CVS 101 ~ WHAT IS IT & HOW CAN I DO IT?

WHAT IS THE CVS GAME?

CVS has a program called Extra Care Bucks. Extra Care Bucks (My friend calls it CVS Funny Money) print out on your receipt at CVS and can be used just like cash at CVS. Each week, there are several items in the store that, when purchased, will give you a full refund in Extra Care Bucks (funny money).

The next time you buy something at CVS you can use those ECB's (funny money receipts) and it's like getting your purchase for free.

Here is the crazy thing! When you combine your ECB's with manufacturer coupons you can actually make money!

Yes, my good friend, they take their ECB's (funny money receipts) AND manufacturer's coupons at the same time.

There are quite a few times when coupons and ECB's combined will give you a negative balance! That is when you will want to throw in some milk or candy or anything you choose to make up the difference. I call it getting my milk free. :-)

Once you begin the game and get some ECB's, you can "finagle" your purchases so that you will pay hardly anything out of pocket. The trick is to stick to your plan!!

My number one piece of advice, before beginning this program, is to start receiving a Sunday Newspaper from a large city near you, that offers coupon inserts from Redplum and SmartSource. CUT EVERY SINGLE LITTLE COUPON OUT and keep them in a filing system. This is my filing system...primitive I know....it works for me.

HERE is an example of what I've purchased playing the "CVS Game."

HOW CAN I DO THIS?

First you must join the Extra Care Bucks program for CVS. After you get your Extra Care Card in the mail you are ready to begin!

Remember, your first purchase will be made with real money. Every purchase begins with the cashier scanning your Extra Care Card. This is important because that is how they track your ECB's and how you get ECB's to print on your receipt.

Your objective is to buy the things that are fully refunded in ECB's. CVS has a Monthly deals sale paper and each week they put out a Weekly deals sale paper. When beginning, look for items that are fully refunded in ECB's (funny money). They will be marked as "Free after ECB's" in the CVS sales papers.

When you purchase those items you will pay with your money. When your receipt prints you will look at the bottom of your receipt to see that they have given you ECB's for that purchase. Those ECB's can now be used to purchase other items that offer you ECB's.

For example: I bought 2 Softsoap Body Washes for $9.98. I got $9.98 back on my receipt. I turned around and "bought" 2 more body washes for $9.98 BUT I used my ECB's to pay for it so I got them FREE AND they gave me ECB's on my receipt again for $9.98! I used the same $9.98 to purchase things week after week that would AGAIN roll over in ECB's. When I couple the ECB's with coupons I can get a negative balance and "buy" more things for free!

Example: I used my $9.98 in ECB's to buy 2 body washes that would give me $9.98 in ECB's. I had two $1 coupons for the body washes and a $1.00 Johnson's buddies coupon to buy a 99 cent Johnson's buddies soap. I got all of it free plus I had a $2 negative balance because of the $2 coupons so I threw in some milk. I paid 99cents for my entire purchase and I got $9.98 in more ECB's to use again!

THAT is why you need to cut out every coupon...even if you don't use the items, you may actually make money by using a coupon for a sale item at CVS. You can donate that item to charity or give it to someone in need or fill a Christmas gift basket with the things you won't use, but the idea is to keep your ECB's rolling week after week.