Your Coupons FAQ

So since my last post I have gotten a lot of the same questions about couponing, so let me take minute to try to answer those.

When I get to the store, it’s cheaper to not use the coupon.

I hear this all the time. Remember I said it takes a couple of months to really start seeing the savings? Well let me explain that better. Yes, when you first start you will have to buy the things you need now. But you need to start buying the things you will need. You have to change the way you shop. The first month I went couponing.  I spent my normal amount because I needed those items, then I spent an extra $150 and got $100 in free items. I know your thinking this is crazy but it’s the way I had to do it, because we had items we needed. So I bought the needed items, then I shopped the deals for the items I will need.

So “will need” what does that mean?

I told you to make list of the meals you make most. So you know you make spaghetti at least three times a month. You buy your needs for that week’s worth of groceries, and then you buy the sale on spaghetti. So say the spaghetti is buy two sauces and get two free noodles. This is a deal I had my first months of doing this. I also had a coupon for the sauce for $1 off two.  The pasta sale was the two sauces for $4.00 (2.00 apiece), with my dollar off coupon making them $3.00 for two and two free pasta. That came to $.75 each. Now that’s a deal, there was no limit so I bought 6 sets.  So that gave me 12 sauces and 12 noodles.  If I cook spaghetti only 3 times a month, I now have a 4 month supply. So guess what I don’t have to spend money on for the next four months? That’s right pasta because I bought what I don’t need now, but will need later.

Need vs Want:

A need is something your family needs, i.e. toilet paper, a want is something you want but can live without, a new laptop when yours works fine. You have to know your needs and you have to know the difference of them from your wants. Buying wants doesn’t save you money. But if you can get your needs for 50% to 100% off, then you have more money for your wants.

So that’s great for food but how do I get discounts on personal items?

Remember I told you to make list of the meals you make most; this is the same with personal items.  You should have a list of personal items you always buy. Most people are loyal to a certain product or item. So you are going to buy those items when it goes on sale. Yes again at first you have to buy your needs list. And then add onto that your will needs.  One would assume that everyone buys toilet paper, tooth brushes, body wash, and toothpaste and so on. So you buy your current needs and you know what you always buy, then you find the deals on your will needs. So this month you get deals on toothpaste and toothbrushes and next month you get a deal on mouth wash and floss. In two months time you can take care of your families oral needs for the next year!

Learn to Pharmacy Store Shop- CVS:

I have always been told, “You should never pay for personal items at CVS.” Until recently I really didn’t understand this. I had to go to Wal-Mart the other day to buy needs item that I didn’t have and didn’t have coupons for. I spent $73 and was sick about it. My sister has been trying to tell me to shop at CVS, but I really didn’t understand how it worked.  Now I am a CVS master!  The first thing you need to do is go to your CVS and get a CVS card. It’s free. Call the number on the back and follow the commands to link your card to your phone number. This way you don’t have to keep up with that dang card.

EBS- Extra bucks; CVS offers deals when you buy this item you get extra bucks. Okay so here is what you have to understand, you need the card to get the extra bucks, you need the receipts to spend the extra bucks. When you buy items at CVS the card gives you the deal. The Extra bucks are printed on the bottom of your receipt. Do not think of these as coupons, these are more like CVS gift cards.

So like everything, you have to buy something to get something. You have to pay for your first transaction. Yes, CVS takes coupons; no they do not double them.  So you go to CVS and buy 6 items that offer Extra bucks. These are bucks you use on your next order!  I recently went and got $206.94, did it in 6 transactions and only paid $53.74, that’s $153.19 in personal products for FREE! Here’s what I bought, 2 -6 pack of Charmin toilet paper, 4- Oral b Pulsar toothbrushes, 4- Crest 1 liter mouthwashes, 3 Gillette body washes, 4 Always feminine products, 4- Colgate toothpaste, 3 – Hershey’s candy bars, 4- Pantene Mouse, 2- John Frieda Shampoos, 2- John Frieda Cond., 2- Contact Solutions, and 1 dawn dishwashing liquid.

