CVS is a favorite store of avid couponers. This is because once you understand how the system works, you will typically be able to shop there each week, spend less than $5, and walk away with $15-$50 (or more!) worth of merchandise.

How is that possible? Well, what makes CVS work so well is that you can “stack sales,” meaning you can use multiple different kinds of discounts on the same item to get some things for free, next to free or even better than free (called overage). You can use this “overage” to pay for items you need that aren’t free.

Follow these steps to make CVS work for you:

Step #1: Apply for a CVS card. You can do this online or in-store, but you can use it immediately if you do it in the store. Make sure it is scanned every time you shop there. Without it, you don’t get the sale prices or the rebates (called ECBs). You may only have one card per household.

Step #2: Register your card. Call 1-800-Shop-CVS, or register your card online. They will ask for your name, address, phone and email. Once your card is registered you will begin receiving coupons by email and in the mail that will help you stack sales.

Step #3: Get some CVS store coupons. Most CVS stores have a red price scanner available for you to check the prices of items (similar to Walmart/Target etc). When you scan your CVS card here, it will print CVS coupons you can use to help you stack sales. Once you have shopped at CVS for 6-8 weeks, similar coupons will also start printing on the bottom of your receipt.

Step #4: Learn about ECBs. CVS does not have a mail-in-rebate program. They do all of their rebates through "ECBs." ECB stands for Extra Care Buck. Basically, they are coupons for a certain dollar amount that print on the bottom of your receipt when make a qualifying purchase at CVS. To make the most of the ECB program, make sure you understand the following information:

1. ECBs are different from the store coupons mentioned in step #3 above in that they are not linked to any particular item or type of item & ECBs can be used just like cash at CVS except that they have an expiration date (there are a few exclusions like alcohol, stamps etc.).

2. You can “earn” ECBs in three ways:

1. You will automatically get 2% back of everything you spend at CVS. This 2% back automatically prints at the end of your first transaction each quarter.
2. You will also automatically get $1 back for every two prescriptions you filled at CVS.
3. By purchasing items that have been advertised as having ECBs attached to them. These can be weekly deals (advertised in the circular that you should get with the Sunday paper) or monthly deals (advertised in a special ECB booklet you can get in the store). These ECB deals can be in three forms:

• You receive ECBs for buying one of any particular item (buy one razor @ $7.99, get $3 ECBs).
• You receive ECBs for buying a group of items (buy three Huggies products, get $10 ECBs
• You receive ECBs for buying a dollar amount of qualifying items (buy $20 of Loreal Products, get $5 ECBs).

3. ECB Deals have limits. Sometimes, you can only do each ECB deal once, but other times, the limit is set at 2-5. Once you have reached a limit for a particular deal, it will say so at the bottom of each receipt you get for the rest of that week/month (depending on how long the deal is running).

4. When using your ECBs to pay for things at CVS, if you don’t use the full dollar amount listed on your ECB, you “lose it.” For example, if your ECB is for $8 and you have $7.50 worth of products, you can use your ECB to pay for the transaction, and walk out of the store paying $0.00. However, you will have wasted $0.50.

Step #5: Learn about CVS’s coupon policy. You can read the entire policy (with notes) here. But here is a summary

• You can use one manufacturers coupons and one store coupon on the same item
• You can use ECBs to pay for items that you have already used a manufacturers and/or store coupon on.
• You can use $ off $$ (for example $3 off $15 or more purchase or similar) coupons in addition to all other coupons listed above.
• You can use manufacturers coupons printed from the Internet. However, if they do not scan, they will not be accepted.
• Buy one, get one free coupons can be used with a buy one get one free sale to make both items free.
• Two manufacturers coupons can be used on a buy one get one free sale.

Step #6: Make your first purchase. Start small! The biggest mistake you can make is to try and do every deal your first week. You will almost certainly get overwhelmed and give up.
Almost every week, CVS has something on sale that is “free after ECB.” These deals are the best place to start. Buy something (anything) that has an ECB attached that is equal to or great than the purchase price. For example, if Tylenol is on sale for $3 with a $3 ECB attached, go buy one. You will spend $3 but will now have $3 in CVS “cash” to use on your next more complicated purchase.

