The Mystery of CVS

I thought I would share with you a bit about how CVS rewards its card carrying customers.

ECBs

ECB is short for Extra Care Buck. ECBs are a special CVS coupon that prints at the end of your transaction on your receipt. They can be used similarly to cash, although they are considered a coupon. ECBs are earned when you purchase qualifying products. These deals are found in the CVS advertisements. In most stores, when you purchase a product you are limited to one store coupon and one manufacturer coupon per item. An ECB is special because it can be used in addition to your other coupons. There are also no restrictions to how many you can use per transaction. To get started with your savings at CVS, I would suggest purchasing a few of the ECB deals for items that you need or would have bought anyway. When your receipt prints, save the ECBs from the bottom of your receipt. Consider this your investment. On your next trip, use your ECBs on other ECB-generating items. This process is often called "rolling your ECBs." I try to use them in conjunction with coupons so that I only use as many ECBs as I am earning. Sometimes I even do multiple transactions in order to keep my out of pocket low. Let me give you an example:

Two weeks ago there was a weekly sale where if you bought 2 Neutrogena soap bars for $2.99 each, you would earn you $10 ECBs. There was also an ECB deal on Colgate Total that rewarded you $2.99 ECB when you bought a tube of Colgate for $2.99. The following scenario is similar to what I did using coupons I had:

Transaction 1:

2 Neutrogena Soap Bars=$5.98 ($2.99 each)
-$1.00 manufacturer coupon
-$1.00 manufacturer coupon
Total Out of Pocket: $3.98
Earns $10 ECB

Transaction 2:
5 Colgate Total=$14.95
-$1.00 manufacturer coupon
-$1.00 manufacturer coupon
-$1.00 manufacturer coupon
-$1.00 manufacturer coupon
-$1.00 manufacturer coupon
-$10 ECB from transaction 1
Total Out of Pocket: $0
Earns $14.95 ECB

Total OOP for 2 Transactions: $3.98
Earn $14.95 ECB for next time.

Had I bought these items in one transaction, my total OOP would have been $13.93 and I would have earned $10 ECB for the Neutrogena and 14.95 ECB for the Colgate. Rolling your ECBs lowers how much money you have to spend OOP because you are using your ECB " investment" to cover those costs.

Monthly and Weekly Advertisements

Each month CVS puts out an advertisement that shares their monthly sales and ECB generating products. These sales last all month long. They also have a weekly flyer with more sales and ECB generating products. The weekly and monthly sales and deals can be combined. For instance, if there is a monthly deal on Listerine SmartRinse where if you buy 2 products you earn $3 in ECBs, and a weekly sale on the same product of "buy 2 for $6", then after sale and ECB you get that product for the low price of 2 for $3. Now, if you have a coupon for $1.00 off each, then your new total is 2 for $1. This is a perfect example of how to maximize your savings. It pays to use your coupons during a great sale.

Free after ECB

Frequently, CVS will have items that are free after ECB. Usually, there are a couple of freebies each month. You can use coupons on these items in order to lower your OOP and, of course, roll those ECBs.

Do you see how you can save a lot of money by shopping at CVS and utilizing their customer loyalty program? I am able to get most (if not all) of my toiletries, make-up, cleaning supplies, and over-the-counter medications for free this way. My biggest advice is to start with small transactions (it minimizes the stress and lowers the cost of any mistakes). Also, since I learn best by doing, I would suggest you try it out and ask tons of questions along the way. Sometimes my transactions don't work out how I had planned and I end up spending more than I would like, but I consider it my tuition cost in the College of Fugal Living. Those costs are nonexistent these days and my savings far outweigh any small mistakes. Good luck! TTFN!!!

A Quickie Trip to Walgreens

I dropped by Wags to pick up the kind of razor my husband loves.  I am still a newbie to shopping at this store and to date it has been a bit overwhelming.  I feel like I have learned how to use their rebate program and their instant coupons, but have never ventured into the Register Reward program.  So, the next few weeks I plan on trying to take advantage of this opportunity to save.  Here is what I bought this morning:

1 Gillette Fusion Gamer Razor - $8.99 each - $8.99

I used the following coupon:

1 - $4 off Gillette Fusion Gamer Razor

Subtotal:  $4.99

Tax:  $.25

Total:  $5.24

Earned $6 RR

My OOP for this trip was a bit higher than I usually like, but I earned back a RR higher than my OOP.  My plan is to use that RR on items next week that earn more RRs and continue to roll them so that my savings are maximized.  We will all see how that fares as I continue to share with you each shopping trip that I make.  TTFN!

