Entering the world of CVS

Being a newbie to the world of couponing and drug store shopping (drug store shopping with all of the perks that is!) I have decided to take my time learning each store.

I have been shopping at Walgreens for about two months and after successfully rolling about $4-$10 Registrer Rewards (RR) each week, I feel comfortable enough to move on and learn something new.  Baby steps people! Hopefully anyone who has used MQ with Walgreens coupons and RR can attest to the fact that it takes a little getting used to matching the right # of coupons and order, etc.!

So today I dragged my littlest one who is now on Summer vacation to CVS to fill out the application to get my Extra Care Card (fear not! this is NOT a credit card!!!!). You can do this online also, but you will need to wait for the card to be mailed to you. After doing a little more research, it seems that this program definitely has some great perks and will be easy to use. 

I started my official CVS shopping by keeping it small and only bought a tube of Colgate toothpaste that was on sale for $2.99, used a $1 off MQ coupon (here or the MQ from the Sunday paper a few weeks ago), paid $2 and received $2 in Extra Care Bucks (ECB) which I have pocketed for future use = FREE toothpaste.


SIDE NOTE:   Funny enough, the thing that really got me hooked on couponing was reading a post where someone wrote that you should never have to pay for toothpaste - it should always be FREE!!!! What a concept!!!! And after successfully creating a stockpile of about 12 FREE tubes of toothpaste, here we are...

There are some definite perks to CVS that I can see already:

• Earn 2% back with every purchase in-store and online at CVS/pharmacy and every 3 months your Extra Bucks will print on your store register receipt, or visit CVS/pharmacy online to print your Extra Bucks every quarter. That is like FREE money!
  

• The ECBs seem to have a 30 day expiration whereas Walgreens is usually only a week. 

• You can link your Extra Care Card to your Upromise account and take advantage of the Upromise eCoupons! (Think of the savings if you can line up a MQ, CVS store coupon, sale item and a Upromise eCoupon!)
  

• Use the red scanner at the front of the store to get CVS coupons (match those with MQ!)

• Additional special offers print on your store receipt frequently throughout the year. 

• Receive special savings exclusively at CVS/pharmacy when you sign up for email offers. When you register your card at CVS.com and sign up for their e-mail list you should get a $4 off $20 coupon (Remember to use this coupon BEFORE any other coupons so you get the $4 off of the subtotal!)

 So there you have it! I am excited to start using CVS and can't wair for to take advantage of all of the great deals out there each week!