Do I currently need 4 mouthwashes, no I don’t, but I will. And the mouthwash doesn’t exp until December of next year. But we will use It up before then.  Links to more information on CVS shopping below.

How do you know when it’s a better deal?

I like to look at my OOPS (Out Of Pocket Spending).Okay, so let’s look at the toilet paper I bought at CVS above. It was $7.79 each and on sale for$5.49 each with the coupon, that was $1 off 2, it was $4.99 each. At Wal-Mart it’s $5.39 with the coupon it’s $4.89 each. But at CVS with my EBS, I paid $1.03 for two, making them $.51 each. At Wal-Mart I would have paid $9.78 for two. So it’s a better deal at CVS.  Because my OOPS was only 1.03 vs my Wal-Mart OOPS would have been 9.78. I base my deals off my OOPS. Even though the toilet paper was cheaper at Wal-Mart, my OOPS wasn’t.

Do you have to shop every week?

Yes, this is the way you maximize your deals and get free stuff!  I used to shop twice a month, now I go every week.  My Safeway ads are from Wed to Wed; my CVS ads are from Sunday to Sunday. So on Wed’s I get my week’s ad for Safeway and I get my CVS ads in my Sunday paper. Every week, something is on sale. Remember this, every week, there is a sale.  

Hoarding vs the Stock pile:

This is by far my favorite question, “isn’t that hoarding”. No it’s not. I have a family of four, so I buy for my family of four. So what that means is, 4 bottles of mustard will last us a year. So I have four bottles of mustard in my stock pile. That’s stock piling. Now if I had 10 bottles that would be hoarding. Why? We would never use ten bottles before they expire. Now there are certain things you can never have too much of, example, toilet paper. But no one needs 1,000 bottles of toothpaste, that’s hoarding.  

The purpose behind stock piling is to buy mass amounts of the items your family uses when it’s on sale. This way you don’t have to buy that item until it’s on sale again.  My Safeway ran a deal this past week on my laundry detergent, during their mix and match deal. I have to tell you I was thrilled! I normally pay $12 a month for 2 bottles of our detergent ($6 each). I have never seen it in any size less than $4 a bottle. So when Safeway had it for $3.49 and my $1.00 off one made them $2.49, I bought 8!  Paying $19.92. I would normally pay $48 for 8.  So I saved $28.08 off what I normally pay! So basically for every two I bought was still $1.02 cheaper than what I normally paid for one. That’s a 4 month supply for my family. So now I have a four month supply, so I can mark that off my list until it’s on sale again. That’s not hoarding, that’s keeping my family’s needs met.

Don’t you buy things you don’t need or want?

Sometimes. I hear you, but sometimes an item is free or gives me an overage. An overage is when an item is cheaper than the coupon value. Say mustard is .88 and you have 1.00 off coupon. For every mustard you buy you “make” .12. Well you can use that overage toward your non coupon items, like meat, which is rare to have a coupon for. So you take that mustard and donate it. If I ever buy something for the overage or just because it’s free and I don’t use or need it, I donate it. You can find a place to donate items to no matter where you live. And if you have free deodorant that you don’t use or need, you should donate it, or you are hoarding.

I don’t have time:

Bull! Don’t tell me that. Everyone has time. My sister works and has three kids, and she taught me how to coupon. If she can find the time with her super busy schedule and I joke not when I say she is one of the busiest people I know, then so can you. The time is there if you want to do it. Once you make that first big save, you will be surprised where you find the time. And if you’re like me, my children and my husband help.  It has become a family event to save as much money as possible. I am teaching my girls to be savvy shoppers. So don’t give me the “don’t have time”, you will find the time if you truly want to save some serious cash.

Links:

More on How to CVS:

http://shoppingoncouchchange.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-drugstore-shop-cvs.html

Print Coupons:

http://www.couponnetwork.com

http://smartsource.com

http://www.coupons.com

http://www.redplum.com

How to Grocery Store Shop- Safeway

Safeway is a great store if you have one. The daily normal prices are higher than most grocery stores, but the sales that are offered every week (ad’s run from Wednesday to Tuesdays) you can save more money than other stores!

