I am very intrigued by the posts that some of you make detailing all of the great savings you get at CVS through your sheer skill and determination!!! I greatly admire your talent!First of all, you make these wonderful little lists with your savings, and I LOVE list-making!
I must confess, though, I just do not get it! I do not ~ on any level ~ understand how CVS works, and I am slightly jealous!!! I have tried to read about it in your posts, but to be honest...I get distracted by all of your other posts! Maybe if all of your different tips are compiled in one place (my comments section to be exact!) then I will be able to finally "get it" without distraction from all of the pretty colors and interesting topics in your sidebars!!! I would love to have a step-by-step explanation on how CVS works and what ~ exactly ~ I need to do!!
Second of all, you seem to be saving a lot of money, and I LOVE saving money!
Third of all, you seem to be getting a lot of stuff for free, and I LOVE free!
Thanks in advance for all of your helpful tips!
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10 comments:
I use a website called hotcouponworld.com It's a message board but it has a great CVS tutorial on there.
Don't worry about getting it all right the first time. I've been doing the "CVS thing" for awhile now, and am still learning!
Good luck! Feel free to leave a comment on my site if you have more questions, I'd love to help if I can!
You may already know this, but check out http://www.moneysavingmom.com. She has TONS of tips every week, and I think she has a CVS 101 series somewhere in her archives.
Most certainly www.moneysavingmom.com she is not only great at the CVS thing, she is a friend too! Good luck!
I'm so glad somebody asked... I was totally confused too!! :D
Here you go...
First, you obviously need a CVS card. Use it every, every, every single time you go to CVS! It tracks what you spend, and every quarter you'll get a nice Extra Care Bucks coupon for a percentage of what you bought.
But you get ECBs other ways, too! Every week, check out the circular that comes in your Sunday paper. It will tell you what things are available that offer ECBs. If you see anything you like, put it on your CVS shopping list. Even better, try to find a manufacturer's coupon to go with it! And then you just start rolling ECBs from one week of deals to the next! (Some weeks aren't all that hot, btw.)
Example: CVS might offer $6 in ECBs on a Gillette Fusion Razor. Regular price for that is $9.99. Lucky you, you happen to have a $3 coupon from the paper! So...you pay for the razor, and with the coupon it costs you $6.99 up front. But you get a $6 ECB to use next time you shop! You just got an expensive razor for 99 cents.
The big deal with ECBs, and how people get things for free, is that you take that ECB and use it next shopping trip for something else that offers an ECB. So, let's see...you find shampoo on sale for $2 (if you have a mfr coupon, even better), juice for $2 and toothpaste for $1. Use the $6 coupon to buy these--plus something else to round out the six bucks. If you are lucky, each of them has a dollar or two ECB offer. So you just bought $6 worth of merchandise for free and got $3 back in the process! And then you roll that $3 next time...
In a nutshell:
Always use your card.
Your ECBs print at the end of your receipt. Always check! What I do, is I tear off the ones I want and put them right into my wallet. I do this before I even leave the parking lot. That way, I have them handy for next time.
ECBs, unless it says otherwise, are just like cash and can be used for any purchase at CVS. (Except maybe cigarettes?)
Sometimes, you get an ECB that says "$2 off any $10 CVS purchase." I believe that means you must buy $10 in CVS brand products.
I have been told the ECBs can be used a week after they expire.
The next quarterly ECB should print up around April 1st. Be sure to check the bottom of your receipt! If you have been shopping there since the beginning of the year, you should have a good one!
I hope this helps and isn't too terribly long!
I second the Money Saving Mom website. That's where I learned, and it works great!
I just got my CVS card last week and then used it again last night after our coffee talk! NOW, I know what to do with it! Thanks for asking!!
This is a good question. It's something that has confused me too. I have a card, but I could never understand everyone's posts about what they were doing with the ECB's! :)
We're talking about the pharmacy, right?
I guess I'm a little out of the loop--my loan dependent (The WonderDog) requires that I shop for his needs with him in tow--and so far, they don't let him in CVS.
BUT...if I get him trained as a service dog. Wonder what my need would be? Security alert system?
By the way, thanks for swinging by my site. I'm gonna dig through yours awhile.
Thanks for stopping by my site again! I'm happy to help in any way I can with CVS. I'm not all that smart about it, either, but I do know what works for me!
BTW, I 'get' the play on words in your blog name. My husband isn't into video games, but my youngest (age 17) lives, breathes and eats "Halo." He loves XBox Live!
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