In my opinion, CVS is the easiest store to work with. It is a favorite of many couponers because they are incredibly generous with their policies and in issuing coupons. CVS also has a very positive reputation for being coupon-friendly and they have excellent customer service.
If you are a Walgreens shopper you will want to forget all the issues with Register Rewards as the CVS rewards program has none of the headaches that Walgreen’s program has.
The first thing you need when you start shopping at CVS is an Extracare card. You can request one online HERE or get it instantly in store.
You will also want to bring your own bag to CVS and look for the Green Bag Tags- get those for .99 in store and scan it every time you shop at the cash register. On every 4th visit you will get a $1 ECB! (That is basically .25 for each time you shop with a reusable tote!)
Each time you visit CVS you will want to head over to the coupon scanner (the majority of stores will have these but some do not) and scan your card. You should have coupons print out- continue to scan until the screen tells you no more coupons are available. These are either store coupons (such as a $2 off $10 purchase) or they can be coupons for products (called CRTs) such as .99 off Planters Peanuts.
What kind of coupons does CVS accept?
CVS accepts manufacturer coupons (including printables) and their own in store coupons (CRTs). They also issue $/$$ coupons such as $5/20. You can stack all three coupons to make for a great deal! To use a $/$$ coupon the total amount is calculated PRECOUPON and you will want to give that coupon to the cashier first. You can use one CRT and one manufacturer coupon per item.
What does the Extracare Card do?
Well the Extracare card is how you get your ECBs (more on those later) so you want this each and every time you shop! You can get one card for each person in your household. CVS enforces limits on many sale items- so if an item is limited to 1 per person, your card will keep track of how many you purchase. Some people have multiple cards but keep in mind any ECBs or store $/$$ coupons are tied to that card only. If you have a card and earn $5 in ECBs plus you get a $5/15 coupon at the coupon scanner than you can only redeem those coupons by using your own Extracare card- not a card from someone else in your household!
What are ECBs?
In short they are Extracare bucks- sometimes referred to as EBs. They are little coupons that print for a dollar amount at the bottom of your receipt (providing you used your Extracare card!) The ECBs can be used in store on virtually any item CVS carries- with a few exceptions such as lottery tickets and gift cards.
ECBs have an expiration date and just like coupons, once they expire they do not have any value. The wonderful thing about ECBs is that you can use them in addition to manufacturer coupons, store coupons, and $/$$ coupons to pay almost nothing out of pocket. They can also be adjusted down- so if you have a $1 ECB and want a .99 item, the cashier can adjust the ECB down to .99 and you pay nothing. (You will not get cash back on ECBs they are for store merchandise only.)
So to illustrate how wonderful CVS is- here is a sample scenario:
Huggies Diapers 2/$10- Get $5 ECB back.
So you might buy 2 packs at $10= $20
Use $5/20 CVS coupon = $15.00
Use (2) $2/1 Huggies coupons = $11.00
Use $1/1 CVS CRT coupon for Huggies = $10.00
Subtotal: $10.00. Now if you have $10 in ECBs, use those and you pay 0.
Remember if an item qualifies for an ECB you can use it on your next transaction. Also an ECB purchase requirement- say spend $10 on Crest and get $5 ECB- the $10 purchase requirement is calculated BEFORE coupons. You can also verify an ECB will print by going to the price scanner and scanning the item.
You will want to register your account online once you get your card HERE.
How Do I Get CVS Store Coupons?
Most commonly you will see $5/15, $4/20 or $5/20 store coupons. Now these are a goldmine because remember you can stack them with manufacturer coupons, other CVS coupons (CRTs) AND ECB deals! There are a few ways to get the store coupons:
1. Register your card with CVS and be sure to use an email you check regularly! I get coupons from them via email a few times a month.
2.By scanning your card in store (via the coupon machine I already mentioned) or at the bottom of your receipt.
3. In various publications or online. Every so often a coupon will come up in a newspaper or they might come up online in various ways. Basically you want as many as you can get and they do tend to have just a few days before expiration.
Typically the coupons are one per customer.
What is a Moneymaker and Can I Really Gets Things Free?
