CVS Basic Training

I had a comment on my Mission Possible CVS post from Kim at Forever...Wherever, asking about the Extra Care Bucks. I've had a few other people who have asked questions about my CVS deals, so I wanted to do a quick CVS boot camp this week.

Get a CVS card
The absolute first thing you have to do for CVS boot camp, is get a CVS card. Without a CVS card, you don't get the sales prices, the coupons, and most importantly, the Extra Care Bucks. What are Extra Care Bucks? Extra Care Bucks are rewards that CVS gives you for shopping at CVS. There are two different kinds of ECBs--those that print at the register when you buy certain products, and those that print quarterly. Once you get your CVS Extra Care Card and start using it, the CVS computers will track the spending associated with that card, and once every three months the register will spit out some extra Extra Care Bucks based on what was spent with that card the previous quarter. Extra Care Bucks are $$ off of any purchase that can be used just like cash at CVS. There are a few limitations on what ECBs can be used to purchase, such as lottery tickets, prescriptions, gift cards, etc., but that's not what I use my ECBs for anyway, so I've never had an issue with it. When in doubt, ask.


How do you get a CVS Extra Care Card?
You can apply at the CVS website, but the easiest thing to do is to get one at your local CVS store. Tell the cashier you need to get a CVS card--they will give you a simple one-page form to fill out. It's important that you provide a mailing address and an email address--I've gotten good coupons and money-off offers, via both email and regular mail. You'll be given a card which is good immediately for shopping. After a few days, go online and register for an on-line account; then follow the on-line instructions to '"attach" you card to your on-line account. Note: You may have to call the customer service line to get this done. Once it is, CVS will email you a $4/20 welcome coupon, (this is good for $4 off of a $20 purchase) and will send you additional $x/$xx coupons from time to time. ($4/$20, $5/25, $5/30, etc).


Have the cashier scan your card for every transaction
Once you have your card in your hot little hand, you're ready to begin! You'll get one regular card and I think two of the little keychain cards. You must have the cashier scan your card when you check out, so keep it handy. That's why I use the keychain card, I always have it at my fingertips!

Check out the weekly and monthly deals
The Sunday newspaper inserts have a CVS weekly ad circular; these are also available on a stand right inside the door of every CVS I've ever visited. In addition to the weekly deals, there is a monthly circular available in the store, with deals and bargains that last all month, not just one week. Because of the transaction tracking due to the CVS card system, some month-long deals don't have to be done all in one transaction. For example, buy 2 Dasani, get $1 ECB. If this is a monthly deal, I can buy one this week and one next; when I've reached the amount needed to get the ECB, it will automatically print. Some deals do have limits on the number of times of times you can do them, which are usually mentioned in the ad circulars, and will also be noted on the bottom of your cash register tape if you buy one of the limited products. (This doesn't mean you can't buy it again, but you won't get the deal again.)

Regular Sale items
In the circular, you'll see regular sales items, like this week--Dove shampoo and conditioners are on sale for $4 each. These prices are only good with a CVS Extra Care card.

Sale plus ECB deals
And this is where it starts to get exciting, and can be confusing and intimidating at first. There is also a ECB deal going with Dove this week. Buy $15 of select Dove products, get a $5 ECB (Extra Care Buck). Today I bought two Dove hair products, at $4 each, and one package of Dove bar soaps at $7. ($4 + $4 + $7 = $15) The great thing about an ECB deal like this, is that it counts the price that rings up, before I've used any coupons. I had three manufacturer's coupons from the weekend coupon inserts, $1.50, $1.50, and $1, off of Dove shampoo, conditioner, and bars or body wash. The price then becomes $15-$4, or $11). If I stopped right there and checked out, I'd pay $11 plus tax, and on my cash register tape I would see my transaction, plus probably some CVS coupons for specific products, plus $5 ECB--this is $5 that I get to turn around and spend again--like spending the same money twice!

Free After ECB
One of the good things about the CVS Extra Care Bucks program, is that there are some items weekly or monthly, that are free after ECB deals. You pay for the item at either the full or sale price as the case may be, then you get an ECB back for the full purchase price. Combine these free-after-ECB items with a coupon, and you have a money-maker!

Stacking Coupons
CVS puts out their own store coupons, on the cash register tapes, and sometimes via email and/or regular mail. If you have a CVS coupon, you can use the CVS coupon plus a manufacturer's coupon on the same item. This is called stacking coupons. You cannot use multiple manufacturer's Qs (coupons) on the same single item, but you can use both a store coupon and a manufacturer's coupon.

The Ultimate--Combination Deals
The best example of a combination deal was the L'oreal deal I did yesterday. L'oreal Paris products have an ECB deal going through April 11th--buy $20 worth of L'oreal Paris products, get $5 ECB good on your next transaction. I got a flyer in the mail last week from CVS, with a $5 off of 2 L'oreal products, and a $2 off of 1 L'oreal product. I also had manufacturer's coupons, $3 off of any L'oreal product, and $2 off of any facial product. I bought two items, totalling $22.99. I stacked one CVS coupon for $5/2, with two manufacturer's coupons, $3 + $2, making this $12.99 for two products. Once I paid for this transaction, I received a $5 ECB good on my next transaction, making my L'oreal products $7.99 for both.

Coupon order is important, and fillers are our friends!
One final note--if you have a combination of store/manufacturer's coupons, ECBs, etc, the best way to use is to first give the cashier any $4/$20, etc, coupons that you have; then other CVS store coupons; then manufacturer's coupons; then ECBs that you want to use. If you end up with a total due that's less than the ECBs you want to use--the total after coupons is $7.59 and you have an $8 ECB, the cashier will adjust it down, you will NOT get change back. If you don't want to lose the value of your ECB, you can always throw in a small "filler" item, like a candy bar or a pack of gum to bring the total up to slightly more than the ECBs you want to spend. This will help to get you the best results with the least out-of-pocket and no loss of ECB value.

Start small and build from there
Remember to start slowly at CVS--don't walk in and try to do a complicated transaction with sales, ECBs, stacking coupons, etc. My very first CVS transaction, I paid $7 out-of-pocket, and got $6 in ECBs, making me net OOP $1, and I was so very proud and excited! If you want to see some examples of the other deals I've done at CVS, look at the "labels" list on the right hand side-bar, and click on "CVS" to see all of my CVS posts.



I hope this helps some of you, and is not too confusing. If you have any questions, leave a comment or email me, and I'll try to answer it if I can.

Until next time...