Thursday, May 15, 2008

CVSing for $1.15



Here's the short story:

In three different transactions at CVS I was able to buy everything pictured above. The first transaction cost $1.08, the second was six cents and the third was only a penny. The total amount before savings was $68.02 plus tax. What I bought included:

3 bags of diapers
2 boxes of Kotex Lightdays
2 bags of Hershey Bliss
1 box of Hershey's Reese's cookies
1 package of peanut butter M &Ms
1 Intuition razor
1 box Tums
1 glucose meter

The long story:

I have been trying to learn the ropes of "CVSing" since January, but until last month I haven't done that well. I started out this week with $25 of Extra Care Bucks which were about to expire, so it was either use 'em or loose 'em. The first time I went to the store I was looking for something that I could use my $10 ECB for. The glucose meter was on sale for $10 and the Kotex were on sale two for $5, so I bought those. Between a Kotex coupon, a CVS coupon and the ECBs the total was $1.08 and I got $10 ECBs back. (Just fyi, the meter I will give to my diabetic brother-in-law.)

The next day I went back with a list of possible things to buy which were both on sale and that I had coupons for. I was trying to look for things that would generate ECBs so that I could roll over the ones that would expire. I also knew that diapers were on sale buy three, get the third free and I wanted to buy those.

In the first transaction that day, I bought the razor for 9.99 with a $4 off coupon, the Tums for 4.69 with a $1 off coupon, the two Hershey Bliss* with a BOGO coupon for 4.28 each, the Hershey Reese's cookies for $2, and when I realized that I needed something else about fifty cents I bought the M&M's for 0.79. I also used three different CVS coupons, and the 10 ECBs from the day before, which brought my total down to six cents. These purchases generated ECBs totaling 15.69, which I can use any time within the next month.

With my last purchase I bought three bags of diapers and with one of them free the total was 17.98. I used a three dollar off CVS coupon which brought me down to $14.98. I had Extra Care Bucks totaling 14.97, so I only had to pay one cent. Don't ask me why they didn't charge sales tax: I am completely baffled by that, but am not complaining. With this transaction I wasn't able to "roll" any ECBs, but that's fine since they were about to expire, and we need diapers anyway.

My husband pointed out that this actually cost me $4.15 because I had spent $3 on Sunday papers to get the coupons, but that is still a good deal. Besides they also have lots of other coupons for other things that I can get (or have already gotten) free or almost free.

*I usually don't buy junk food like cookies and candy, but they were generating ECBs and I am trying to potty train Happy Boy. I bribe him with something if he is able to go in the potty, but I needed a bribe and this is it. If I don't bribe him, he doesn't go.

3 comments:

Flannery said...

That is some really impressive shopping. I've been resisting getting a CVS card (what's the point?), but now will probably go for it.

Hélène said...

To "work the system" at CVS it is essential that you get the coupon inserts from the Sunday paper. Sometimes you can get them at recycling centers too, but then you can't get them right away. If you send me an email I can give you more advice. There are also a couple of websites that I use that tare very helpful. The one I use the most is www.moneysavingmom.com . Her site is really helpful and she has a link on the side giving advice on how to sart out. She also posts about other deals, which are sometimes useful and sometimes not.

Nancy M. said...

That is awesome! I hope to get that good someday. It's always nice to have diapers for next to nothing. Thanks for sharing!