Once again I find myself in front of this screen ready to answer your questions. My biggest one is on how to really save at CVS, Walgreens, Rite aid and other stores. I have gotten a ton of questions about how it works, this is because I mentioned it last time and told you to become a master of CVS shopping. I wanted to wait until this week so I could use the most current Sunday paper ad to help you figure it out.
I have given you sites in my last posts that sent you to websites where they do the ad matchups for you. But you want to know how to do it on your own. So I will attempt to explain this in way that I can over the internet without you seeing my silly hand motions and pointing to the ads. So maybe this will even be a better experience for you.
For this we are going to assume that you are brand new, you have no coupons until this week and you haven’t yet scored any extra bucks, no card, and no stockpile and so on. Before I can show you how to save I have to explain a few items with you and the CVS coupon policy. Once you understand these, you can move on to the ads down below.
First things first:
You must buy the Sunday paper, your ads and coupons are in here. I suggest you buy at least 2 to start with; this gives you 2 sets of the same coupons!
The CVS Card:
You need a CVS Card; these are free, just go to the cashier and ask for one. Then turn it over, call the number on the back and link your card with your phone number. This is in case you lose your card! Now normally I toss the card, because I am signed up with so many different places, it is a pain to keep up with them all, do not do this with your CVS card. Go ahead and stick it with your credit/debit card. You will want it because of the coupon machine at the store; I will get to this in a minute.
You need your card to get the extra bucks and the sale items. Think of the card as your ticket to get into the door. Without your Card you have no pass and are stuck out in the rain. You will use your card for every transaction you make at CVS. And I mean every.
The green bagger:
CVS, like many other stores offer you a chance to save money if you bring in your own bag. CVS has taken this one more step by offering you a CVS tag to add to your own bags! When you check out, the cashiers scan your CVS card, and then have them scan your green bag tag. Every fourth transaction this little bag tag will give you $1 in extra bucks (we will get to the extra bucks in a moment). So be sure you have it scanned with every transaction! The tag is only 99 cents, so it pays for itself after your first fourth transaction and then it pays you from then on.
Extra Bucks:
Extra Bucks are the big ticket to CVS savings. These print out on the bottom of your receipt. You need your Card, the ticket to get in the door, to get the extra bucks. You can think of extra bucks as CVS gift cards that expire. Extra bucks are offered on different items every week. Say one week they offer extra bucks on razors and next week they offer extra bucks when you buy toothpaste. Also if you have prescriptions at CVS you get extra bucks. Extra bucks are to be used on future transactions, remember they do expire. But with our weekly shopping we are not going to let that happen! We are going to use them and score more as we go.
The CVS Coupon Machine:
The coupon machine is the coolest thing ever. You walk in the store scan your CVS card and it spits out all kinds of savings, from CVS coupons to CVS extra bucks! Anytime I am near a CVS I will walk in and just scan my card, twice. Remember to do this because you never know what that machine will give you!
The CVS Coupon Policy:
CVS does not put their policy online and they reserve the right to change it and to refuse your coupons at their will, but then again every store holds those same rights. If you want a copy of the policy you have to ask for it at the store. But here are the basics, CVS takes: CVS Store Coupons, Manufacturer coupons, Internet printable coupons, and they take extra bucks. If you are ever in doubt about a coupon ask the manager. You can use one manufacture coupon and one CVS coupon per one item. And your Extra bucks. CVS does not give coupon overage, so if your coupon is to save more than the price of the item the coupon will be adjusted. CVS does not double or triple coupons.
Match-ups, So let’s look at this week’s ad (this is the week of 6/26-7/2):
Before I go any further, let me say that the prices are before tax and your prices may vary. I am in the DC area and my cost of living is mostly higher than yours and good chances are that my sales tax is lower than yours, unless you don’t pay one. Also you may have different coupons or the same one that offers a different price, so prices may vary!
Like with any program you have to buy something to get something. So the first thing we are going to do is look at the products that have the extra bucks reward in the CVS ad
There is a full list, just like there is every week. So let’s look at those, you have extra bucks rewards on Off Clip, Raid, ITunes, Revlon, Almay, Vaseline Lotion, Lysol soap, Ponds, John Frieda, Jergen’s, Cruel, Dove, Degree, Lever, Caress, Brilliant PH, Band-aids, Zantac, Prilosec, Tums, CVS Underwear, Pantene, Speed stick, Colgate, Schick and Sports Drinks.
Now chances are that there are items there, being we are assuming you are just starting your stock pile, that you need or you will need. At first this is all we are concerned with, the items that offer us extra bucks when we buy them. Next we need to look at this week’s coupons. This week we have Red Plum and Smart Source coupon packets in the paper. We are looking for coupons to match the ad for the items that have extra bucks only; Red Plum has coupons for Ponds, Dove and Tums. Smart Source has coupons for Pantene, Colgate, Revlon, Off Clip, Raid, Schick and Almay.
