My crazy plan. A triple-transaction at CVS.

I have never, never done a triple transaction at CVS. I did a double once and got all confused and just about left crying. But next week there are multiple deals that I want to take advantage of so I spent about a half hour this evening planning it all out. It requires 3 separate transactions but I'm feeling confident to quite confident and I really think I can pull it off. I should mention that I try to stick to a weekly $5 out-of-pocket limit at CVS. However, I'm usually well under that so I can afford to go over every once in awhile and this plan will get me in at just over 5 smackaroos. I'll get to that plan momentarily; but first, here are the freebies next week (Thanks to I Heart CVS for the preview):

Zantrex-3, 2 pack @ 4.99, earns 4.99 ECBs (I have no idea what this is, you guys.)
Loreal Age Perfect Pro Calcium @ 15.99, earns 15.99 ECBs (I don't know what this is either. I think it's a moisturizer?)

There's also an awesome deal on batteries, and if this is your first week trying your hand at CVS this would be a good, easy way to begin. Everyone needs batteries, right?
Buy $20 worth of Duracell batteries, get 15 ECBs. Prices are 5.99 or 9.99 (so get 2 @ 5.99 and 1 @ 9.99 and you should be good to go.) There are 1.00/1 coupons in circulation and this Sunday there will be .75/1 coupons in the paper to make this an even better deal.

There's a Glade deal as well. Buy $10 in Glade and get 5 ECBs. There were oodles of Glade coupons in a recent paper. That's right, I said oodles.

And the savings on healthy/green products:
Kashi GoLean bars and Clif bars are $1 each. There are coupons for these in the Whole Deal flyer.
Vickery and Clarke- Buy $15 worth, get 5 ECB. I've been itching to try this line; it's exclusive to CVS and is paraben-free, sulfate-free, phthalate-free.

And finally, here is my plan. Plans. Whatever.

Transaction #1-
(2) Duracell @ 5.99 each
(1) Duracell @ 9.99
-use (2) 1.00/1, (1) .75/1
(4) Glade candles @ 2.50 each
-use (2) 1.50/2
Total: 31.97 + tax
Use $5/$30 (emailed to me this week)
Coupons
20 ECBs
Pay 1.22 oop, earn 20 ECBs

Transaction #2-
That unknown Loreal thing @ 15.99
-use 1.00/1 Loreal Moisturizer from a few weeks ago
$5 in Vickery & Clarke
Total: 20.99 + tax
Use $3/$15
Coupon
16 ECBs
Pay .99, earn 15.99 ECBs

Transaction #3-
$10 in Vickery & Clarke
Total- 10.00 + tax
Use $2/$10 CVS brand product (CVS coupon)
5 ECBs
Pay 3.00, earn 5 ECBs

So I'll be paying under $6 out of pocket for a zillion batteries, 4 candles, a weird moisturizer and some long-awaited Vickery and Clarke goodies. The biggest bummer is that I'll have to pay for my papers this week but it's a small price to pay for an almost-endless supply of almost-free batteries.

CVS

I know, I know... it's Sunday morning and I should be with the fam. Or at church. But in my defense the baby is sleeping, the boys went for a walk and we're going to second service this morning. So I wanted to post this now so I'd be free to enjoy the rest of my day.

The baby and I did our Sunday morning CVS ritual and here's what we got:



1st transaction:
(1) Jumbo pack Huggies @ 9.50
(2) Newspapers (one not pictured) @ 1.75 each
(4) Palmolive dish soap @ 1.49 each
(1) Loreal Revitalift @ 11.99
(1) SmartWater @ 1.59

Used:
$4/$20 from home mailer
(1) Huggies 1.50/1 from home mailer
(2) 1.00/2 Palmolive- I ordered some of these last week; our region only got .25/1 which wouldn't have made them free after ECBs.
(1) 1.00/1 Loreal
24 ECBs

Paid .04 out of pocket, got back 17.58 ECBs.

2nd transaction (I needed the coupon from the paper I had just bought):
(1) Garnier Fructis @ 2.99
Used:
(1) 1.00/1 Garnier
1.59 ECBs
Paid .48 out of pocket, got back 2.00 in ECBs.

I burned a few ECBs on this one but it was worth it for free diapers, newspapers and donation items.

