One of the things I was concerned about with shopping CVS was that, as much as possible, we buy organic/natural products. Stuff like toothpaste, soap and stuff. I worried that there would not be enough products that we use that would earn us enough Extra Care Bucks for it to be a benefit. But that fear has been laid to rest because there are plenty of products that we use that have earned Extra Care Bucks.
An added bonus is that I have been able to buy products that we normally use for almost free even though they don't earn Extra Care Bucks. We are just about out of toothpaste. We use Tom's of Maine toothpaste. It's a natural toothpaste - better ingredients than Colgate. We also needed diapers. I normally would buy the Target brand diapers because they are cheap, but today I was able to buy Huggies for nearly nothing. Here's the breakdown of what I did today:
Huggies Jumbo Pack - on sale for 8.99
Tums QuickPaK - 4.69
CVS Kid's Plaque Detecting Mouthwash (my kids need all the encouragement they can get in doing a good job on their teeth! ;-) - 3.99
Subtotal: $17.67
I used:
a $3/$15 CVS coupon
a $1.00 Huggies coupon
$9.69 in Extra Care Bucks
which brought my final total down to $4.64. I earned $5.69 in Extra Care Bucks for my next purchase. Woohoo!
Here's the next thing I did:
Huggies Jumbo Pack - 8.99
Tums QuickPak - 4.69
Tom's of Maine toothpaste - 5.29
Subtotal: $18.97
I used:
$3/$15 CVS coupon
$1.00 Huggies Coupon
$10.00 Extra Care Bucks
which brought my final total down to 5.63. I earned $4.69 towards my next purchase!
In all, I paid $10.27 for $36.64 worth of stuff! Our budget can handle that! ;-)
Forgot! There is also a program called The Caregivers Marketplace. (www.caregiversmarketplace.com) You can sign-up to receive money back on things like DIAPERS, flushable wipes....I will send in my receipts to the Marketplace to receive $1 for each package of Huggies that I bought, so that will bring my final out of pocket expense for today down to $8.27.
To read how to get started with your own CVS shopping, go here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/2007/09/cvs-101.html
I'm going to have to eventually look into this I think. I read about all the savings and bargains and even free products that people end up with but all the coupon clipping boggles me for some reason. I was never bad a math so I don't know why I find it so overwhelming! I'm told it just takes a little practice.
ReplyDeleteThe link!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.moneysavingmom.com/2007/10/organizational-methods-for-coupons.html
Alicia, check out this link. It might help you with your coupon angst.
ReplyDeleteWhen you clip, just clip the ones that you can see yourself definitely using. Then file away the rest (unclipped) in a file drawer, labeled with the date and if you need to, you can easily go back and find one you end up wanting to use.
This CVS thing is SO worth the coupon clipping! :-)
my grandmother had surgery Friday and they removed about 12 in of her small intestines. She is better, but recovery is very slow. Continue to pray for her. If you get a chance go by and leave a comment for dixiecajuns. Remember to keep them all in your prayers!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a CVS bonus card, but I rarely even go in the store. I didn't realize that you earned stuff by purchasing. I will have to figure out how many points I've already earned. Thanks for the tip!!! With Baby #5 on the way I'm doing all I can to cut back and save.
Belinda