If you are looking to get many of your everyday toiletries for free, then CVS is a good place to do it! By following the weekly CVS Deals, you can pay nothing (or next to nothing) for most of your basic toiletries. Wouldn’t it be great to never again pay for toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, stylers, razors, pain relievers and more?
:: The Basics of CVS
The Extra Care card: you will need to get this in order for any of the deals at CVS to work. You can sign up at CVS.com or in the store. If you sign up in-store, you will be able to start working the deals immediately. You will want to register your Extra Care card at CVS.com and you’ll instantly get a $4/$20 coupon.
Extra Care Bucks: these are the coupons that print at the bottom of your receipt when you buy specific items each week. The products that will generate the Extra Care Bucks are listed in the weekly CVS ad and I also do the work for you and detail them in my weekly CVS coupon matchups. Extra Care Bucks can be used as cash for almost everything in the store (there are a few exceptions such as gift cards, lottery, precriptions, etc). Extra Care Bucks are usually referred to as “ECBs”
The Coupon Machine: most stores now have a price checker in the store. This is a red free-standing machine that is usually in the middle of the store. In addition to checking prices, you can often get extra coupons just for scanning your Extra Care Card!
Coupons:
- You can use one manufacturer and one CVS coupon per item. You may also use Extra Care Bucks towards your total purchase.
- For Buy One Get One Free sales, you may use 2 manufacturers coupons towards the purchase or 1 manufacturer’s Buy One Get One Free coupon.
- If the coupon value is greater than the purchase price of an item, the value of the coupon will be adjusted down to the purchase price. You will not receive cash back.
:: Here is how to shop for free at CVS:
Each week, there are usually at least 1 or 2 items that are advertised as “FREE” after Extra Care Bucks. They are not free at the register, but because you are receiving Extra Care Bucks for the equivalent of the sale price, it is considered “Free after ECBs”.
The idea is to buy items one week that are considered “FREE after ECBs” and then use those ECBs the following week to purchase more items that are Free after ECBs. By doing this, you “roll your ECBs” and pull as little cash out of your pocket as possible.
Example:
Week 1:
Crest is priced at $2.99
Crest is generating $2.99 in ECBs
Pay $2.99 at the register and walk out with your Crest and $2.99 in ECBsWeek 2:
a certain brand of shampoo is priced at $2.99
that shampoo is generating $2.99 in ECBs
Give your $2.99 in ECBs to the cashier and pay any applicable sales tax
Walk out of the store with your shampoo, another $2.99 in ECBs and pulling the sales tax out of your pocket
As you can see, if you plan your trips correctly, you can only make an initial outlay of money the first week, then continue to use the ECBs from one week to get more free stuff the following week.
:: But wait – you can actually make money shopping at CVS!
Let’s use the examples above
Week 1:
Crest is priced at $2.99
Crest is generating $2.99 in ECBs
Use a $1 coupon from the weekly coupon inserts
Pay $1.99 at the register and walk out with your Crest and $2.99 in ECBsWeek 2:
a certain brand of shampoo is priced at $2.99
that shampoo is generating $2.99 in ECBs and the limit on the deal is 2
Buy 2 and use 2 $0.75 coupon from the weekly coupon inserts
Give your $2.99 in ECBs to the cashier and pay $1.49 + any applicable sales tax
Walk out of the store with your 2 shampoos, another $5.98 in ECBs and pulling about $1.75 out of your pocket!
The goal is to plan your scenarios so that you pull the absolute least amount of money out of your pocket each week, while generating the most amount of ECBS.
:: Take your CVS Shopping To The Next Level!
By stacking CVS Store coupons with manufacturers coupons (for instance, if CVS issues a store coupon for Crest and you also have a manufacturers coupon – you can use both!), you can really maximize your savings. In addition, CVS will occasionally issue $3/$15 or $4/$20 coupons, or you may see them at the bottom of your receipt along with your ECBs. Stack those coupons with the others and you can really rake in the savings!
I always liked CVS… now after reading your post and deciding to become a couponer, I just may LOVE CVS! Thank you for the great post and I will look forward to more about CVS.