CVS:101

CVS is one of my favorite stores because of the amount of money I can save there. The savings aren't huge every week, but I can say that I consistently save money when shopping there.

The first thing you'll need to do to shop successfully at CVS is to obtain a CVS rewards card, which is referred to as the Extra Care Card. If you've never shopped at CVS and don't have an Extra Care Card, the easiest and fastest way to obtain an Extra Care Card is to walk into any CVS and ask for an application as you are checking out. The cashier will give you an application to complete at your leisure, and will also give you a card to keep in your wallet or purse and two keychain cards. If you prefer to apply for a CVS card online, you can do so at CVS.

Everytime you shop at CVS, whether you are purchasing a prescription or a candy bar, you will need to give the cashier your Extra Care Card. The cashier will scan your card, which tracks the types of purchases you make (some may find this intrusive), your quarterly spending, and any Extra Buck Offers you have purchased. Extra Buck Offers have limits which are stated in the weekly CVS ad, and while you can purchase more than the limit for the extra buck reward, you will only receive a reward for what the limit states in the ad. Here's a good example: Purex laundry detergent is on sale this week for $2.99 (it is regularly priced at $5.99) and if you purchase one bottle of Purex for $2.99, you will receive $1 back, which can be used like cash on your next purchase at CVS. The $1 extra buck reward will print at the end of your receipt once your transaction is complete. The limit for Purex this week is 5, so each time you purchase a bottle of Purex during the week, you will receive a $1 reward, with a limit of 5 $1 rewards.

This next part is when I really started figuring out how to maximize my savings at CVS. If I purchase one bottle of Purex laundry detergent for $2.99, I would receive $1 back to spend on future purchases. My next purchase would be another bottle of Purex laundry detergent for $2.99, minus my $1 reward from the previous purchase of Purex, and my total out of pocket would be $1.99 + tax, plus I would get another $1 extra buck reward even though I had just paid with one.

To further maximize savings, you can combine manufacturer coupons with CVS sale prices, and extra buck rewards which would look something like this:
Purex laundry detergent: $2.99
Reward from previous purchase: -1.00
Manufacturer coupon: -0.50
Total (excluding taxes): $1.49

The example I gave you is an introduction to what is called rolling your extra buck rewards. Rolling your extra buck rewards is another way to really increase savings at CVS by saving them and purchasing items that will generate more extra buck rewards. Once extra bucks print at the end of your receipt, they expire in thirty days. Extra buck rewards are a use it or lose it program, so if they expire you are out of luck on using them unless you find a CVS store that accepts expired extra buck rewards.

Overall I think that CVS is a great place to help cut costs on health and beauty items, and even some cleaning supplies if they go on sale, but I wouldn't do any normal shopping there since their prices are somewhat inflated.