Safeway Club Card- First thing first, you need a Safeway card, you can request it at the customer service desk, normally located in the front of the store. It’s completely free. Be sure to associate the card with your phone number, I lost my card years ago and just enter my phone number at check out.

                More on the Club Card: http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Club-Card

Safeway Ad- Second go to the store and get the current Safeway ad, Sure you may have gotten one in your Sunday paper, but there are different deals and different “Super Coupons” in each. I grab at least three of the ads, because of the limit you can get on the “Super Coupons”

Safeway’s Coupon Policy-Print up Safeway’s policy and take it with you, this will help if there is ever an issue with your coupon.

   http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Justforu-CP-RL

E Coupons- You can load coupons onto your Safeway card from Safeway’s website. You can only use one e-coupon per one item. Remember that or you will misunderstand your discount.

                Load coupons- http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Offers-Landing-IMG

Store Coupons- “Super Coupons”- Every week in the Safeway ad you get store coupons, that Safeway calls “Super Coupons”. These coupons have a limit of how many you can buy at the “Super Coupon’s” Price. Safeway takes one Manufactures coupon and one Super coupon per item.  If you have a Super coupon with a limit of two, and you buy two items, you can use two manufactures coupon. You do not need two of the “Super Coupons”.  You can also only use one of a like “Super Coupon” per transaction. So say you have a Super coupon for Cascade making it $3.99 and you have a limit of two. You cannot use two of the super coupons to get a limit of four cascades. You must do another transaction to use the other like Super coupons in order to get 4 at the super coupon price.

Coupons Booklets- Sometimes Safeway will set out in random parts of the store coupon book. These are free and have both Safeway and Manufactures coupons in them.

Catalina’s- these print up at the register to be used on your next transaction. These can be anywhere from a store coupon to a coupon with $ off your next order.

Printed Coupons-Safeway does accept printed coupons; however they will not accept a printed coupon for a free product. Yes they take BOGO Free printed coupons, but not just free. At Safeway you have to buy something in order to get anything free.  

Other Store Coupons- Safeway does take other store coupons; please review #6 on the policy. I was confused when I first read this and after talking to the management they said yes they do, but it has to be for the exact same item. This means you can use your Giant, Target, and other store coupons at Safeway. If you have questions simply ask the management and show them the policy.

Buy One Get one Free- Safeway takes both manufactures and printed coupons for BOGO, however, you cannot use two BOGO free’s to get both products free. You also cannot use a BOGO free coupon on a BOGO sale. What you can do is a coupon on the one you buy. Say cereal is BOGO free; you can use a coupon on the item you buy.

Rain checks- When Safeway is out of an item at a sales price you can go to the customer service desk and get a rain check for that item at that price. They expire within 90 days. And you cannot get a rain check on your manufactures coupon.

Zero is as low as you can go: The coupon policy says “our customer cannot net a cash credit or payout from a coupon purchase”. So what that means is after coupons, zero is as low as you can go, you will not be given cash back or a credit. Say you use coupons and your total is negative $1, the price will be adjusted to zero.

Double a coupon- My Safeway doubles all coupons (unless it says not to double on it) up to 99 cents. So if I have a 99 Cents off coupon (I have yet to ever see one of those) it would double to $1.98. My favorite coupons are the ones for $.75 off one product; this is the highest coupon in the cent range I have ever seen. This is regional; some Safeway’s only double up to 50 cents. You should check with your Safeway Customer Service for the policy on doubling at that store. There are even some places that offer no doubling or doubling on certain days, so you should check before you shop.

10 for $10- At my Safeway when there is a 10 for $10 sale, you do not have to buy ten items, they honor it at $1 each. You should check with you Safeway to see if they honor this also.

How to ad match- (Week of July 20-July 26)

This week there are a lot of “Super Coupons” in the ad. You can pick one up at the store. There are also a lot of printable coupons that you can match with the ad to really make the items cheap.