CVS 10/19

There are lots of freebies this week at CVS! A good week to start earning ECBs, or to roll 'em if you got 'em. Here are the highlights:

Sunday and Monday only:
Pumpkin pails for trick-or treating- .99 (earns .99 ECB)- limit 2
Funlight (a little flashlight)- .99 (earns .99 ECB)- limit 2

All week:
Butler GUM toothbrush 2-packs (adult and kids)- 3.99 (earns 3.99 ECB)- limit 5 (*There are .75/1 coupons from the 8/2 paper which would give you overage*)
Powerade- 1.69 (earns 1.69 ECB)- limit 1
Just For Men Touch of Gray- 7.99 (earns 7.99 ECB) (Print this coupon for a $2 overage)
Baby stuff deal

Other deals of note:
CVS Earth Essentials 12-roll 100% recycled toilet paper- 4.99
Tom's of Maine toothpaste or deodorant- 3.49

If this is your first week getting started here's an easy scenario:

Purchase:
(1) Just For Men Touch of Gray.
Use the $2/1 coupon
Your total will be 5.99 + tax. Pay this out of pocket, earn 7.99 ECBs to be used next week.

Here's a scenario for free recycled toilet paper for anyone who has ECBs, GUM coupons and a $3/$15:

(1) GUM toothbrush 2-pack @ 3.99
(1) CVS Earth Essentials TP @ 4.99
(1) Just For Men @ 7.99

Use:
$3/$15
$2/1 Just For Men
.75 GUM

Pay with 11 ECB, .22 OOP + tax, earn 11.98 ECBs.

$3/$15 CVS coupons?

According to I Heart CVS there are $3/$15 coupons available at some CVS stores. You can try looking in the store lobby or by the pharmacy. Hallelujah! This makes it a lot easier to get the good stuff for free.

Thinking about cheating on CVS.

I'm perusing the Rite-Aid circular and my curiosity is piqued. They have lots of free-after-rebate items listed this week. I've never used the Rite-Aid Single Check Rebate program before but if it's as easy as it sounds I may give it a whirl. Here's what I can gather.

You go here to sign up. Purchase items that are advertised with Single Check Rebate and Rite-Aid will mail you a check at the end of the month. Here's where it gets interesting for me...

This week there are bunches of saline nasal sprays and even a Neti Pot that are free after rebate. We really don't use much medicine around here but I'm a huge believer in sinus irrigation to shorten colds and so I always try to keep saline sprays in the house for all of us during the cold and flu season. I also see Bee MD natural cough drops are free after rebate. I may take advantage of these deals. I'll let you know how it goes.

Next week's diaper deal at CVS. (Is this heresy?)

Okay. So we all know disposable diapers are soooooo not environmentally friendly. I love my Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz as much as the next hippie but a gal's gotta have some 'sposies for emergencies and long outings, especially with heavy wetters such as mine. Oy. So that being said, I want to tip you off on a great diaper deal coming up next week at CVS.

If you buy $25 worth of specific baby products you will earn $10 ECBs. This will be a great deal for you if...
-you need diapers and wipes.
-you have Huggies coupons.
-you have 10 ECBs just a-layin' around, ready to roll.

Here's how it goes down:

Buy:
2 jumbo packs of Huggies @ 9.99 each
2 Huggies wipes @ 2.79 each

Your pre-tax total is 25.56.

Use your Huggies Qs (there are $1/1 and $1.50/1 floating around, and there may even be some .50/1 wipes Qs available from home mailers.)

Assuming you use (2) 1.50/1 coupons, your out of pocket (OOP) will be 22.56 + tax. BUT WAIT. Since this deal generates 10 ECBs, you can use 10 ECBs to bring your OOP to 12.56 for two packs of diapers and two boxes of wipes.

If you have a $/$$ coupon, this would be an even better deal.

If you don't have any Huggies coupons but want to give this a whirl, then this could be your lucky day... I happen to have two $1.50/1 Huggies diapers coupons sitting around, collecting dust. The first person to leave me a comment on this entry gets them.

Taking a CVS-cation

This week CVS is, to borrow a phrase from Becky, whack. So I'm not going and if you're trying to get started or are new to rolling your ECBs this really isn't a good week for you either since there are no freebies and a lack of $/$$ coupons. Next week looks a little more promising though. More on that later.

How on earth did I miss this?

If you did the Always Infinity and/or Bic Soleil deals this week I just found out that you can roll those ECBs you earned to buy more of each.

Always has a limit of 2 and the Soleil has a limit of 5. So tonight I printed one more of the $2/1 coupons and got myself some cartridges for the razor I purchased on Sunday. Paid with the 4 ECB I got for buying the razor, paid .12 in tax and scored 4 more ECBs.