So here is when we make a decision, what products do we need or will need that offer us extra bucks and we have a coupon for. (If you need something and you don’t have a coupon, please buy it. It’s okay to buy things you need, even if it’s not on sale or you have no coupon for it. We all have to do it and you should feel okay about doing it.)
Before we can go further we need to look at the limits, the sale price may have limit, but we are more concerned right now with the extra buck’s limits. If you look at the Colgate it’s 2.87 with your card, you get 1.00 in extra bucks back. It also says, extra bucks offer limit 1 per household. So what this means is that you will only get the $1 in extra bucks, once. The toothpaste however will remain 2.87 for every time you use your card. But only once will it print you extra bucks, so be sure you are aware of how many times you can get the ebs (extra bucks).
I am going to pick a few items to show you how to run your transactions and how to save money. You may need different items than these, this is just an example.
So we are going to say we need or will need the following:
Colgate Toothpaste, Pantene, Ponds, Dove products, Schick.
Now let’s look at the other products that are on sale that we have coupons for in this week’s paper, or that are just really good deals that are on our needs/will need list. Palmolive and Stay free.
Out of those products there are coupons for Palmolive and Stay free.
So let’s look at the price of everything, with the coupons and extra bucks.
Colgate total is $2.87, our coupon is for $1 off 1 and we get $1 Extra Bucks
Pantene is 2 for $6.97, our coupon is for $1 off 1 and we get $2 Extra Bucks
Ponds is $5.88, coupon $1 off 1, extra bucks $2
Schick is 8.99 cartridges are $8.99, coupon is for $4.50 off 1, extra bucks $3
Spend $15 get $5 EB (with spend $15 get $5, the $15 is before coupons!)
Dove men’s body wash is $5, coupon is for Buy one get on free
Dove Shampoo/Conditioner is 2 for $6 and coupon is $1 off 1
Other items:
Stay Free is 2 for $9.00, coupon is Buy one get one free
Palmolive is .88
(Quick note on coupon fraud, you’ll notice I mention there was a coupon for Palmolive, it’s for $1 off 1 20 oz or larger. The sale is for the 10oz Palmolive. We cannot use this coupon for this product! If you do you are committing coupon fraud! Which is illegal!)
How to run your transactions:
Our goal is to have the least amount possible of OOPS (out of pocket spending) while rolling over (always having) extra bucks. So we have to figure out the order in which we are going to check out.
First hand the cashier your CVS Card, then your Green bag tag, Then run the items, hand the coupons over and then your extra bucks. You will run every transaction in this order! Even if you are running more than one on one day.
So with our list this one way we could run it:
Transaction number 1:
(Remember, CVS Card, Green Bag tag, Items, then coupons)
1 Schick refill, cost $8.99, our coupon is for $4.50 off one ($4.50/1) = we pay after coupons $4.49 (we get $3 back in Extra bucks)
Colgate total, $2.87, $1/1 coupon= $1.87 (1 EB)
2- Pantene (1 shampoo, 1 conditioner), 2/$6.97, $1/1 coupons, $1/1 coupon= $4.97 (2 EB)
(Okay this is why you buy more than one paper, you will use two of the $1 off 1Pantee products, and this can only be accomplished with two papers, which gives you two sets of the same coupons!)
Palmolive, $.88
Total OOPS: $12.21 ($6.00 EB)
Transaction 2-
(Remember, CVS Card, Green Bag tag, Items, then coupons, the extra bucks that printed on the bottom of your 1sttransactions receipt)
Ponds-$5.88, $1/1 coupon= $4.88 (2 EB)
(Spend $15 get $5 EB)
2- Dove Men’s Body wash, $5, BOGO coupon=$5
2- Doves (1 shampoo, 1 conditioner), 2/$6, $1/1 Coupons, $1/1 Coupon) $4 (again this is done by having more than one paper)
2 – Stayfree, 2/$9, BOGO coupon= $4.50
Total OOPs: 18.38 – (1st Transactions EB of $6)
Total OOPs= $12.38 and you still have $7 in Extra bucks to use next week
So our total OOPS for both is $24.59, for $50.59 of product, so we saved (or got for free) $26. Now you can add on that EB you have left and even say you saved $33 (26 plus 7). But you will use those $7 EBs next week when you shop!
So that’s how easy it is to CVS shop. Every week you should be able to roll over your extra bucks. So next week on transaction 1 you will use your left over Extra bucks from this week to pay for it, then you will use the extra bucks from that transaction to pay for the next transaction, plus that transaction will be number four so you will get another $1 extra bucks because you have used your green tag bag! You just continue to do this every week. In no time you will have stock piled all your personal needs!
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