Learning to play the CVS game can seem a little overwhelming. However, it really is easy once you know the basics. This is a simple guide to effective coupon shopping at CVS.
CVS Extra Care Card
Stop in at your local CVS and sign up for a CVS card. You will want to register your card at CVS.com or 1-800-SHOP-CVS since they occasionally send out emails with printable coupons. Once you have your card you will need to use it every time you shop there. As most of the time, you will only get the sale price if your card is scanned. You will also earn 2% back on all your purchases.
Weekly Sales Ad
Check out your weekly ad (or visit us for the ad preview) to see which items are giving back Extra Care Bucks (ECB) upon purchase, some will be free after ECBs. ECBs print out at the bottom of your receipt when you buy qualifying items. You then cut these off and use them like cash on your next purchase. For example:
You buy:
2 Colgate MaxWhite @ $2.99
Use two $1/1 Colgate Q
=$3.98 OOP
Earn $4 ECB
Final Cost: FREE plus .02¢ MM
You then buy
Zantrex-3 at $4.99
-$4 ECB
=.99¢ OOP
Earn $4.99 ECB
Final Cost: FREE
You now have a $4.99 ECB to use on your next purchase. This is what is referred to as “rolling your ECBs” When you buy something that gives ECBs then buy something else that gives ECBs and pay with ECBs. Basically, you spend a little bit of money on your first purchase, allowing you to then use your ECBs on future purchases allowing your OOP to be minimal.
When using your ECBs your total before tax must be equal or greater than the amount of ECBs you have. You cannot use a $5 ECB on a $3 purchase and get cash back or expect it to carry over.
Also in the ad under the ECB deal it will have the limit amount. This limit is per card. So if the limit is 1 you can only do it once period. Not once come back and do it again. Once your limit is reached it will show on the end of your receipt.
Some deals will require you to spend a certain amount. You don’t have to buy it all in one transaction a running total will be kept and can be seen on the end of your receipt.
Monthly Deals
Every month CVS puts out an Extra Value Book that contains ECB deals that are good for the entire month. Sometimes the monthly deals will be advertised in the weekly ad. This does not add to the limit amount. If the monthly limit is 5 the ad will say 5 as well, the limit is still 5 not 10.
Earning Quarterly ECBs
As I mentioned earlier CVS gives you 2% back on all of your purchases. Every 3 months CVS will issue you an ECB for 2% of what you spent that quarter. This is your out of pocket spending.
Where to Get and How to Use CVS Coupons
Red Price Scanning Machines
Most CVS will have one of these machines. Every time you enter the store scan your card first. It will then issue you various store coupons. Sometimes there will be no coupons available. Since they are store coupons you can stack them with manufacturer coupons to maximize your savings. For example you get a store Q for $1 off Bayer, and you have a manufacturer Q for $1 off. To make this even sweeter there is a weekly deal going on that if you buy 1 Bayer at $2.49 you get $2 ECB back. So the deal will look like this:
Bayer $2.49
-$1 CVS Q
-$1 Bayer Q
=.49¢
Earn $2 ECB
Final Cost: FREE plus $1.51 MM!!
CRT
These are store coupons that print on the bottom of your receipt.
CVS Beauty Book/Pamphlets
Every quarter CVS puts out a beauty book loaded with store and manufacturer coupons that you can buy for .99¢. Some stores will put out just the pamphlet and these are free.
Email
Once you’ve registered your card at CVS.com they will occasionally send you printable coupons.
$/$$ Coupons
You can receive these by CRT, Email, or the scanner. They usually are $4/20, $5/$30, or $10/50. This means when you buy $20 worth of product (before coupons) then use your Q to receive $4 off your total. You are only allowed to use one $/$$ per transaction. These are great to maximize your savings or to turn an okay deal into a great deal!
Coupon Order
When you are ready to check out be sure to give your coupons in this order:
CVS dollar off transaction coupons ($/$$)
CVS store coupons/Manufacturer coupons
ECBs.
Achieving Low OOP
When you first start your OOP will be high however after that you’ll want to try to keep it low by paying with your ECBs. I hardly ever spend more than $1 OOP at CVS. To do this you may have to do multiple transactions.
For instance the other day I had about $15 in ECBs but the total of my entire purchase exceeded that. So I broke it down so that my first transaction was as close to $15 as possible, then I would use the ECBs from that transaction to pay for the next one. I repeated this a few times. Yes, I could of just done one transaction used my $15 ECBs paid $53 in cash and gotten back $72 in ECBs. But really why would I when instead I spent $4.96 OOP and had $25 in ECBs for next time.
Remember when doing multiple transactions to be mindful of other customers. This means once you’re done with a transaction if there is a line let the others go first. Also have all your coupons and ECBs ready to use.
I hope I've helped you to better understand CVSing. If you find you still have questions feel free to leave them in the comments and I will try to answer them.
Go to Day 13.
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