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!!!