CVS Cheat Sheet for Newbies

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was writing some newbie tips for the stores I shop at. I have a few friends that are looking to start couponing, so I decided to make cheat sheets for each store and post them for the benefit of anyone else looking to begin couponing.

Terms & Abbreviations you need to know for CVS:

EB/ECB: Extrabucks - This is like CVS money. Many of the sales at CVS offer EBs that are printed at the bottom of your receipt after you make a qualifying purchase. They are card specific and can only be used on the same CVS account that the original purchase was made on.
MQ/Q: Manufacturers coupon - these are typically found in the Sunday paper
SQ: Store coupon
CRT: Cash Register Tape - These are coupons that print out at the bottom of your receipt or when you scan your CVS card at the price scanner.
Rolling: Using your EBs from one promotion to buy another product that generates more EBs. FAEB: Free after EBs
OOP: Out of pocket - the amount you actually pay for your items after any coupons/discounts GC: gift card
Money card: CVS giftcard you receive if you return an item for store credit
BOGO: Buy one get one (either free or half off)
Overage: When a store pushes a coupon through for the full face value even though the price of the item is less. Ex: If you're buying a candy bar for .50 and the coupon is for .75, if the coupon is pushed through at the full face value, you'll have .25 in overage. I like to think of it as a mini store credit. When you have overage, this is when you need a filler.
Filler: Inexpensive item purchased to cover overage...usually a pack of gum or a candy bar.
$/$$ coupon: $4/$20 purchase, $5/$25 purchase etc.

How to bargain shop at CVS:

First and foremost, you need to sign up for a CVS store loyalty card. This is easy, free and can be done at any CVS store. It's also a good idea to register your card online. CVS often emails out coupons to cardholders that have registered their cards and provided an email address.

Hot Coupon World (HCW) usually has advanced copies of the weekly ads here. Members of the site list the deals they find in the CVS forum, as well as the coupons that match up with the sales. HCW also has a coupon database where you can search for coupons and find the expiration dates, release dates and sources.

The best deals to look for are those that are free after EBs. Example, this week Ear Rinse solution is priced at $7.99 and is offering $7.99 back in EBs. If you are just starting out this week, you would pay $7.99 in cash and then have $7.99 in EBs to spend on almost anything in the store, or you could hang on to them to spend next week on another item that generates EBs. Doing that is called rolling. For this particular deal (Ear Rinse solution) there are no coupons available, but many times there are. When there is a coupon available on a FAEB item, it becomes a money maker.

If you're looking to start by spending the least amount of money OOP, you have two options:

1. Start by doing small transactions, purchasing an item or two at a time. It will all depend on the current promotions as to the best order to do the transactions in.

2. Locate a $/$$ coupon and wait for a week with a few FAEB items.

After the first week or two, you really shouldn't have to spend much money OOP if you continue to roll your EBs each week. You may still have to pay sales tax depending what the laws are in your state. In RI, EBs take off tax when they are applied. EX: If you are applying a $10 EB to a purchase, $10.70 will come off of your total ($10 and .70 tax).

Some things to remember:

~EBs are only valid on the card from which they earned. If you delve into the world of multiple cards, it gets confusing, so you need to stay organized.

~Remember to check the limits on CVS offers. Some EB deals have a limit of 1, some have a limit of 5. If the limit is more than 1, you can use the EBs earned from purchasing one to purchase another one. And so on until the limit is reached. (Walgreens does not work this way - tutorial on that coming soon)

~The bottom of your receipt will show the status of your offer limits so you'll be able to track how many times you've done the deal.

~Say there's a deal that is 'Spend $20 on X products, get 10 EBs'....you don't have to purchase all $20 worth in one transaction. Your CVS card will keep track of how much you've spent.

There's a bit more involved in CVS shopping than Rite Aid, which was covered here, but once you get the hang of it, it's a fun place to bargain shop.

Still have questions?? Need help with a particular scenario for the week? Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email at theebargainhunter (at) gmail (dot) com.