CVS 101 – A Beginner’s Guide

I’ve been playing the “drugstore game” for about two months now. I’ve gotten to where I’m really comfortable doing the deals each week, and I’ve saved tons of money and gotten loads of free stuff in the process. It’s really easy to do, but getting started is probably the hardest part.

I wanted to write up this beginner’s guide to CVS as I plan to feature the CVS deals here each week. In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know on saving money and getting free stuff from CVS each week.

Where To Start

As mentioned previously, getting started is the hardest part mainly because so many people feel overwhelmed with the whole process. Don’t worry though, we’ll walk you through it all and even set you up with this week’s deals so that you’re ready to go. One last thing, in order to take advantage of the deals, you need to make sure you have a CVS store nearby. Click here to check where your closest store is.

Get An Extra Care Card

Before you can take advantage of the deals at CVS, you’ll need to be an Extra Care card holder. These cards are free to obtain and you can request one online or at your local CVS location. I’d recommend not getting one online, because you want to be able to use it for this week’s deals. So, getting one when you make a trip to the store is the most ideal solution.

Once you have your card, you’re ready to go. Ask and see if your store has a price scanner — if so, always scan your Extra Care card first thing before you do your shopping. It routinely prints out valuable coupons that you may be able to use to save even more money.

Search The Deals

You can browse the CVS circular online, or if you get a Sunday paper the new circular is always included in that. One of the best places to find deals at CVS is at the A Full Cup CVS Forums. They also have sticky threads with each week’s circular and frequently have coupon matchups as well. But, let’s start nice and slow as to not overwhelm you with how this works.

Now that you’ve gotten your Extra Care card and know how to search for the latest deals and free stuff, you’re well on your way to being a CVS pro. Next, we’ll take a look at this week’s deals in order to introduce you to the Extra Bucks program and how you can get tons of cheap and free stuff every week.

Extra Bucks (EBs)

CVS has a “rewards” program called Extra Bucks. These are basically CVS coupons good for dollars off just about anything that CVS has in-store. Exceptions are gift cards, postage stamps, prescription drugs, and alcohol to name a few.

Anything else for the most part is good and can be purchased with Extra Bucks.

Getting Your First Extra Bucks

In order to use Extra Bucks, you must first generate some by purchasing items that reward them. Let’s take a look at some examples from this week’s advertisement. I’m going to assume that you’re brand new to the CVS drugstore game and that you currently do not have any EBs to spend.

Every week, CVS will feature one or two items that are completely free after EBs. This means that you’ll pay a set amount for the item, but that same amount (minus tax) will print out at the end of your receipt to use on future purchases. In other words, you just got that item for free! This week is no exception, so let’s take a look at how you can plan your first transaction and get rolling in the CVS EBs program:

This week, CVS has two items that are completely free:

• Buy one Colgate Enamel Protect Sensitive Whitening Toothpaste or 360 Sensitive Brush at $3.99, get $3.99 EBs (Limit 2)
• Buy one SoftSoap Scrub body wash at $4.99, get $4.99 EBs (Limit 1)

I recommend that you start out with only buying one or two items so that you get used to the system. For this week’s deals (week of 4-12-09 to 4-18-09), let’s buy a tube of the toothpaste and the SoftSoap Scrub body wash.

Your total out of pocket (OOP) will be $8.98 + tax. However, at the end of your receipt will print two separate EBs: One for $3.99 and one for $4.99, for a total of $8.98. In other words, your effective cost for these items is sales tax alone!

Using Your Extra Bucks

Now that you’ve generated some EBs, let’s see how easy it is to get some free stuff. Remember that tube of Colgate toothpaste that we just purchased? Let’s get another one, but this time let’s use some EBs to get it for free. In other words, we won’t be paying anything out of pocket this time.

The total for the second tube of Colgate toothpaste will be $3.99 + tax. For an example, let’s assume your sales tax rate is 7%. After tax, your new total will be $4.27 for the toothpaste. Instead of paying with cash, hand the cashier your $3.99 EBs that you just received from your first transaction, and you’ll now only owe sales tax ($0.28) for a tube of toothpaste that retails for $3.99.

And, here’s the best part: That second tube of toothpaste will also print another EB worth $3.99!

So, let’s break down what we’ve done in our first two transactions at CVS:

1. We paid $8.98 + tax for two tubes of Colgate toothpaste and a bottle of body wash.
2. We’ve now got $8.98 EBs to spend on the deals for next week.
3. In short, we’ve basically gotten two tubes of toothpaste and a bottle of body wash for free. Remember, we got back the same amount in Extra Bucks that we initially paid out of pocket.
4. Our effective cost is $0.00!
5. We can now do the same thing next week on one or two different items that we can get completely free!

Limits On Extra Bucks Items

Typically, you’ll only be able to buy one or two of the “free” items each week at CVS. This is due to card limits so that one or two people won’t go in and clean out the entire store for the week. In the above example, the limit on the Colgate toothpaste is two, so we were able to buy two tubes and get Extra Bucks back on each one. In the body scrub example, the limit is one so we can only get Extra Bucks back on the one bottle for the week.

Watch the store circulars, as they’ll always tell you what the limits are on each of the items that you purchase.

Recap of Your First CVS Deal (valid only for week of 4-12-09 to 4-18-09):

Transaction 1

1. Purchase one tube of Colgate Enamel Protect Sensitive Whitening Toothpaste at $3.99
2. Purchase one bottle of SoftSoap Scrub body wash at $4.99
3. Get back $8.98 Extra Bucks

Transaction 2

1. Purchase one tube of Colgate Enamel Protect Sensitive Whitening Toothpaste at $3.99
2. Get back $3.99 Extra Bucks

Helpful Tips

1. Always carry a circular with you while you shop. You can bring one from home or pick one up at the front door of your CVS. This will ensure that you’re picking the correct products (size, brand, etc.) so that you will receive your Extra Bucks.
2. Always scan your Extra Care card at the price scanner before you start shopping.
3. Have your trip planned and free items written down before arriving at the store.
4. Before ringing up your purchase, make sure the cashier always scans your Extra Care card first.

Advanced CVSing

In future CVS-related articles, we’ll take a look at some advanced strategies that will actually result in growth of your Extra Bucks while using manufacturer coupons. We’ll also tackle the different types of coupons that CVS will take and in which order to present them while checking out.

If you’ve taken the time to read and apply what I’ve written to you above, you’re well on your way to becoming a CVS pro. It really is a lot of fun and you can save tons of money and get loads of free stuff at the same time.