You will notice on my weekly matchups I sometimes reference moneymakers and free items. Are they really free? YES! Do you walk out making money? Sort of! Here are some examples to better explain:
Now here is an example- the ad states that Oust is $3.99 with a $3 ECB back- making the final price .99. Now don’t be confused- you won’t pay .99 you will pay $3.99 and you will get a $3 ECB for the next time you shop. If you had a $1 coupon for Oust than this item would be “free” because you would pay $2.99 after coupon and you would get $3 ECBs back. You always want to note the limits on each ECB deal- in this case the limit is 3. So you can buy 3 and you will get $3 ECB for each. So this turns into a moneymaker if you happen to have a Buy One Get One Free coupon for Oust. Since the limit is 3, you can buy two- use your BOGO coupon and you will pay $3.99. You will actually get $6 ECB back ($3 for each Oust) which makes this a $2.01 “moneymaker” because you have a little profit in ECBs.
What’s the Bottom Line to Success at CVS?
The bottom line is to continue to “roll” your ECBs from week to week. By using coupons (CRTs, Manufacturer and CVS coupons) you can frequently get your cost down- then use ECBs to pay for the balance and you will hopefully get more ECBS for the next time to spend. You want to continue recycling ECBs- so pay one week for your balance in ECBs and hopefully generate more ECBs to use next time!
What if my ECBS don’t print?
You can contact CVS directly and provide the information on your receipt. They will then add the ECBs to your card and they will print when you go into the store (within 24-48 hrs) and scan your card. Store managers can also print ECBs for you.
Thank you Charlene. I am headed to CVS for the first time today. I only recently started shopping at drugstores (first added Walgreens, then Rite Aide). Now I feel confident and want to send you a special thank you. I’ve always been a frugal “grocery” shopper, now I can be a frugal “household goods” shopper as well.
Kim, You will LOVE CVS! It is by far my favorite and sooo much easier than the other stores. At least it seems that way to me!
What a great tutorial. You explain the process very clearly. I haven’t shopped at the CVS near ussince it changed over from Longs, but I think I’m ready to try!
I just found your blog and I love it! I’m in Elk Grove and only shop at one store here. I follow alot of blogs that CVS but i thought it wouldn’t be worth it to me to go to different stores. I’m going to try this for the first time this week! thanks!
Thank you Charlene, The knowledge you share is helpful and 100% appreciated. Thank you for your time and your shared experiences that have made it possible for you to relay all this information. I have learned so very much from you. I saved $42.18 and sent $18.87 at CVS last week I have $12. in ECB for next week. I saved $24.15 and sent $16.29 and used $9. RR received $12. RR plus $5 RR for saving more than spending at Walgreen’s. this last week. I’m happy! I’ve only begun! I’m now on the coupon hunt…. Thank you again. :O)
Thank you for all the info. You answered many of my questions. I went to CVS for the first time today planning to get some great deals, but the sales clerk and manager said that CVS does not accept internet coupons, other than from their own site. I knew this was not correct, but had no way to prove it to them. Help! I know I’m missing out on great deals. Thanks.
Does CVS have the same policy as Walgreens where you have to have one item for every coupon or RR you use?
No they are totally different. Walgreens is the only store with that odd quirk.
I love shopping at CVS. My daughter and I shop there together and we see who can get out of the store spending the lest amount of money. I won yesterday, owning just $1.92 on $32.76 of goods. That was using my $11.00 reward bucks too.
Can you use more than one manufacturer coupon on the same item at CVS, Walgrens or Riteaid? For example a $7 off and a $10 off Crest whitestrips, both manu. coupons.
No. You can only stack a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon. You can never stack two manufacturer coupons on the same item.
Wow! I know some of CVS but this is very thorough. Thanks for your post and information!
I went to CVS tonight and the cashier said they don’t accept printable coupons. Is this true??!
Hmm.. might just be that store that has had problems or something. The vast majority do take them. You might call CVS corporate customer service- they are the best customer service out there and they might have insights.
What a helpful post! This is wonderful and explained so thoroughly. Thank you!
Does anyone know if CVS ECBs roll?
