Saturday, July 24, 2010

Come CVSing With Me – Revisited (Week of 7/25)

Some time ago I started a blog series I called “Come CVSing with Me.”  Each week I posted a scenario on what to buy to use the Extrabucks to your advantage.  I’ve decided to revisit the series and start again for new readers out there!!  I’ll try to post Saturday evening or Sunday mornings for the upcoming week.

But first here are a few basics. 

You must have a CVS ExtraCare card.  Don’t have one?  Sign up for one at your local store (and get it right away) or sign up online here.  There is also a great CVS FAQ page here.  Either way you will want to link your card online eventually to receive great email offers including free product offers and money saving coupons.

Start receiving or getting a Sunday paper.  The best way to receive the great deals at CVS (or anywhere) is to pair manufacturer’s coupons with sales.  Some people talk about buying multiple papers for access to multiple coupons.  I find one paper and internet printable coupons has done me well over the last two years.

Learn the lingo.  Some common abbreviations I’ll use are:

OOP – out of pocket (money actually spent right out of my pocket)

ECB – Extracare Bucks (dollars that print at the bottom of your receipt for use on your next purchase)

MQ – Manufacturer’s coupon found in newspaper inserts

CRT – Cash Register Tape

B1G1 – Buy One Get One Free

You might also consider buying a Green Bag Tag for $0.99.  These tags are found by the registers.  You purchase it initially for $0.99, then attach it to a reusable shopping bag.  Each time you shop at CVS, they will scan the bag tag and you earn $0.25.  Once you reach $1.00, you will get a $1.00 ECB on your CRT to spend! 

And always, always scan your card every time you enter CVS at an Extracare Savings Center (red box with scanner in store), usually located in the front.  It prints money savings coupons and often times I can find free products with these.

Ready?  Then…

I want you to shop with me. We may not be side by side racking up the savings, cashing in on ECB's, or paying as little OOP as possible, but we'll still be celebrating together!

If you are interested, I thought I would try to get you started and then help you roll your ECB's each week into free items, while earning more ECBs. Keep in mind that I don't know what kinds of items you buy, use or need, so this is just for fun. You can keep what you get or give it as gifts or give it to charity.

I wanted to get you started with something small and hopefully work up from there. I'll try to post by Tuesday each week, an item or items that you could purchase using ECBs earned from the week before, each time gaining more ECBs for future use.

Since this week you would be starting out fresh, I am going to do a deal using an internet coupon that you can download and print. After today though, I may be posting items that would need to be combined with a manufacturer's coupon that you can find in your local Sunday paper. Our local Sunday paper is a measly $1.25 and most times, using one or two coupons covers that cost right away, making the expense worthwhile. I clip every coupon and organize them into a small accordion file by grouping together like items. I don't use every coupon, of course, but you never know when you might be able to pick up a free item.

Here would be a good way to start at CVS this week, remembering that you have to put out a little bit of cash, in order to get your first ECBs to roll with next week.

Remember, the first few weeks generally start out small, but believe me it can get really big!

This week I recommend purchasing the following:

U by Kotex for $4.99 (Limit 1)

Use this U by Kotex Printable coupon for $1.00 off 1.

When you purchase it, you will earn $4.99 ECBs.

Your total will be $3.99 plus tax.

Now you have paid less than the $4.99 price item and earned $4.99 ECBs back on the bottom of your (CRT). Cut the ECB out and save it for next week. It works just like cash. 

Guess what – you just made $1.00 shopping!

Next week, I'll post what you can buy with your $4.99 in ECBs, earn more and use hopefully nothing out of your pocket (except maybe some tax)! Let me know if you join in!

(There are a few other good deals this week like the following if you want to put out more cash up front or need the items.  I am simply suggesting the item where you can pay less and gain more to get you started and that also used a printable coupon so if you didn’t have a stash started, this could get you rolling.)  Some other good deals this week are:

Photobooks – $7.99
Get $7.99 ECBs

Clairol Nice & Easy – $6.99
Use $2/1 Clairol coupon (PG 7/4)
Get $2 ECBs (Limit 1)
Final Price = $2.99

Dove Bar Soap (2pk) – $3
Get $2 ECBs (Limit 1)
Final Price = $1

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm a college student and I've been following your blog for about little over a month now. I just wanted to say I think what you're doing is great! I love your blog and I want to thank you for introducing me to swagbucks and now, this!
Thank you!
-Jules

Anonymous said...

I had a few questions regarding ECBs.

1) Do we receive ECBs for every item purchased?
2) Do ECBs expire?

Troy and Rachel said...

In response to the questions -

1 - Not every item - you have to follow the sales, however you do earn 2% cash back (in the form of ECBs) for your total purchases each quarter. You can also earn $1.00 for every 2 prescriptions filled at CVS.

2 - Yes they do expire - usually 3 week out. Each ECB printed will have it's own expiration date. That's why I generally shop every week!

Thanks for the great questions!