Shopping at CVS (Part 1)

February 8, 2010


This has been a busy day for me...taking my parents to have tests run, then on to attend the monthly meeting of the Belfry Homemaker's Club. Today I got to present the monthly lesson at Homemaker's entitled Couponing 101. That just happened to be the lesson that all of the Homemaker's clubs in the county were presenting. Anna Trout, a member, knew that I couponed, so she asked me if I would present the lesson. The materials were given to me last week so that I could prepare the lesson for today. Since the materials were very beneficial, I will share with you info from the lesson in a future blog. Now on to the next item on my day's agenda which was picking my daughter up from school, and finally a stop to have her nails done. She had her nails done at VIP Nails and we were surprised when she got a $5.00 discount for being a student. Yay! Seems like to day has been all about savings!

Well, on to the topic of the day, which is shopping at CVS. I find so many deals there and save SO much money with CVS. Listed are some things to keep in mind in order to save at CVS.

1) If you don't already have a CVS savings card, sign up for one.

2) You get 2% back on your purchases per quarter, which print out as ecb's at the end of each quarter. (Read info on the CVS website to see what items qualify and how this percentage works.)

3) You can get a beauty club coupon from one of the tear pads in the store, have it scanned at the register, and then when you purchase a total of $50.00 over a period of time, you will receive $5.00 ecb's (extra care bucks). To clarify this, in order to get these particular ecb's you would need to purchase items in the beauty care line, such as make up, nail polish, as well as other products that apply to the beauty club. Just check the scannable coupon from the tear pad in the store to see what items qualify.

4) Purchase a green tag. These are located near the registers. The green tag is a leaf shaped tag, that you can tie to your reusable shopping bag or attach to a key chain. I actually have my green tag and CVS card together on a key chain. After the green tag has been scanned each fourth time, it allows you to earn an ecb. It can only be scanned once per day. You are supposed to bring in a reusable shopping bag in order to have your green tag scanned. I have forgotten to do this at times, but the cashiers have been kind enough to scan it for me anyway. Getting the extra care buck for this is kind of like receiving a reward for going "green" and helping the environment.

5) If you are not on the CVS email list, go to their website and sign up. That is how you will receive emails with valuable coupons. I am guessing that I receive one at least once a month. Coupons that I have received have included $3 off of a $15 purchase, $4 off of a $20 purchase and $5 off of a $30 purchase.

6) Each week, study your CVS sales circular. See what sale items there are for which you have coupons. That is how you get rock bottom deals. (I use a lot of Proctor and Gamble coupons at CVS.

7) Take care of any ecb's that you receive. They are just like cash at CVS. I usually put mine in my wallet since they are like money. Sometimes just tossing them into your purse can cause you to lose them and that has definitely happened to me before.

8) Sometimes I do two transactions in one visit. For example, if I am going to buy $15 worth of coke and know that I will get $5 back in ecb's, I will take that $5 in ecb's and go ahead and buy two more cartons of coke or whatever it is that I need. Or, sometimes I save the ecb's and roll them over to next week's deal that gives ecb's.

9)Scan your CVS card with the red machine located near the front of the store. Do this as soon as you go into CVS. You will receive CVS store coupons from the machine. Since the coupons that are printed from the red machine are CVS coupons, you may stack a manufacturer's coupon with it. For example, if the CVS coupon that prints out says $3.00 off of a $10.00 purchase of makeup, you can pair up your Revlon (or whatever brand of makeup) manufacturer's coupon with the store coupon. BIGGER SAVINGS!!!

In summing up, remember that you'll save more at CVS with the following:

*Your Extra Care Card (They will take your telephone number if you forget your card.)
*Your green tag (And bring your reusable shopping bag, but it doesn't have to be a CVS bag shopping bag.)
*Enrollment in the Beauty Club
*Sign up on the CVS website for emails
*Study the circular and match up coupons to the sale items.
*Use your extra care bucks...they are just like cash at CVS
*Scan your CVS card with the red machine to receive store coupons that can be paired with manufacturer's coupons.

Be sure to always read the fine print on anything...your ecb's printout, the ad, etc. to be sure whether or not there are exclusions on anything. And BE sure to visit the CVS website to learn more, as well as print out coupons there.

And here's something to make everyone's Valentine's Day a little happier. Go ahead today and like CVS on your Facebook. Then you will be able to receive a saving's pass that will be emailed to you on Valentine's Day.

Be sure to read any fine print or material on the website, circulars, printouts, etc. just in case anything may have changed from the info that I have included above.

Have a great day shopping at my favorite savings place!!!!

There will be a Part 2 added to my blog on shopping at CVS.

Yesterday I shared with you the website www.southernsavers.com.
Today I will share with you the website www.iheartcvs.com, where you will learn even more about shopping at CVS!

Upcoming blog posts in the near future: Shopping at CVS Part 2, Shopping at Walmart, Favorite Websites for Deals, Freebies online and more!!!! Be sure to come back and visit my blog, follow my blog or make it a favorite so that I can share with you what I have learned!!!!

Thanks for visiting!!
Iva Jean

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