CVS -- Putting the ExtraCare Bucks Program to the Test

I have always been a bargain shopper. Like a lot of people, I find the process of saving money to be like a game. I match the grocery ads every week with my coupons, trying to get the most bang for my buck. I buy extra newspapers for the coupon inserts and I often get extra coupons by trading with friends online. So, my grocery budget has always been well-spent, and I have have a decent-sized stockpile of food and household items in my basement to prove it.

But, I never did really consider shopping at CVS. Why? Well, I figured it was a drugstore with high prices, not likely to have enough bargains to make it worth my while to stop there. I barely glanced at their weekly ads, and I only shopped there a few times a year. I heard about their ExtraCare Bucks program from a friend of mine online, but I really didn't pay too much attention to it until my friend started telling me about how she was consistently getting free products there every week. Free products? OK, that got my attention!

So, I decided to take a closer look at this ExtraCare Bucks program and see what it was all about. I went to the closest store and signed up for my ExtraCare Card and chatted with one of the store clerks for a little while, asking her a few questions about the program. The CVS clerk was happy to tell me all about it because she herself used the program all the time. She told me that in every weekly ad there are certain products that will earn the shopper ExtraCare Bucks. These ExtraCare Bucks print out at the register immediately after paying for the products (apparently this is relatively new--my friend had told me it used to take two days for the ExtraCare Bucks to print out). ExtraCare Bucks are just like cash and can be used to purchase almost anything in the store, except for liquor, cigarettes, stamps, and prescriptions.

Alright, this sounded too good to be true, but the CVS clerk herself told me all of this, so it must be accurate. I then asked her about using coupons--since I'm an avid coupon user, I wondered if I could use my coupons at CVS. Yes, she told me--not only could I use my manufacturer's coupons at CVS, but I could also use any CVS store coupons that I might have! She told me that magazines often have coupons like $3 off any $15 purchase at CVS or $4 off any $20 purchase at CVS. Also, there are sometimes coupons I could print from online to use at the store. This really started some wheels turning in my head--imagine if I could use my manufacturer's coupons AND a CVS coupon and my ExtraCare bucks to pay for something...it could end up being FREE! I thanked the CVS clerk for her help and grabbed an ad and a CVS magazine to take home. I couldn't wait to really put all of this to the test, matching up their sales with my coupons to see if I could earn the ExtraCare Bucks and get some FREE products!

I must admit, though, I was still a little skeptical as to whether or not this would really all work as my friend and the CVS clerk said it should. After all, I sometimes had trouble getting grocery stores to accept regular coupons from the newspaper, so there was no guarantee that the CVS registers would accept my manufacturer's coupons. But, I was definitely psyched up to give it a good try!

The first thing I noticed in the ad was Aqua Velva Ice Balm After Shave. It cost $5.99, but the ad said that there was a $5.99 Extra Buck Reward--that right there was FREE! That motivated me to dig deeper into the ad. I saw Schick Quattro Razors on sale for $6.99. I had a $3 off manufacturer coupon, and there was a $3 Extra Buck Reward, so those razors would only cost me 99 cents! Then I saw where CVS was offering $10 in Extra Buck Rewards if you purchased $10 of certain medications--one of which was Benefiber. I had coupons for $2 off any Benefiber and I found coupons in the CVS magazine for $1 off any Benefiber. Could I buy two packages of Benefiber, use two of the $2 coupons, two of the $1 CVS coupons, and get my $10 Extra Buck Rewards? I scanned the ad further and put together a few more possible deals based upon what they had on sale, and then I was off to the store.

I shopped carefully, as I always, do, making sure to get the exact products described on the sales ad and on my coupons. I was still a little nervous, though, when I approached the check-out line. Was everything going to work? I handed the cashier my CVS ExtraCare card, which she scanned, and then I handed her my stack of coupons. She smiled and began to scan my products. I had butterflies in my stomach, I was so excited at the prospect of this working! The cashier gave me my total, I paid, and then the register began to hum. She said, "Here come your Extra Bucks!" and I was almost giddy. She handed me the receipt and the Extra Bucks, I thanked her, and stepped away. I immediately checked to see if it had worked--and it had! There was my $5.99 Extra Buck for the Aqua Velva, my $3 Extra Buck for the Schick Razors, my $10 Extra Buck for the Benefiber, and more Extra Buck Rewards for the other items I had purchased. There was even a special coupon at the bottom for $2 off any $10 purchase! Sweet!

I was happy that everything had worked out so well, and I went to put my shopping cart away when I noticed three giant signs on the windows (yes, I guess I wasn't very perceptive before since I hadn't noticed these huge signs). They mentioned three other products that had Extra Buck Rewards that I hadn't yet purchased. One sign said that Softsoap Bodywash cost $4.49 and had a $4.49 Extra Buck Reward. Another said that Crest Nature's Expression Toothpaste cost $2.77 and had a $2.77 Extra Buck Reward. The third sign said that Oral-B Pulsar Pro-Health Toothbrushes cost $5.97 and had a $5.97 Extra Buck Reward. Wow! Three more FREE products! Luckily, I had brought my coupon case with me, because I had coupons for the Softsoap and the Crest. So, I went off to find the products and headed to the register. I handed the cashier my CVS ExtraCare card, my coupons, and a couple of the Extra Bucks that I had already earned, hoping that they would pay for the purchase. It worked! I ended up having to pay 53 cents, and the register produced my $4.49, $5.97, and $2.77 Extra Buck Rewards. That wasn't all, though...the CVS clerk with whom I had earlier chatted came up to me and told me that I could do those three offers five times each and earn the Extra Buck Rewards each time. I must have looked skeptical, because she told me that she had done them herself that many times and gotten the Extra Bucks each time. That convinced me--I went off to gather the products again, and this time I paid with the Extra Bucks I had just received. My total due was $0.00! FREE! I did this three more times, each time paying with the previous Extra Bucks, and each time everything ended up being FREE!

I was still pretty excited when I left CVS, and very happy that I had decided to put their ExtraCare program to the test. And the best part is that I still have several Extra Buck Rewards to use on their sales next week! I guess I am going to be a regular at this store now--there are more than enough bargains to be had here to make it worth my while to shop here all the time!