Step #7: Learn to stack deals. Now that you have some CVS “cash,” and you know how ECBs and coupons work at CVS, you are ready to learn about stacking deals.

Start with a “free after ECB” Deal similar to the following: Gillette Fusion Razor on sale for $8 with an $8 ECB attached. Limit 2.

• Buy 2 razors: $16 cost before any coupons
• Use your $3 ECB from your Tylenol transaction
• Pay $13 at the register.
• Receive $16 in ECBs at checkout to be used on a future purchase
• Net total: -$3.00

Stack (use) one store coupon for $2 off any razor.

• Pay at the register: $11
• ECBs received at checkout: $16
• Net cost: -$5.00

Stack (use) two manufacturers coupons for $4 off Gillette Fusion Razor

• Pay at the register: $3
• ECBs received at checkout: $16
• Net cost: - $13.00!

Step #8: Stack some more: Learn to use $ off $$ coupons. The above deal could have been even better! If you followed steps #2 and #3 above, you should be getting some $ off $$ coupons by mail, email, or from the CVS price scanner. A $ off $$ coupon is something like “$3 off a $15 or more purchase.” or similar ($40 off $20 or $5 off $30 etc). (If you haven’t gotten any yet, you may be able to print some online. When these are available online, we post them on the blog, do a search of our website and you may find one!). So here is the above deal when we add this coupon:

• Price for 2 razors: $16
• Apply $3 off $15 coupon: $13 (these coupons are applied to your pre-coupon total!)
• Apply $2 store coupon: $11
• Apply the $3 ECB from your Tylenol purchase: $8
• Apply two $4 off manufacturers coupons: Pay $0.00 at the register (you will pay tax)
• Receive $16 in ECBs
• Net Cost: - $16.00

For these coupons to be most effective, you will want to make each transaction at CVS as close to the required purchase amount as possible. For example, say you have two $3 off $15 coupons and $32 worth of merchandise. You would want to do two separate transactions of $16 so you can use both “$3 off $15 or more” coupons instead of just one $32 transaction where you could only use one of the “$3 off $15 or more” coupons.

Another great way to use these coupons is to get “free” groceries. If you have a $3 off $15 or more purchase and are already planning on spending $12 or so, throw in an item (milk, bread etc) that costs around $3. Your total will now be $15 instead of $12, but you will still spend $12 b/c you will be able to apply the $3 off $15 coupon. This can help lower your grocery bill.

Step #9: Learn to “roll” your ECBs. There are two ways to “roll” your ECBs

1. Use the ECBs you receive one transaction to pay for your next transaction in the same day. For example, say the razor and the Tylenol were on sale the same week. Instead of buying all three items in one transaction and leaving with $19 in ECBs, you could do the Tylenol transaction first, immediately use the $3 ECB to pay for the razors, and only leave with $16 in ECBs.
2. ECBs expire on month from the day they are issued. So, what do you do when you have ECBs that are about to expire, but there is nothing on sale at CVS that you need/want? You can do two things:

• You could use them to buy things you do want at full price, or
• You can use them to buy things you may not need/want that will generate new ECBs with a later expiration date. (You can donate the items you don't need to a friend, a church or a shelter) You will then have ECBs you can use to purchase things you do need/want when they are on sale for a great price.

The second option is the better one when you are trying to save money. “Rolling” your ECBs in this manner is what allows you to never pay more than a few dollars during any trip to CVS b/c you always have ECBs available to pay for your purchases instead of your own money.

Two more tips:

1. Don’t overlook other good deals at CVS. There are often ECB deals or other sales that aren’t free that still make a good deal, especially when rolling ECBs and/or using $ off $$ coupons, store coupons, and manufacturers coupons.
2. Make sure you give your coupons to the cashier in the following order. This will allow you transaction to go as smoothly as possible:

• $ off $$ coupons
• Store coupons
• ECBs
• Manufacturer’s coupons
  

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