 (Again these are examples; your Safeway may differ in price, coupons and doubling. Prices are also pretax amounts)

Super Coupons we will use with Printable coupons-

Breyers Ice Cream is on Sale with the Super coupon at $2.49 a piece. You can print a coupon (these are at coupons.com) for $.75 off one. My Safeway doubles all coupons up to 99 cents.  (Math $2.49 minus coupon of $.75 (doubled is $1.50) equals $.99 each!) You have a limit of ten with the super coupon.

Kleenex tissue is on Sale with the Super coupon for $.99. You can print a coupon for $.60 off three. The Super Coupon limits you to two at the $.99 price and with your club card you can get a third at $.1.99. (Math .99x2+1.99=$3.97 minus $.60 coupon (doubles to $1.20) =$2.77! Which is about $.92 each)

Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch is on sale for $1.79 with the Super coupon. You can print a coupon for $.75 off one, or use the one in last week’s paper (Sunday July 17) for $.75 off one. (Math $1.79 minus $.75 coupon (doubles to $1.50) equals $.29 a box!)

So say this is all we buy, all these items at the limit.  At home you can print coupons 2 per computer. I have 4, so I will get 8 of every coupon.

How to check out- (IMPORANTANT)

First have them scan all the items, second enter your phone number attached to your Safeway card (or have them scan the card if you have it.) Next give them the Safeway Super Coupons, AFTER those are scanned hand over your manufactures coupons.  If you don’t do it in this order your coupons will be taking off the full price and not the Club price or Super coupon price!

(so this is hypothetical because you can only use 4 like coupons for the cereal and ice cream (because it states so on the coupon), you would have to run two transactions to get all 8 boxes and all 8 ice creams and have two super coupons, one for each transactions, but we are doing it this way to show the full cost.)

Buy 8 Breyers Ices cream- Super Coupon $2.49/2, Use 8 Printed coupons for $.75/1 (which doubles at my store) Total OOPS (out of pocket Spending)= $7.92

Buy 3 Kleenex- Use Super Coupon for $.99/1, Club Card price for $1.99, use 1 printed coupon for $.60/1 (which doubles) Total OOPS=$2.77

Buy 8 boxes of Cocoa Puffs Brownie Crunch, Use super coupon for $1.79/1, use 8 printed or manufactures coupons for $.75/1 (which Doubles) Total OOPS=$2.32

Total OOPS for all: $13.02

Now let’s see how that compares to the retail price:

Total Retail:

Breyers Ice Cream- Normal Price- $3.69x 8=$29.52

Kleenex- Normal Price-$2.19x3=$6.57

Cocoa Puffs Normal Price-$3.89x8=$31.12

Total for all = $67.21

This means you would save =$54.20!

How to Drugstore shop- Rite Aid

Rite Aid offers you so many ways to save money that’s it crazy. They have the basic idea of CVS but with more ways to save you money.

Again we are going to assume you have no coupons, no card and are completely new at Rite Aid shopping. And remember my deals and prices may vary from yours and the total OOPS (out of pocket spending) is before tax.

First things first:

Go to the cashier and you get you a wellness card. These are free and are your ticket in the door and your ticket to the points program. If you want they offer you a chance to get a temporary one online and have the card mailed to. http://www5.riteaid.com/wellness

Wellness Card’s Points Program:

Now that you have the card you can start taking advantage of the points program.  You earn 1 point for every dollar you spend on eligible products. (Some exclusions apply). As you go you will earn points that will give you after a set of time discounts from 10% off to 20% off items you buy at Rite Aid. For a full list of details please see: http://www5.riteaid.com/wellness/limitation-details

+Up Rewards:

+Up rewards are like CVS extra bucks, in that they print on the bottom of your receipt.  And can be used on your next purchase. There are certain items every week that when you buy them you get the +UP rewards. Again think of these like gift cards. You can use them at Rite aid for your next purchase. Again like with CVS you want to start rolling them from week to week. (note: you have to cut them off or rip them from your receipt, these are like CVS and are not loaded onto your card, you have to keep these and give them after you coupons.)

Video Values:

You can watch videos at the link below to get coupons for the products you are watching, be sure you sign up for the web site and added your wellness card number before watching.