I, too, had the issue with a cashier telling me CVS doesn’t take IP Q’s. She said they would take them “this one time” and I haven’t been back there since. If anyone has called CVS Corporate and knows the policy on printable Qs, please share 🙂
I’m still fairly new to couponing, but find it a useful way to spend the 6 hours per week I formerly used to teach for a local college before I was laid off – I figured if I cannot MAKE money for my family at least I could SAVE money for them. So, here’s my CVS question/issue:
I tried the Stayfree deal below last night to pick up four packs (I have a wife and 4 daughters) and was refused the BOGO coupon use by the cashier, saying that I couldn’t use two BOGO and two $$ off coupons, even though I was buying 4 packs. He did let me take two off, then run them through separately, but STILL claimed that I could only use one coupon per transaction – so basically, I got to use the BOGO, but not the $$ off coupons. Then on top of that the ECBs didn’t print so I had to argue THAT with him and walk him back to the aisle and show him the little shelf tag. Ideas on what happened?
I was really frustrated when I left, but then it paled in comparison when I went across the street and had to argue with the Walgreen’s staff over my RR. They argued that because I had just used a 5 dollar RR from the John Frieda deal, I couldn’t then get another one on a separate transaction because I had already DONE the deal once before! Ugh!!!! I ended up returning a ton of items because they wouldn’t give me the RRs. I’ll be back today to buy them again and get the sweet RRs.
Stayfree Pads $3.89 (UPC: 380040927001)
Buy 1 and get a $2 ECBs (limit 4)
Use $1/1 HERE
And Use Buy One Get One Free from 1/3 RP
Final Price: $2.89 and get $4 ECB back!
Hi Michael- good for you for getting going with this and I will tell you ahead of time it is not smooth sailing every time. My tip is to find the stores in your area that treat you well and just stick to them.
So here is the deal with Walgreens- they are right you can’t use your prior RR to get more. You can read all about the quirky system here:
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2009/11/walgreens-register-rewards/
– it takes awhile to get the hang of. I know some people reported the RR was rolling but I don’t like to tell people that for a few reasons but primarily because Walgreens can change that at any second so you are rolling the dice when you try it and most Wags are a massive pain in giving you your money or RR back if it doesn’t work. You might be able to roll that RR into the rebate for Quench lotion and then buy more John Frieda.
2. CVS- you know I just had nearly the same experience. 99% of the time CVS rocks but I had a stinker cashier that told me I couldn’t use 2 coupons as well. She was simply wrong. So I just paid to get away from her and then I went to the manager and got the cash value of my coupons back. The other thing you can do is call CVS customer service- I actually find that easier than dealing with getting a manager to print your ECB. They will issue the ECB and the next time you go to the store it will print when you scan your card at the register or the coupon scanner. Also you can call them and explain the problems with using coupons and they can take care of that for you. In the past I had them call a store immediately and set them straight.
So I hope that helps and I hope that it gets easier for you!
Question for you: I have been following lots of CVS blogs and most of them talk about transaction 1: xyz… transaction 2: wxyz
Does that mean they went to CVS 2x. Or can you ask the cashier to break up the transactions into separate groups?
This is probably obvious to so many people. I am just a bit lost with it.
Thanks
Jen
Yes it means separate transactions. So just tell the cashier you want to pay separately- should be no problem as long as you aren’t holding up the line. (If you are just do one transaction and get back in line.)
In regard to not being allowed to use the BOGO & the $$/1, this is what I have found helpful at CVS-buy 4 of the product(if you have 2 $$ off & 2 BOGO…), when done scanning your order, hand over the $$ off FIRST & then the BOGO. I think it is a little quirk in the system b/c if the BOGO is scanned first, the computer thinks you only bought one & you’ve already used a coupon. I have no idea if this is the case, but ran into the same problem yesterday w/the Pedialyte $$ off & BOGOS, luckily, I had a sweet clerk who took the 1.50 off anyway.
I am also lucky to have had great experiences so far at Walgreen’s by rolling my RRs on other products that have RRs & will be doing that this week w/the Oral B toothbrushes & the U products…3 Oral b toothbrushes 3/9, plus a 1.19 pen w/the $1 Wag & 3 $2 off the toothbrushes (pg 4/4) & a RR for 2.50 from the U deal, so .69 oop before tax & get a $3 RR. Then I will buy a U product for 3.49 & a box of Puffs for .99, minus the $1 U coupon printable or Apr ALl You & the $3 rr, for .48 oop before tax. Will do this a couple of times, hopefully, if they have product! I am loving the drugstore deals! Thanks for the tutorial, I thought CVS was the same as WAG w/the “must have as many items as coupons” policy, glad to learn they are not!!
