CVS runs a rewards system known as Extra Care Bucks or ECB for short. To use the rewards system, you’ll need to have a CVS shoppers card and can get one from your local CVS. Ideally, you should also have some manufacturer’s coupons on hand, mainly for Health and Beauty products. You can get them online from sites like smartsource.com or coupons.com, from your local Sunday paper, or from eBay. Finally, you’ll need an ad from your local CVS. These are available also online at cvs.com.
First, if you have any manufacturer’s coupons, inventory them to see what you have and to check for expiration dates. Then open up your weekly CVS ad and start looking for items that are noted that you can get ECBs for. Match those items with your manufacturers coupons if possible and make a short list.
Make a Plan of Attack
Here is a sample strategy and there are many, but this one works best for me, I find. What you will need to do is try to find whatever gives you the most ECBs for the least amount of money first and work your way backwards. Let’s say they have a sale on 12 packs of Coke or Pepsi for $12, buy 4 and get $4 in ECB. In addition, you have a coupon for $2 off 3 12 packs of Coke or Pepsi. You’ll invest about $10 and get $4 ECB at the end of your transaction. Next you might see a deal on Dove Body wash, buy one and get $2 ECB. You also might have a coupon for $1 off the body wash that normally runs about $5.69. So, you will use your ECB that you just got for the Pepsi/Coke for the body wash. That’s $5 off $5.69. You’ve just gotten almost $6 worth of body wash for .69 cents. Then it gets better because you were just given $2 in ECB for buying it. So on to the next transaction. You see that they have CVS brand asprin on sale buy one for $1.99 and get $1 ECB. So you will ‘buy’ the asprin with the $2 ECB you got for the body wash and get another $1 ECB. Now they have paid you to take the asprin away. At this point, there will probably not be anything to buy for $1 alone that will give you more ECB, but do not despair. There are more goodies.
Make Sure to Hit the Extra Care Scanner
In the store, there are often small scanners where you can scan your Extra Care Card and get various in-store coupons. Usually they are something like $2-3 off $10 of CVS brand purchases or a $1 off a package of CVS brand cookies. When you get the $2-3 off $10 coupon, try to combine it with extra ECB that you had left over from previous transactions and try to buy only products that will give you more ECB.
Try Not to Buy Things You’ll Never Use
Unless it is completely free and part of your ECB stratgegy, don’t be tempted to waste money on things that you know for a fact you will probably never use. Even if it is just pennies, they are wasted pennies. If you are doing it as part of the strategy, make sure that you donate the items to someone who could really use them instead of letting them rot in your hall closet.
For more information on CVS ECB, check out:
www.cvs.com
http://hotcouponworld.com/forums/drug-stores/
