CVS and coupons...

A few people have asked how I use my coupons and about CVS. I thought I might try to explain it here.

The big idea with coupons is that you use them on things that are on sale. Duh, I know! And it might seem time consuming and not worth it but you can get stuff really cheap or sometimes free! And it really isn't time consuming!

So every Sunday clip all the coupons (except on things you know you will never use, for instance I wouldn't keep a Geritol coupon). You could also keep coupons for diapers and other things that your family might not need or use but that you can donate to a shelter or crisis pregnancy center. Oh, and pick up a Wednesday paper too, they have the weekly grocery deals.

After you have done that, go through all your ads and try and match up coupon to sale. My example below with the shampoo at Krogers is a really great deal. The more coupons you have the better, so try and find someone who doesn't clip coupons and ask them to save them for you. That way if there is a really good deal, you can do it more than once.

There are a few blogs that match up the sale and the coupon for you at major places like Target, Walmart, Albertsons, Krogers and CVS. If you check them on a Monday and Thursday they usually have the deals up. My favorite is the Centsible Sawyer. You can also go to Money Saving Mom. I will try my best to put the Market Basket sales up here if they match with any coupons from the paper. I got a real good deal on some nice Chinet disposable plates and Luzianne tea earlier this week with sales and coupons at Market Basket. Check it out below!

Ok, so on to CVS. When you go to the store, tell the cashier that you want to get an Extra Care card. You will have to fill out a form and you will get a card and some little barcode things to put on your keychain. This card tracks your spending and will earn you ECB's which are Extra Care Bucks. Then get a copy of the weekly and monthly deals. They should be on a rack close to the entrance.

The way to score cheap or free stuff here is to buy things that give you the same amount back in ECB's. For example, if it were offered in the weekly or monthly deal, you could buy some fancy mascara for $6.99 and you would get $6.99 back in ECB's. If you used a coupon from the paper that gave you $3 off of that mascara you could buy it for $3.99 and still get $6.99 back from it. The $6.99 ECB would print out on a little coupon at the end of your reciept and you can use it like a gift card next time you go. If you use that on something that also gave back ECB's the cycle just keeps going and you pay very little out of pocket!

I am not sure I have explained it too well...check this out...she probably explains it way better!Mrs. Nespy's CVS 101. You can also look at Life as a Mom's CVS primer for July. The deals for this month aren't that great but the weekly deals are always changing. You can check out my last CVS post to see the deal I made this week. You can also look at all my CVS deals to try and get an idea of how it works.

If this helped you, leave me a comment and let me know!!!