Living Frugal ~ CVS Savings

For those of you who know me, I love the savings that you can get at CVS/pharmacy if you take advantage of their Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) program. ECB's are given when you sign up for one of their "store" savings cards and you use your card every time you shop and you buy items that give you back ECB's. I've been using this program for about a year now and primarily use this program to buy the toiletry needs for the family as well as baby items such as diapers, etc.

The first time you use your card to purchase items, it will involve a small investment but my suggestion would be to look through their store circular that comes in each Sunday's newspaper and find a few things that you will USE and that will give you ECB's back after your purchase. This first purchase will cost you the regular/sale price but after this, you're off and running. The ECB's will print right then and there at the bottom of your receipt and you can use them that same day if you so choose.

The idea then is to "roll" your ECB's with purchase of items that give you back ECB's...your whole purchase does NOT need to contain items that give you back ECB's but you want to get a couple in there so that you constantly have some on hand. Another way to save at CVS/pharmacy is to go to their website and sign-up for their emails and you will get coupons for $5 off $25, for example, or even free items. You can also combine manufacturer's coupons with your ECB's to save even more.

So to explain the savings I received on my most recent purchase: On April 1, we received a printout for $17.50 in ECB's (based on prior purchases for the quarter). I also received an email this past week for $5 off a $25 purchase. I looked through their circular that came in today's Sunday's paper and saw that if you purchased $25 in baby products, you get $10 back in ECB's. I had manufacturer's coupons for some of the items in the ad and I knew I could score big. I purchased the items show in the picture above (2 packs of diapers, 2 tubes of Desitan, a package of tampons and shaving cream) and my total was $43.34. After my ECB's, my email coupon and my manufacturer's coupons, my out-of-pocket price was $8.39! I saved $34.95!! And, I received $13.49 back in ECB's to use on a future purchase ($10 for the baby product purchase and with the shaving cream, purchase for $3.49 and get $3.49 back in ECB's).

Some people don't want to bother with looking through coupons, clipping, carrying store savings cards, etc. but the above is a perfect example of how doing these small steps can help save big...$34.95! Who can resist this!