Sometime last year I first heard about "CVSing". The first mention was on a blog somewhere that I stumbled upon. The author of the blog was talking about how she wasn't going to CVS anymore. The whole thing was starting to drive her crazy.
I had no idea exactly what she meant. I kept stumbling upon various posts on various blogs though that discussed what CVSing was and how consumers were able to get many products for pennies on the dollar if not totally free. I know I had received coupons in the past which said $2 dollars off $10 or more or $3 off $20, but I had not seen any like these bloggers were speaking of.
Interest was peeked somewhat. Most of our purchases are done at Wal-Mart. It's quick, easy and inexpensive. Rarely have I run across any other prices to come close to what Wal-Mart charges, so I just tucked back information here and there.
A new CVS was built close to us on our main pathways through town a few months ago. Once again I thought back to what I had read on blogs. With a CVS so close now, perhaps it was a good time to give it all a try. I could play with it some and see if it really did make a difference.
About the time I decided to play with this, my son had to have some oral surgery. They gave us a prescription for pain meds. On a recent visit to CVS, as I scanned my CVS card, I was given a coupon that was good for a $25 Gift Card with a new or transfered prescription. That $25 became my "Play money", money not out of our regular budget for me to use to see if I could get this CVS thing to work for me as it appeared to be working for others.
With the $25 Gift Card, I bought can Coke drinks that they had a special offer on. If I bought $20's worth of Coke Cans (at the sale price of $3.50 each) I could get $10 back in ECB or Extra Care Bucks. My husband would get his drinks for the next week. Everyone would be happy.
This left me with $2.58 on my gift card and the $10 ECBs that I could use on my next purchase.
>My next visit to CVS a few days later found me picking up some deodorant (2), a box of carnation, some reece cups and some valentine candy hearts that Bayley likes for treats. I also bought two things of toothpaste that we use that was on sale that I had coupons for. I used the remainder of my GC and the $10 ECBs leaving me only $11 and some change out of pocket (oop). I also received an ECB coupon for 4.99 off my next purchase and one for $2 off my next purchase.
Today I went again as the new sales were posted. I did four transactions to maximize the savings.
The first transaction I bought three boxes of lucky charms for $10. I also had a coupon that was in today's paper for $1.00 off. I used the leftover ECBs from last week that totaled $6.99 off my order. I paid $2.01 oop on this transaction. I received $5.00 in ECB's to roll into my next transaction.
In the second transaction I bought four 12 packs of coke products. Three packs were diet dr pepper, the other was a caffine free diet coke one. The deal was to buy 4 for $13.00. I used the $5 ECB off of this transaction that I received in the first. My oop was $8.54 for the 4 -12 pks . I also received $3 in ECBs to use on my third transaction.
In the third transaction I bought Palmolive dish soap. I bought two of them for $1.49 each. I used the $3.00 in ECBs to pay for the dish soap, which was adjusted down to $2.98. My oop was nothing on this transaction. I received $2.00 in ECBs to roll over in the last transaction.
My fourth transaction bought a tube of Crest Pro Whitening Toothpaste for $2.99. I had a .50 cent off coupon and the $2 in ECBs from the previous transaction to pay for the toothpaste. My oop was .56 cents. I walked away from the store with another $2 in ECBs to use next time I need to go to CVS.
The cashier at my store was nice and patient, totally understanding what I needed to do. He did not make me feel weird or cheap for breaking this all down like I did. I was happy as I walked out of the store with what I had purchased knowing that everything I just bought were things my family will use.
If I had more Manufacturer coupons I probably could lower my oop even more, but for now I am satisfied with the savings until another day when I can go and try my hand at CVSing again.
Last week, as I ran errands in Greensboro, one of the bigger towns near me, I also tried my hand at Walgreen's specials. That trip was successful too-but likewise is a whole other story.
2 comment(s):
We don't have CVS here but we do have Walgreens and Rite Aid. With manufacturer's coupons we can come up with quite a few freebies or near freebies from Walgreens.
Sometimes it's overwhelming to me, but there are some bloggers who totally break it down for us every week..... thank goodness!
By
MSM, at
2:39 PM, March 10, 2009
I've done a little at Walgreens but in the end the savings at CVS seem to be more substantial.
I really do appreciate the bloggers that do break it down like you do.
By
Muddy, at
1:46 AM, March 20, 2009
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