Watch Videos: http://riteaid.adperk.com/offers

Single check rebates:

Rite aid also offers Single Check Rebates, when you buy certain products you can go online fill out the form with the information from your receipt in about a week you will get a post card looking check from Rite Aid. Fill all your Single check rebates once a month, so you can take advance of all the rebates being offered, for more see the link below.

Rebate Program: https://riteaid.rebateplus.com/

Rite Aid Coupons:

You can print Rite Aid coupons that can be stacked with manufactures coupons.

http://www.coupons.com/Couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=15639&zid=mz05&nid=10

Rite Aid Coupon Policy:

http://content.riteaid.com/stores/CustomerCouponAcceptancePolicyAugust2010.pdf

This week’s match-ups- July 10-16

There are a lot of products this week that offer the +UP rewards and the single check rebates we everything from, razors, sodas, Lotion, hair dye and so on. We are going to pick just a few deals to give you an idea of how you can really save money at Rite Aid.

(Again we are going to assume that you have no coupons until this week and that you are totally new to couponing. We are also assuming you have bought 4 papers and have 4 copies of every coupon. Also these are pre-tax totals and your prices or coupons may vary.)

The products we have chosen are The Noxzema razors, Compound W, Colgate, Sour patch, Soft soap, and Crest. And I have done this to show you how to save on everything Rite Aid has to offer.

Noxzema Razors are on Sale for $2, we have a coupon for $2 off 1

Compound W is on sale for $10.99, it has a SCR (single check rebate) for $10.00

Colgate Toothpaste is on sale for $2.49, we have a coupon for $1 off 2

Sour Patch is on sale for 2 for $3, we have a coupon for $1 off 2

Soft Soap is on sale for $2.99, gives you $2 in UP+ Rewards

Crest is on sale for $2.68, SCR for $2.69

How to save money, first things first, go to Rite-aid’s web site and watch the Rite-Aid Wellness+ Video for a Save $1 Coupon. Next go to Rite Aid’s coupon page and print up the Rite aid coupon for the Compound W, it’s $2 off 1, then go to Coupons.com and print off the manufactures coupon for Compound W, it’s $2 off 1. Clip your coupons for the Noxzema, Sour Patch and Colgate from your paper.

(How to run transactions: Scan Wellness card, scan products, give rite aid coupons, give manufactures coupons, give Up+ rewards, then pay, in that order!)

Transaction 1:

Buy 4- Noxzema Razors, on sale for $2, use 4 of the $2 off one razor- Pay Free

Buy 1 Soft Soap, on sale for $2.99; get $2 in Up+ rewards.-Pay $2.99

Total OOPS of Transaction 1- $2.99

            And you got $2.00 in Up+ rewards (remember this is on the bottom of your receipt, rip it off for Transaction 2)

Transaction 2:

Buy 1- Compound W is on sale for $10.99, use the Rite Aid coupon of $2 off 1 and use the manufactures coupon of $2 off one. It has a SCR (single check rebate) for $10.00- pay $6.99

2- Colgate Toothpaste is on sale for $2.49, we have a coupon for $1 off 2, pay $3.98

2- Sour Patch is on sale for 2 for $3, we have a coupon for $1 off 2, pay $2.00

1-Crest is on sale for $2.69, SCR for $2.69, pay $2.69

Use your $1 off coupon from the Video you watched and the $2 in Up+ Rewards from Transaction 1.

Total: $15.66 - $1 Video Coupon-$2 Up+ Rewards=Total OOPS =$12.66

So next go to Rite aid single check rebate page on the web, fill in the information for both the Compound W and the Crest, you will get a check you can take and cash at your bank for the $10 for the CW and the $2.69 Crest. Total Single Check Rebate: $12.69

So if you look at the rebate checks, you made $3.01 on the Compound W (math- $10 Rebate-$6.99).

So for both transactions you paid $15.65, you then got $12.69 in Rebates, so your total for this order is $2.69 for over $30 in product!

How to Drugstore shop- CVS.

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 1^sttransactions 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 – (1^st 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!