spence and I used to be able to do this – walk into a store and come out $40 poorer with two bags in our hands – and we thought it was normal. I’ve been spending about an hour more each week than I normally do couponing (about 2 hours a week total) but we’re saving so much more money. Watching this episode of 30 Days made me realize how much money I’m really saving for the family, whether I take the easy route and just do printable coupons or spend a bit more time and stockpile. Either way, it’s worth the time.

If you haven’t seen this entire episode of 30 Days, you should definitely watch it. It will make you think!