Is it good couponing to have more than one CVS card? Like could I have one under my name and another under my husband?
Malisa yes and no. I have 2 cards but remember all the ECBs and the coupons and everything are linked to each card. So it is a bit of a headache to try and keep them all separate and organized but you can do deals twice. So if you are organized and have the time to manage them than yes it is great to have 2!
Thanks, Charlene! I think that I’m pretty organzied, but this will be a true test if I really am. 🙂
I just tried to do an ECB deal at CVS. The deal was buy $15 of a product and get 5 ECBs. The receipt printed out with no ECBs, and the cashier told me it was because the coupons brought the total price to below $15. Was he wrong? Did I do something in the wrong order? I think he scanned my coupons first, then my Extra Care card.
In regards to the two cards at CVS…Technically it says one per household. That said, we have two. *Blush*
We signed up each of us with our different email addresses, and have not added our home address to our account – that works for us because we don’t have Rx filled there. To help us feel “better” we have decided to shop the CVS by our house, and then one by DH’s Office. At least two CVS’s are getting business.
Further, to keep the ECB’s organized…on the ECB itself, the last four digits of the card it is “attached” to is printed on the ECB. We keep all ECB’s in two envelopes in either our car/purse so they don’t get mixed up. We just know to always grab that when we’re heading in the store we use for each card. We use the ECB’s we have and then put the new ones in for next time. This works great for our household!
CVS is by far the best place to shop. They are very coupon friendly and zero headaches here. I avoid Walgreens for the most part. They are such a pain in the rear and every store makes up their own rules and every manager decides the coupon policy for the day. I say this because I can go to the same Walgreens on different days and be told 2 totally different things. I have complained to corporate but it seems to do no good. I don’t see how they stay in business. Beginners should definately start with CVS. Once you are experienced you can venture into Walgreens territory at your own risk.
Also, on the multiple cards subject. I have multiple cards and I keep them in 3 hole zip-up pencil holders that stay in my coupon notebook. Each card has it’s own pouch. After each purchase I stick my ECB in with the card. It makes it so easy to keep them organized and seperated. Every Sunday I pick out the coupons I need for the week and stick them in each pouch that contains the cards so when I go to the store everything is organized and seperated and it is smooth sailing!
I went to cvs today and bought several items.
I purchased two nivea lip balms
I used a b1g1 coupon and $1/1
The cashier wouldn’t take the second coupon. I was surprised as I know I have done that before. The register beeped and the cashier got annoyed quickly.
Is this a new change in policy?
thanks
Lisa it isn’t CVS it is everywhere. All the sudden the same problem is cropping up at every store I post these deals for. It is hard for me to post because if I mention you might have problems I get a million people telling me they had no problems and then if I don’t mention it I get people with problems 🙂 So I am trying to make notes on all the BOGO scenarios from now on. You should see them on the more recent ones.
There is an offer this week that gives you $5 ECB’s with a purchase of $10 worth of certain cleaners. The limit is 2, which means you can get $10 ECB’s with a $20 purchase. My question is: On Monday I buy $15 worth of these cleaners and receive a $5 ECB. On Tuesday I buy $5 worth of these cleaners($20 2-day total). Will I receive another $5 ECB since I spent $15 on Monday and $5 on Tuesday?
TJ- Yes the dollar amount is cumulative- so you do not need to spend it all in one transaction. be sure you use the same CVS card and at the bottom of your receipt it will tell you when you qualify for the ECB. So if you spend $9 today and then go back tomorrow and spend $1, you will get the ECB once you hit the spending requirement.
If you lose track, you can log into CVS.com and click on ECB at the upper right corner and log into your ECB account. That will also tell you exactly what you have spent and how much you need for the ECB.
How does CVS stay in business with everyone going there and getting all this stuff for free or very low cost?
Hi, I have an important question about cvs extra care bucks. Do you have to use them all at once, or can you use some and get a voucher/new printout with your remaining extra care bucks?
I have 10 ecb that I am rolling over, but this week i only need to use 6 or 7 to cover all of what I want to buy. What happens to the other 3 bucks if I use 7? Do they go to waste?
