Spreadsheets: Part 2 - CVS Shopping List

Okay - are you saving money at the grocery store yet? Have you earned any Extra Bucks at CVS? Have you gotten your first mega-savings high? Are you hooked? :-)

In addition to using a spreadsheet for planning my grocery list, I've created a spreadsheet to plan my CVS shopping list. I like to calculate how many extra bucks I am going to spend on a shopping trip to make sure that I'm earning at least the same amount of extra bucks back, to keep the cycle going.

You can find my CVS Spreadsheet here, or in the column to the right.

Go ahead and open it so you can follow along as I explain.

I make sure to put the date at the top of the page, so there's no confusion after I print off the list. Often I plan multiple weeks in advance thanks to HotCouponWorld - so adding the date helps me keep things straight.

1. Trip #1
   Sometimes I make more than one trip to CVS, or complete multiple transactions because I want to earn a few extra bucks so that I can turn right around and spend them on more deals that week.
   
   In this column I list the item and any specifics (size, oz, box, etc.) that I plan on buying.
   
2. Qty
   I enter the number/quantity of each item that I am planning on buying here.
   
3. Shelf
   The price that the item will ring up at the register is what I put in this column (if an item is on sale, I put the sale price).
   
4. Total
   The total will automatically multiple the cost of the item by the quantity you plan on purchasing (don't you LOVE Excel!).
   
5. Coupon/Insert/CVS Q
   Very similiarly to the Grocery Shopping Spreadsheet, I input the face value of any coupons I have (CVS does not double or triple) and the insert where I can find those coupons. Occasionally, I have coupons from CVS (that printed on the end of my receipt, that I received in the mail, etc) that can be stacked with manufacturers coupons. I list those in the CVS Q column.
   
6. Final/ECB
   The final column is automatically calculated based on the quantity, shelf and coupon. I then enter how many extra bucks I'll earn for purchasing that item in the ECB column. Ideally, I want the ECB column to be greater than or equal to the Final column, otherwise I'll be using spending more extra bucks than I'm earning.
   
7. Limit
   I use the Limit column to help me keep track of the limit on each extra buck purchase. Sometimes the limit is one, sometimes it's three or even five. I like to know, in case I only purchase one, but want to go back later to purchase more in order to reach my limit.

And that is how I plan my CVS trips - confused enough yet? Please feel free to ask any and all questions in the comment section!