A Quickie Trip to CVS

I stopped in at CVS this morning to take advantage of a hidden deal that I found in the CVS forum at A Full Cup.  Here's what I got:

5 Renuzit TriScents - $5.49 each - $27.45

I used the following coupons:

5 - $4 off Renuzit TriScents

1 - $4 off order of $20 CVS coupon

1 - $2.99 ECB CVS Coupon

Subtotal:  $.46

Tax:  $.02

Total: $.48

Earned $10 ECB

I always consider it a successful trip when my OOP is less than my earned ECBs.  TTFN!

A Whole New Language

There are a ton of terms and abbreviations that are out there in the coupon world.  As you do your research to find the best deals, you will want to have a working coupon vocabulary.  Here are a few of the biggies.

Sunday Newspaper Insert Abbreviations:

GM - General Mills

KG - Kellogg

PG - Procter and Gamble

RP - Red Plum

SS - SmartSource

V - Valassis

Common Coupon Abbreviations and Terms:

B1G1 - Buy One Get One Free

BOGO - Buy One Get One Free

Blinkies - Grocery/drugstore coupon dispensers

BTFE - Box Tops for Education

CRT - Cash Register Tape

Catalina - Machine at register that prints out coupons

ECB - Extra Care Buck (CVS coupon that prints at the end of your receipt and can be used as money.)

ESC - Easy Saver Coupon (Walgreens in-ad coupon)

ESR - Easy Saver Rebate (Walgreens monthly rebate)

FAR - Free After Rebate

Filler - Item bought to reach a minimum purchase amount

GC - Gift Card

GDA - Good Deal Alert

HBA - Health and Beauty Aids

IPQ - Internet Printable Coupon

IVC - Instant Value Coupon

Insert - These are the coupons from the Sunday paper

MC, MQ - Manufacturer's Coupon

MIR - Mail in Rebate

OOP - Out of Pocket

Overage - Profit received by stacking coupons or using coupons with rebates.

OYNO - On Your Next Order

Peelie - A coupon that you peel off of the package

PSA - Prices Starting At

Q - Coupon

RAOK - Random Act of Kindness

RC - Raincheck

RR - Register Reward (Walgreens coupon similar to the ECB from CVS)

SCR - Single Check Rebate (Rite Aid Lingo)

Stacking - Using a store's coupon and a manufacturer's coupon together on one purchase

Tearpads - Tearpad coupons usually hang on shelves near the product

TMF - Try Me Free

UPC - Universal Product Code

YMMV - Your mileage may vary

WAGS - Walgreens

WYB - When You Buy

There are more out there, but these are the ones that I see most often.  Hope this helps you as you seek to learn more about how to maximize your savings.  TTFN!

My Purpose

Several months ago, I found myself a stay at home mom with no children at home.  What is a girl to do with herself?  In an effort to contribute to our household and still remain at home and available to my children and husband, I decided to begin seeing how far I could stretch each and every dollar.  I started off searching the internet trying to find everything that I could about coupons, rebate programs, resources and became a bit overwhelmed.  I even wanted to throw the towel in and retire from my short lived coupon career.  Boy, am I glad that my sweet sister-in-law encouraged me to try again.  She shared some of her own successes with me and suggested that I start more simply with a store like CVS.  She briefly explained their rebate program and I decided to start with that.  Well, after I got that store down, I began to learn how to shop Walgreens, Rite Aid, Stop and Shop and Shaws.  

As I have shared my shopping experiences with friends and family, I have been flooded with questions.  So, I decided to start this blog as a way of helping others brave the stores and find the deals.  Many may wonder, "How can a few dollars worth of coupons really make that big of a difference?"  Well, for you skeptics I plan to detail each shopping trip and keep a running total of my out of pocket expenses and my savings over time.  Hopefully, you too will be able to see just how much money can be saved over time.  I also plan on sharing some of the resources that have helped me to learn how to be successful and maximize my savings.

Hope this works well and is helpful to someone!  TTFN!!!