We have a NEW CVS in my area!  Its pretty exciting!!!!  Ive been getting emails this past week with tons of questions about how to shop there… unfortunately I dont have time to answer all of them…so…I wrote up some of the basics for this weeks Newbie-Know-How!

First Things First:  As soon as you set foot in CVS march yourself on up to the register and get yourself an Extra Care membership Card. Once you become a member, you’ll get your Extra Care Card and you can then start scoring some hot deals!!   Your Extra Care Card will allow you to pay the sale prices and also get the promotional Extra Care Buck offers! Make sure to have your EC card scanned FIRST before the cashier rings up any of your purchases…if you don’t have the card scanned first you wont get the sale prices or ECB’s back!

Extra Care Bucks…How does it work?  Extra Care Bucks or ECBs are CVS ”money”. The ECBs print out in the form of a coupon at the end of your receipt…so make sure you dont toss your reciept!   Every week there are about a dozen or more deals in the CVS ad which reward you with ECBs…there are also one or two items which are advertised in the CVS ad as FREE after ECBs. What this means is that you will buy the item…paying out of pocket for it…and then you will receive an ECB at the end of your receipt which will be for the amount of the item purchased.  You can use the ECB’s on your next purchase just like cash, with only a few exceptions (you can’t buy stamps, gift cards…).

You will also earn 2% cash back in the form of Extra Care Bucks on every purchase in store and online. Every three months these Extra Bucks will print out at the end of your receipt. Personally I spend such a little amount out of pocket at CVS that I dont get much back on my Quarterly ECB printout… You can also earn one ECB for every two prescriptions purchased in store or online.

A note about ECB’s…these are tied to your EC Card and can only be redeemed with the same EC Card…so say you find a $3 ECB on the ground in the parking lot and try to use it…it wont work, because its tied to someone elses EC Card!

Rolling Extra Care Bucks:  CVS is awesome, because they let you ”roll” the ECBs!  This means that you can buy Aleve for $4 and get back a $4 ECB then purchase another bottle of Aleve for $4 and use the $4 ECB you got from transaction 1 to pay for it… that means, you’ll be spending little to NO money out of pocket!  You can also turn deals into Money makers by stacking the ECB deals with coupons!!! You can also roll the ECB’s from one week to the next, and the expiration date is usually about 30 days.  here’s an example:

Transaction 1

Aleve, $4 = $4 ECB (limit 2)
use $1.50/1 Aleve
pay $2.50 get back $4 ECB = $1.50 MM

Transaction 2

buy another Aleve, $4 (limit 2)
buy half gallon milk, $1.70
use $1.50/1 Aleve
use $4 ECB from Transaction 1
Pay $0.20 get back $4 ECB

ECB Limits, and Rain checks:  Under the ads in the CVS flyer you’ll see a batch of numbers and limit 1 or 2 or 5…  The numbers are a code for the deal ID and the limit is how many times you can “do” each deal and get back an ECB.  ECB deals are limited to 1, 2, 3….sometimes 6 or even 10 deals per EC card, so know the limits for the transactions, you can find the limits written in small writing under each product in the weekly ad.  If you go to CVS and the shelves are wiped clean of the deal you were hoping to score…get a rain check!  A rain check is a piece of paper that the cashier fills out with the Deal ID # and deal info such as price and ECB limit…CVS rain checks NEVER expire!  So you can come back in a week or a month or a year and still get the deal you missed!

My Boyfriend:  There’s this special little machine at the front of the CVS store, some people call it “the magic coupon machine”  I call it “my Boyfriend”  He showers me with special CVS coupons and gives me extra money off certain items…on occasion he spits out ECBs at me!  Make sure when you go to CVS you scan your Extra Care Card at My Boyfriend and he’ll give you some special gifts too!

Lost ECB’s:  When I first started shopping at CVS, I didn’t really know what I was doing and I lost or possibly threw out some ECBs…I was talking to the Manager of my favorite CVS and she told me that I could just call CVS and they would reissue them to me!  So I did!  And the next week when I went into CVS and showed “my boyfriend” my EC Card, he promptly printed me out $15 in ECBs!  If you ever misplace your ECB’s you can call the CVS number located on the back of your EC Card and get them reissued to you too! *They will generally only do this once or twice per account…so this isnt something you can do every week

CVS Coupon Policy:  Print off the CVS Coupon Policy and keep it in your binder!  Here are the highlights of using coupons at CVS….

The use of ExtraBucks®, CVS/pharmacy and third-party manufacturer coupons is accepted in our retail stores in accordance with the following guidelines:

General guidelines to further understand the application of CVS/pharmacy coupons (ExtraBucks and ExtraCare® Coupons) and third-party manufacturer coupons:

• CVS/pharmacy does not accept expired coupons.
• Coupons and their face value cannot be exchanged for cash or gift cards.
• Competitor coupons are not accepted at CVS/pharmacy.
• CVS/pharmacy does not accept coupons for items not carried in our stores.
• CVS/pharmacy does not currently accept coupon bar code images displayed on
  a smartphone, iPhone, Droid etc.
• The total value of the coupons may not exceed the value of the transaction.
• Sales tax must be paid if required by state law.
• Certain CVS/pharmacy coupons may be subject to state sales tax rules similar to third-party manufacturer coupons and sales tax may be charged on pre-coupon price
• Third-party manufacturer coupons are coupons issued by a third party and sales tax may be charged on pre-coupon price.
• Language at the bottom of CVS/pharmacy coupons provides specific coupon acceptance rules.
• Any coupon offer not covered in these guidelines will be accepted at the discretion of CVS/pharmacy management.

Sale Items

• CVS/pharmacy will accept manufacturer coupons for an item that is on sale.
• CVS/pharmacy will not accept percent off coupons for sale and promotional
  items.
• In the event that any item’s price is less than the value of the coupon, CVS/pharmacy will accept the coupon only to the price of the item. CVS/pharmacy does not provide cash back in exchange for any coupons.

Multiple Coupons

• CVS/pharmacy accepts one third-party manufacturer coupon and applicable CVS/pharmacy coupon(s) for the purchase of a single item, unless prohibited by either coupon offer.
• The number of third-party manufacturer coupons used in a transaction may not exceed the number of items in the transaction.
• The coupon amount will be reduced if it exceeds the value of the item after other discounts or coupons are applied. (For example, a $5.00 coupon for a $4.99 item will result in a $4.99 coupon value).
• CVS/pharmacy accepts multiple identical coupons for multiple qualifying items as long as there is sufficient stock to satisfy other customers, unless a limit is specified. Management reserves the right to limit the quantity of items purchased.
• CVS/pharmacy reserves the right to process coupons in any order. Internet/Print at Home Coupons
• CVS/pharmacy accepts valid internet/print at home coupons containing a barcode.
• CVS/pharmacy will not accept reproductions or rebates.

Do you have a question about couponing, stockpiling, freezer cooking or my website?  Send your questions to Contact@SaveTheCoupons.com