CVS for Beginners

Have you ever wondered how people get all kinds of things for FREE at CVS? Have you wanted to get in on the deals, but just aren't sure how to do it? Here I'll explain how you too can walk out the door of CVS paying just pennies for bags full of goodies!

How the system works:

Every week CVS puts out a circular which lists the sale items. Many of those items, however, are not only on sale, but they also produce what are called Extra Care Bucks (ECB's). When you buy that particular item, a coupon will print at the bottom of your receipt that can be used toward your next purchase.

Keep in mind, though, that you cannot split up ECB's. For instance, if you have an ECB worth $3.00 and your total is only $2.00, your ECB will pay the $2.00, but you will not get the other $1.00 back. Instead, you want to make sure your total would be at least $3.00 so that you don't waste any of your ECB's.

Another thing to keep in mind is that ECB's will not pay for sales tax. If your total is $3.00 and you want to pay with $3.00 in ECB's, your subtotal might only be $2.49. Therefore, you would waste $.51 worth of ECB's. I always ask what the subtotal is to make sure I am not giving them more ECB's than I need to.

How to get actually get free stuff:

Many times it is as simple as CVS giving stuff away. If you look in the circular you might find something like X brand deodorant: buy it for $3.99, get back $3.99 ECB's. "Well, that's not free", you say, "I still have to pay $3.99 in cash." Yes you do, but you'll only have to do that on your first trip. Once you get that $3.99 worth of ECBs, you can those from now on. The trick is to do what is called "rolling" your ECB's. Instead of buying anything you want for $3.99, you need to buy something else that gives back ECB's.

Sometimes, things are not necessarily free after ECB's, but if you add a coupon to the mix, then they will be. For example, you might find in the circular X brand shampoo: buy it for $4.99, get back $4.00 ECB's. If you have a coupon for $1.00 off, though, you would buy the shampoo for $4.99, use your coupon to make it $3.99, and get back $4.00 in ECB's. If you used your $3.99 ECB's from the deodorant you bought, then you didn't have to pay anything for your shampoo, and you still have $4.00 in ECB's for next time. And you actually gained a penny's worth of ECB's!

How to get started:

1. If you do not already have a CVS Extracare card, sign up in the store to get one.

2. You need to either subscribe to the Sunday paper or buy a Sunday paper every week. You will need all the coupons you can get!

3. Save every coupon whether it is for something you would normally buy or not. There will be times when it will be advantageous to buy something just because you can actually make money buying it.

4. Read this blog regularly to stay updated on each week's deals.

5. After you get your CVS card, go to the CVS website and register your card with them. They will email CVS store coupons occasionally.

Useful Tips:

1. Remember that there are limits on all the ECB items. The ad as well as the sale tag on the shelf will clearly state what the limit is. This is usually pretty self-explanatory. But if, for instance, the ad states "buy 2 of x product, get $5 ECB's", and the limit is 2 per household, then that means that you can get the ECB's 2 times; it does not mean you can only buy 2 products. You could buy 4 products and get the $5 ECB's twice.

2. You do not have to do a buy $$, get $ deal all in one transaction. For example, if the ad states "Buy $15 of x product, get $5 ECB's", you do not have to buy all $15 worth in one transaction. If you only buy part of it the first time, your receipt will tell you how much you have toward that deal and how much you still need to spend to get the ECB's.

3. Your receipt will also tell you when you have reached your limit on an item. Or if you haven't reached your limit yet, it will tell you how many more you can get before you do reach your limit. I think this feature actually comes in very handy because I don't always buy my limit of an item all at once, but sometimes I can't remember how many I have bought. I'd hate to buy my sixth item when the limit was 5 and not get any ECB's back.

4. Use $/$$ coupons strategically. Occasionally CVS customers receive coupons for $4 off $20, $5 off $25, etc. The $20 or $25 is based on pre-coupon prices. These coupons are great when there are a lot of "free after ECB" items or "free after coupon" items. Let's say for instance that you have a $4 0ff $20 coupon, and there are $10 worth of "free after ECB" items that week. Let's also say that there is something you really want that costs $10, and gives $5 ECBs back. And let's also say that you have coupons for some of those items that amount to $2. Here's an example of how you could still get what you want for free:

$10 - "free after ECB" items
$10 - regular price of the item you really want
___
$20 - Total pre-coupon price
-$4 - $4/$20 coupon
-$2 Manufacturer's coupons
___
$14 - (paid with previously earned ECB's, ideally)
Receive back $10 for the "free after ECB" items, and $5 for the other item. So you would pay $14, and get back $15.

(Make sure to hand the $4/$20 coupon to the cashier first. Otherwise your total will no longer be $20 after the other coupons are scanned.)


5. Ask for rainchecks. Don't worry if something is out of stock. Ask for a raincheck, and the next time you shop, you can purchase the item, and the cashier will manually print you the ECBs for the item.

6. Stack store coupons with manufacturer's coupons. CVS has store coupons that can be found in various magazines, in-store, and most commonly at the bottom of your receipts. You may use one store coupon and one manufacturer's coupon per item. If you have a store coupon for $1.00 off and a manufacturer's coupon for $1.00 off the same item, you can use them both to get $2.00 off.

7. Remember that ECBs for the same item will print in one lump sum. For instance, if Right Guard deodarant is giving back $2 ECBs, and you purchase 3 at one time, you will get one $6 ECB, rather than three $2 ECBs. If you want your ECB's to be in smaller increments, then you should buy each deodorant in a separate transaction.