It all came together for me this week: the coupon for $3 off a $15 purchase, the great coupons on January's freebies, and a Sunday paper with 5 sets of inserts this week!
There are a few situations at CVS when you can "earn" ECBs - usually when you have a coupon to use with a true freebie (ie: buy something for 3 bucks and get 3 ECBs back) - if you have a $1 off coupon, you'll pay just $2 and still get 3 ECBs. Usually when I have an opportunity to earn more ECBs than I've spent, I resist the temptation to buy extra (free) items. I'd rather just walk out with more ECBs than I had when I came in, and save them for trips like the one we did on Sunday where Stewart was sent to buy 2 big tubes of Balmex (stat!) for our delicate little flower whose bottom was on fire. Since I buy organic milk and (most) food, there's not too much I can stock up on even when I get the chance.
But! This trip was a winner:
I did 6 transactions to maximize the $3/15 coupon, and used these to save on January's freebies:
- $4.99 ECB wyb Children’s Throat Cooler Ice Pops 6ct (Limit 2) - this is actually a limit of 5. Buy 2 at $4.99, use this printable coupon for BOGO and you'll pay $4.99 and actually get $9.98 in ECBs! Do it twice and you've MADE 10 bucks on the deal. Pair it up with the $3/15 and you've made at least $13.
- $7.99 ECB wyb NasoGel Drip Free gel spray 1.52 oz (Limit 2) - pair it up with this printable coupon for $2 off and you'll have another money-maker.
- The Garnier Fructis is on sale for $2.99 and is generating $2 ECBs. Pair it with a coupon for $1 off from the 11/9 RP and it's free! (limit 1)
- The Soyjoy bars (6-pack) is a weekly, unadvertised, freebie - buy one pack for 6 bucks, get 6 ECBs. Limit is 5! I think they're god-awful, but I keep trying them on Nate and the shelter gets the excess.
One idea: One transaction with 2 Throat Coolers and one NasoGel. Your total will be around $18 before coupons. Give them the $3/15, then the BOGO, and then the $2 off the Nasogel. Your net total will be around $8 and you'll get $18 in ECBs! Do it twice and earn $20 just walking in the door.
Like I said, I'm usually just happy to walk out the door with my items and with more ECBs in my hand, but this time I let myself buy a few extra newspapers. Actually, I bought 19 extra newspapers, and still came out 11 bucks ahead.
Here's what I ended up using (on two accounts):
- $3/15 coupon six times (saving $18)
- Throat Cooler BOGO coupon three times (saving $14.97)
- NasoGel coupon four times (saving $8)
If you're just getting started with CVS, you can find an excellent tutorial here: Money Saving Mom.
Get out there and get your free stuff!
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