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Great CVS and Walgreen's shopping

I started CVS shopping back in May (I think that was the month). They had lots of good deals where the products you bought were free because they give you Extra Care Bucks(ECB) back after you buy them. It was a great month to start because it was easy to stock up on ECB's. I'm still pretty new to the pharmacy shopping to save money, Crystal and Beth are much better than I am at figuring out how to use their coupons and make the best out of their trips.
Yesterday was the 5th time I did really good with my CVS bucks, unfortunately I've never posted any of my adventures to share with you. I did post one about my trip to Walgreen's, but I've accumulated so much more than what is in that picture.
To date I have spent around $20 at CVS and about $46 at Walgreen's. That $20 I spent at CVS in May, which got me about $19 ECB's, since then through my shopping I have managed to build up to now having $24 ECB's. It's a little confusing at first, but with the use of sales, coupons and ECB's you can actually make money at CVS.
Here is a picture of my purchases from CVS last night.
The Adidas deodorants were $3.29, (3x3.29= 9.87) I had 2 $1.00 off coupons, bringing the total for Adidas down to $7.87. This month you get $3 ECB's when you purchase Adidas deodorant, which means I got $9 back. I made $1.13 on that deodorant.
The Speed stick was $3.99, (3.99x2=7.89) I had a $1.00 of 2 coupon, bringing the total for Speed Stick down to $6.89. This week you get $3 when you purchase Men's Speed Stick (only the kind in the picture). So I got $6 back. I spent .89c on 2 things of deodorant.
The Colgate this month is on sale for $2.99. I got 3 tubes (because as I will tell you later I have a plethora of toothpaste). (3x 2.99= 8.97). I had 2 coupons for Colgate toothpaste, one was for .50c off one tube, the other was for .75c off 2. bringing my total for the Colgate down to $7.72. This month the you get $2.99 ECB for the Colgate toothpaste (it's free up to 5 tubes). I got $8.97 back in ECB's. I made $1.25.
The lotion was on sale for $2.99 and I had a $1 off coupon. So it was only $1.99. I didn't get any ECB back on this.
My total before tax and coupons was $29.81, after coupons $25.56. I used my $22.96 ECB I had from sopping before and ended up paying only $2.60 out of pocket (I only paid .50c tax on all this too). I could have saved more money because I had a $4 off when you spend $20 at CVS coupon and I forgot to use it.
I got back $23.97 in ECB.
I know this is all confusing, but just ask me, Crystal or Beth if you have questions. Crystal has a lot of information on her blog that could help you too.
Now on to Walgreen's. I showed you one of my Walgreen's trips earlier in this post, I did a lot better on that trip but that is because they had better deals. Here are my purchases from Walgreen's.


The FortiFense is on sale for $5, plus you get $5 register rewards (RR's) to use on your next purchase. I made two transactions with this, buying the Fortifense first of course.
There was a coupon in the Walgreen's sales ad for 3/$2 for the Eclipse gum, and the Airwick was on sale for $7.99. I had a $4 off coupon from one of Sunday's papers for this Airwick mini, and Walgreen's has a $3 Mail in rebate (MIR) on it this month. So the total out of pocket for Walgreen's was $5.34 for the first transaction and $1.66 for the second. Plus I have $3 coming back to me from the MIR.
Two nights ago I went to Walgreen's and purchased the following
The Pantene was $4.99, the Rimmel foundation was $8.99 and the Aquafresh toothbrush was $3.99. My total was 19.18 after tax. All of these are free after MIR.
Like I said Earlier, to date I have spent a total of $46 at Walgreen's, but I have $23.06 coming back to me on a gift card.
With Walgreen's MIR you have 2 options, you can either get the MIR by check, or you can get it on a gift card. If you chose the gift card option you get an extra 10% back.
I also want to say that with a coupon in Walgreen's Weekly sales ad you can get an ink cartridge refill for free on Wednesday this week.
Walgreen's often has good deals, obviously this month it didn't compare to the deals I got at CVS. They key is to spend time preparing, and use coupons!
Rite Aid/Eckards also has some good deals. I was planning on going there last night to get some things that will be free after MIR but it was closed by the time I got there. I have gotten some good deals there including face wash, mouthwash and toothpaste. This week I plan to purchase Imodium and Mylanta which are both free after MIR. They also have Colgate toothpaste free after MIR. Speedstick deodorant is on sale for .99c (and I have coupons).
Over all I don't think that spending $43 is bad considering with that $43 I have purchased 1 box of FortiFense, 3 packs of gum, 4 packs of tic tacs, 1 air freshener, 2 bottles of dish soap, 2 bottles of lotion, 7 shampoos/conditioner, 7 sticks of deodorant, 3 body wash, 1 bottle of hand soap, 1 thing of astringent, 42 pads, 5 bottles of mouthwash, 1 can of shaving cream, 11 tubes of toothpaste, 4 packs of razors, 7 toothbrushes, and 1 jar of foundation. All name brand!
My husband thought I should figure out how much all of that would have cost without ECB's or coupons and put it on here for you. This is just an educated guess using my last two shopping trips as examples... My educated guess is around $289. How is that for savings?
Check out your local CVS and Walgreen's and Rite Aid to see what kind of deals you can find!

1 comments:

Peggie said...

WOW Jessica! I wish we had a CVS or Walgreens closer than 20 miles. This is quite a savings.

I am proud of you!!

Mom