I was going to do the same thing for the Always but both CVS stores I tried were wiped out of them. It may be worth a shot though if you're a new CVSer and want to practice rolling, or if you had a really really long day with non-napping kids and a sick husband and a broken car and just need a CVS fix to get your spirits up.

(Ahem.)

How I love thee, CVS.

I had 27 ECBs that were expiring today and just for kicks I decided to burn 'em rather than roll 'em. I packed up the Littles and we made a trip to The Promised Land. Here's what we bought for two bucks and some change:

-Crayola Sidewalk Chalk 12-pack (clearanced- woohoo!)
-Safety Scissors
-Glue Stick (I'm trying to stock up on craft items before it gets too cold to be outside... *sniff, sniff*)
-Reinventing Beauty Magazine (tons of CVS coupons inside)
-Benadryl
-Burt's Bees Shampoo
-Burt's Bees Conditioner

If I hadn't needed the Benadryl I planned to try the new Vickery and Clarke Apothecary line. Instead one of my kids decided to get a rash and I sacrificed for the greater good. Sigh... I guess I can wait until it goes on special.

Philanthro-free Sunday

Here are the freebies at CVS this week if you have ECBs. If you don't, it's not a bad week to get started. There are a few donate-able items that generate ECBs so even if you don't need pads or toothpaste and you aren't into stockpiling you can find a good home for them at a local women's shelter.

Now, there is a definite shortage of $/$$ coupons lately, so if you have one ($3 off $15, or $5 off $25 for example) and need help with a particular scenario let me know. I'm just going to list the items that are free or nearly free this week and let you decide what you're willing to pay in order to roll or start earning those ECBs!

Glaceau Vitamin Water 32 oz. - 2.29
(earns 2.29 ECB)
FREE

Bic Soleil Razor- 5.99
(earns 4ECB)
Click here to print a coupon for $2 off, making this FREE after ECB

Always Infinity Pads (14-18 ct.)- 4.98
(earns 4.98 ECB)
FREE

Speed Stick/Lady Speed Stick deodorant- 1.99
(earns 1 ECB)
.99 after ECB

Colgate MaxFresh toothpaste or toothbrush- 2.99
(earns 2 ECB)
.99 after ECB (or if you have the 1.00/1 coupon from a past paper it will be FREE)

So if this is your first week and you want to get started, I suggest that you purchase:
(1) Vitamin Water @ 2.29
(1) Bic Soleil Razor @ 5.99
(1) Always Infinity Pads @ 4.98

Use your $2 coupon for the razor. Your total will be 11.26 + tax, and you'll earn back 13.26 in ECBs.

Almost free Tom's at CVS 9/28

Here's a quick scenario to get you Tom's of Maine toothpaste, mouthwash or deodorant for around a dollar out of pocket (if you have ECBs) this Sunday only.

Purchase:

(1) Covergirl Clean Liquid Makeup @ 5.49

(1) Tom's toothpaste (5.2-6 oz), mouthwash or deodorant @ around 5.50

Use:

$2/$10 coupon (it expires on the 28th)

$1/1 Covergirl product coupon (will be in this Sunday's paper)

Pay with 7 ECB, pay around .99 out of pocket + tax, earn back 6.99 ECB

CVS for newbies

Here is a link for anyone who wants to get started at CVS but still has questions. Lavonne over at Economic Endeavors has a Beginner's Guide to CVS which explains everything nicely. 

CVS carries several earth-friendly lines (Be.Fine, Cristophe, Vickery and Clarke Apothecary, Burt's Bees, Dr. Bronner's and Tom's of Maine to name a few). Using ECBs, coupons and sales it's easy to get your natural products deeply discounted if not free. Read Lavonne's tutorial and then follow along as I show you my weekly scenarios to get those green products for cents on the dollar.

This month at CVS...

There is a monthly ECB deal for Cristophe shampoo and conditioner. Buy $15 in Cristophe products, earn $5 ECBs. So I did a little research and found that they make a paraben-free, sulfate-free, fragrance-free shampoo and conditioner. Each goes for $7.99.

So...

-Purchase your shampoo and conditioner

-Use your $2/$10 coupon

-Pay with 5 ECB

-Pay around $9 out of pocket for some pretty awesome shampoo and conditioner

-Earn back 5 ECB. (Which means you're really only paying about $4.)

You can do this deal twice; just remember it ends on September 30.