Thanks,
Rhiannon
You lose them if you don’t use them all. You can roll them into smaller ECBs though- like Buy the 2 Colgate Total and Buy the Powerbars- that will break the $10 down.
Charlene,
Oh great!! That is good news for me! : )
Just wondering if CVS generally takes the target manufacturer coupons with the logo. I had a cashier today tell me they don’t because it is a target coupon and of course I whipped out a target coupon to show her it says target only… but she still insisted it was a target coupon. I can understand if it is against policy to have other stores logos… but it really annoyed me that she was argueing a point I could prove she was wrong on.
Anyway I couldn’t find their coupon policy online to see if they should take them or not. Thanks for any help =)
Valerie those are a pain. It is going to vary at every store and many stores will indeed refuse them just because of that logo. I am not aware of anything that is in the coupon policy about it and they SHOULD take it just fine. I suppose the only thing to do is try and call CVS and see what they say. I always have great experiences with CVS customer service.
Hi quick question..What is the summer spending about on the bottom of my receipts?
Does CVS give overage or is that a ymmv? Thanks Charlene for everything you do to keep us informed!
It is a total YMMV. I would say you should never count on overage because it is technically a no no. Sometimes it is a nice surprise and will always depend on your cashier.
So we only need 1 manufacturers coupon and it can be used multiple times on the same item? For example, I purchased 4 boxes of Always tampons the other week they were on sale for $2.99, I had a $1 off coupon for each box, could I have used just one coupon and they would have given me the $1 off on each box?
Rosemarie- no that is not the case. I am not sure where you saw that but I need to correct it if that is posted somewhere. If you have 4 items- like Always- you will need 4 coupons. It is different with Walgreens store coupons but at CVS you get credited for one coupon only regardless of how many items you buy.
Thank you so much for sharing this information. I’m just getting into the world of coupons and savings, so I’m very new. It seems a little confusing, but your website is really detailed and I’m starting to understnad it better. Thank you!
I am new to this coupon shopping thing. I saw a show on tv where people where saving tons of money from coupons and now I have to try it since I am a mom of three kids and have a food budget of 500 a month. I love all these tips and going back to CVS tomorrow to try em out. thanks!
I am totally hooked – just got home from CVS and I only spent $34.94 for 4 boxes of L’Oreal hair color 2/$12 and 2 root touch ups $7/each 3 boxes of Kleenex .88/each, 2 Revlon Beauty Tools (files and clippers) $2.99 and $3.99, a 75% off clearance LA Cross Nail scissors $2.25 and 1 bottle of Wisk $5. I used a $5 CVS coupon I got in my email, $7.50 in old ECB”S and $10.50 MFR coupons I received $10 ECB’s for the hair color and $7 for the Revlon Beauty Tools – WOW! I plan to go back and use the ECB’s to buy an additional $20 of items from this weeks main ECB promotion to get another $10 ECB. I can definitely see why this is addicting. Thank you for all the helpful information.
I have a question, lately I’ve been having trouble finding enough quantities to get ECB’s. If the requirement to receive an ECB is to purchase 2, and the store only has one; could I buy one from one store and the second at another store and still get the ECB? Or do I have to buy both in one transaction to get the ECB?
Sharise that is the cool thing about CVS. It all accumulates toward the ECB- so you don’t have to buy it at once. The only trick is you do need to buy within the period it is offered. So if I buy 3 Revlon and get $5 ECB for example, I can buy 1 item at 3 stores and when I fulfill the requirement- aka buy the 3rd item- the ECB will print. If you look on the bottom of your receipts CVS actually keeps track. The trick is when maybe you only find one of the Revlon items at 3 stores and you can’t buy the other 2 needed to get the ECB that week. Then you have a problem so keep that in mind. CVS will issue rainchecks on ECB deals and they have no expiration date. So you can always get a raincheck and buy what you need when the shelves are full 🙂
Charlene,
So if I get a raincheck, can I still get the ECB?
Yup! And the raincheck will never expire!
I am new to CVS. Just wondering if you can use a manufacturer coupon with other store logs on them. Like I have a manufacturer coupon with a rite aid logo and also some that have target logos on them.