Supermarket Steals: ECBs Are a Breeze!

Missed the rest of the Supermarket Steals series? Check it out here.

Now that you've signed up to be a CVS Extra Care member, you're ready to start some serious bargain-hunting. All the information you need to shop successfully at CVS is available in the store’s weekly circular. You’ll find a copy in most Sunday papers, or, if you don’t get the paper, at the front entrance to nearly all CVS stores. You can also access your local circular online at CVS.com.

Once you have a copy of your store’s weekly ad, you’re ready to make your shopping list. Grab a pen and paper, your coupon collection (if you have one), and a cup of hot tea (that’s optional, but highly recommended!), and you’re all set to start saving some major dough!

Remember that your goal when shopping at CVS is to earn Extra Care Bucks (ECBs). These, you’ll recall from my previous post, are like store gift certificates printed at the bottom of your receipt. On your first-ever trip to CVS, your objective will be to earn back as many ECBs as you spend in actual dollars (or more, if possible). On every subsequent trip, your two goals will be: to pay entirely with ECBs, and to earn back as many or more ECBs than you spend. If you do this, you’ll never have to pay out-of-pocket for most personal care items again.

The best way to accomplish these goals is to search your circular for items that refund your entire purchase price in ECBs. For instance, in this week’s circular, Maybelline Eye Shadow Trios are on sale for $5.49, with an ECB rebate of $5.49. Every penny you spend comes back to you in the form of ECBs. That’s as good as free. If you use a $1 coupon and pay $4.49, you’ll still earn $5.49 back, which is even better than free! You’ll essentially earn a $1 profit just by walking into CVS and taking some makeup off the shelf.

In addition to items which are completely free after rebate, your CVS circular also contains many items which are close to free after rebate. You can obtain these items for no cost if you use coupons. For example, in this week’s ad, Gillette Venus Embrace Razors are on sale for $9.99, with an ECB rebate of $8.00. The cost to you without coupons is $1.99. However, if you have a $2 Gillette coupon (or a $2 CVS store coupon) the item is still free.

When shopping at CVS, I try to keep things as simple as I’ve illustrated here. The amount of free stuff I get doesn’t come close to the stockpiles amassed by more experienced CVS bargain-hunters, but it’s still more than Donnie and I need. In fact, over the past year or so, we’ve been blessed with such an abundance of good deals that we’ve been able to share with family, friends, and those less fortunate.

Hopefully, those of you who found strategic CVS shopping somewhat overwhelming now feel empowered to try it yourself. If you feel ready to undertake some slightly more complicated transactions, I strongly encourage you to visit Money Saving Mom, where Crystal guides readers through the CVS ad with an engineer’s attention-to-detail every week.

Whether you choose to keep it simple or go all out, I strongly encourage you to at least give CVS shopping a try. If I can do it, so can you!