How to Save at CVS

In the first article in this series, you learned what the Extra Care Program is all about and what you can do with it. Now it is time for the next phase of our tutorial! What to do with your CVS card once you have it.

ALWAYS make sure that the cashier scans your card before they start ringing up your purchases. Even if you will not be earning any ECBs that day, the system tracks how much money you spend and rewards you quarterly.

CVS has both weekly and monthly ECB deals. The weekly deals are usually sent out with the newspaper on Sundays. They are part of the weekly ad papers. Deals that earn you ECBs will be marked in the ads and will tell you how much you have to spend/ buy and what you will earn. They will also tell you if there is a limit on the deals. Most deals have a limit of 5 per card. Some are as few as 3 or 1. The monthly deals are listed in a monthly ad booklet that you can pick up in your local CVS. The deals in that booklet are good for the entire month.

Your goal in this "game" should be to spend as little money out of pocket (oop) as you can and earn more ECBs to "roll over" for your next trip. You should also be building up a stockpile of items that your family will use that you have been able to purchase for little to no expense. One thing to keep in mind with this "game" is that you might not need toothpaste this week, but you will use it eventually. OR, alternatively, you can sell it at a yard sale for profit or donate it to charity. When you are getting something for "free" or close to free and are making ECBs out of the deal as well.... it is usually worth it to stock up. I have about a 6 month supply of most toiletry items. I have not shopped CVS for almost a month and have not had to buy any toiletry items. Having a rough month financially did not mean going without for us. THAT is my goal. To have what I need for those times that money makes shopping an impossibility!

In your ads, you will see an item advertised that will say something like this:

(example from a past weeks ads)

Gain Laundry Detergent liquid 24-32 loads

you pay with card $4.99

ExtraBucks reward $2

It's like getting it for $2.99 after ExtraBucks!

Limit of 1 per household with card

What this means is that you buy the detergent for 4.99 plus tax, using any coupons you might have. After you pay, at the end of your receipt will print out a "coupon" that is called an ECB. It will be for $2. That coupon can then be used to make a purchase in the store. Simple. Where it gets complicated is when you are buying more than one thing that is an ECB earner. Or when you are using ECBs to pay for items.

Here are some pointers:

The required amount to spend in order to receive ECBs is calculated BEFORE tax. For example, say you needed to buy $10 worth of Swiffer products to get $5 ECBs. If you spend $9.99 before tax, even though after tax is more than $10, you will not get the ECBs. I suggest taking a calculator with you. The required amount is also calculated BEFORE coupons! Good news!

Example:

Take that same buy $10 Swiffer and get $5 ECB deal. If you had 2 Swiffer Sweeper refill kits at $2.99 each and a Duster Refill at $3.99 (made up prices) your total before taxes would be 9.97. You would need to change this so that your total was 10 or more. So, instead, buy 1 sweeper refill at 2.99 and 2 duster refills at 3.99 for a before tax total of $10.97. THEN, use 2 coupons for $1 duster refills and 1 coupon for $1 sweeper refills and bring your total down to 7.97. After paying, your ECBs would print out for $5. See? This is just a made up example. But you can see how using coupons can make it even better.

The great thing about CVS is that you can also get regular CVS specific coupons printed on your receipt (CRTs). Things like $1 off of excedrin. Or $3 off of a $10 purchase of face products. And also you can get $3 off of $15 on any items. Things like that. When you "stack" these coupons you can really get good deals. Say you were working on a deal for Excedrin and Makeup.

Excedrin buy 1 at $2.99 and get $2 ECB.

Maybelline makeup buy one at $7.99 and get $7.99 ECBs.

Great!

But, if you work it out correctly, you can do even better.

Buy 5 Excedrins at 2.99 and I Maybelline at $7.99. Total before taxes is $22.94.

Give the cashier a $4/20 CVS coupon. Total is now 18.94.

Use 2 CVS coupon for $1 off Excedrin purchases. Total is now 16.94.

Use 5 coupons from the newspaper for $2 off Excedrin. Total is now 6.94.

Use a newspaper coupon for $2 off Maybeline purchase. Total is now 4.94.

After taxes, you have paid around $5 oop. If you have ECBs, you can use those and get this for pennies. Then, you get back 17.99 in ECBs. 2 each on the Excedrin and one for 7.99 for the maybelline.

Sound good???

The deal with coupons is that you can use 1 CVS $/$$ coupon for each purchase. You can ALSO use CVS specific coupons (CRTs) on the same purchase and Manufacturer coupons as well. So you can sometimes get things for free plus overage or close to free by combining these coupons. Not always... you have to work the deals and watch for the really good ones. ECBS do expire which is why you sometimes have to "roll them over" and use them even if you are not making any great deals. Also, you cannot get change back from using ECBs. Take that last example, say I had a $6 ECB, if I used that, I would lose part of it as my total would be less than $6.

One other quick tip... I sometimes end up doing 2, 3 or even 4 or more transactions when I go to CVS. Your best bet is to work it all out beforehand so you know which coupons you will be using and what order to give them to the cashier in. You want things to run smooth and easy. I usually try to go into my CVS (a 24 hour store) in the middle of the night as there are fewer people to annoy as they wait for me to juggle coupons.

You have to be flexible and patient to work CVS deals. But, in the end, it is worth it. By taking your time and working the deals, you can save yourself a significant amount of money. And, if you do not have the time or inclination to work the deals, just having the card is still worthwhile. By scanning your card each time you shop at CVS, you are earning ECBs! They will print out at the end of your receipt each quarter and can be used towards your next purchase. Free money, basically, just for getting a card and making sure it gets scanned each time you shop at CVS. So, go to CVS and get your Extra Care Card. Save yourself money, earn rewards and be happy with the fact that you are saving while you shop!