CVS Deals: August 23 - 29

Transaction #1:

$10.00 - (2) Glade Sense & Spray (earns $3 ECBs)
$1.98 - (2) CVS Composition books (earns $1.98 ECBs - free through Tuesday!)
$3.79 - Carefree Ultra Protection (earns $3.79 ECBs)
$.50 - Reese's candy bar (free after coupon)

$3.99 - CVS trail mix (just used as a filler since we're going camping soon)

Total before coupons: $20.26

Coupons used:
- $4/$20 coupon from ReadyFill booklet
- $4 Glade coupon from August All You magazine

- $4 Glade coupon from 8/23 SS
- $.55 Reese's coupon from 8/23 SS (rounded down to $.50)

- $6.99 ECBs

Subtotal: $.77

Total after tax: $1.52 (because of the new tax rules)

Earned: $8.77 ECBs ($3.79, $1.98 & $3)

CVS Deals: August 9 - 15

My goal this week was just to roll some ECBs and use the $5/$25 coupon out, which actually helped me make $2 in ECBs and get a few things for free. :)

Transaction #1:

$9.99 - Revlon ColorStay Mineral Makeup (earns $9.99 ECBs - free through Tuesday!)
$8.99 - Coppertone NutraShield Sunscreen (earns $2 ECB)
$1.99 - CVS Brand Aspirin (this was my free item for August)
$1.50 - (3) Candy bars at $.50 each (qualify for $5 ECBs wyb $15 - I just used as fillers)

$1.69 - CVS brand hand soap (just used as a filler since it's always something we need)

$.99 - Sharpie highlighters (free after coupon)

Total before coupons: $25.15

Coupons used:
- $5/$25 coupon on the CVS website
- $1 Sharpie highlighters found here
- $5 Coppertone coupon found here

- $1/2 candy bars found in 7/26 RP

- $1 Revlon makeup found in 7/19 SS

- $.50 candy coupon from the free Friday chocolate

- $1.99 free CVS aspirin CRT

- $7.99 & $1.68 ECBs

Subtotal: $.00

Total after tax: $1.02 (because of the new tax rules)

Earned: $11.99 ECBs ($9.99 & $2)

All in all, a pretty good week for such slow deals. It was exciting to find everything in stock at CVS (which hasn't happened in a while with all the school supply deals). The new tax rules are still confusing me - but I haven't figured out any "tricks", like giving them ECBs before coupons or vice versa.

CVS Deals: January 11-17

My goal this week is just to roll some ECBs. There have been so few deals since right around Christmas, but I don't want to let my ECBs expire!

Transaction #1:

$7.99 - NasoGel Drip Free gel spray (earns $7.99 ECBs - so free!)
$6.99 - Nature Valley granola bars twin pack (earns $3 ECB)
$7.99 - Cheerios cereal twin pack (earns $4 ECBs - so free!)

Coupons used:
- $22.48 ECBs from previous trip
*$.50/1 Granola bars didn't work

Total after coupons & ECBs: $.49

Earned: $14.99 ECBs ($7.99, $4 & $3)

Definitely lost a lot of ECBs, but I can't seem to find the SoyJoy bars to help me roll them better! I still have some more ECBs to roll before the 20th, so check back for some more deals!

CVS Deals: December 21 - 27

Run as fast as you can to your nearest CVS! There are TONS of free after ECB items Sunday & Monday only. This is a great week to stock up on a few items, or roll ECBs (especially ones you might have gotten at Thanksgiving).

Free after ECB items that we got: (Only valid SUNDAY & MONDAY!)

$6.00 - Rightguard Professional Strength Deodorant (limit 5)
$2.99 - Listerine Mouthwash (limit 5)
$2.59 - Halls Naturals (limit 1)
$3.99 - Excedrin Express Gels (limit 1) (used $2/1 coupon here)
$5.99 - Zipfizz Energy mix (limit 1)
$5.99 - Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine nail color (limit 2) (used CVS Beauty Book coupon $3/2 Sally Hansen nail color)
$6.99 - L'Oreal HIP eye shadow (limit 2)
$1.69 - EAS AdvantEdge bar (limit 1)
$7.49 - EAS AdvantEdge shake (limit 1)
$4.99 - Zantac 150 (limit 1) (used $1.00 coupon from newspaper insert)

We also received a $5/$15 CRT - so be on the lookout for these!!

Other good deals we purchased this week: (These deals are good all week.)

$6.99 - Lever 2000 8-pack bar soap (only earns $1 ECB - this was a need!) (used $1.00 coupon from old newspaper insert)
$2.99 - Crest Pro-Health toothpaste (earns $2 ECBs) (used $1.00 coupon from P&G)
$2.99 - Crest Pro-Health rinse (earns $2 ECBS) (used $.75 coupon from P&G)

I'd normally post deal ideas, but there are so many free items I think you may have the best success this week matching your available ECBs to the items on sale! Happy CVSing!

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CVS Deals: November 30 - December 6

I don't think I've ever seen the deals quite as slim as they are this week, but hey, it's hard to complain after last weekend. These are just a few things I picked up this week & rolled a few ECBs with, as well. Most are monthly deals.

Transaction #1:

$8.99 - Complete contact solution (earns $8.99 ECBs - so free!)
$4.00 - 2 packs of Trident gum (earns $1 ECB)
$4.99 - Five Hour Energy (earns $4.99 ECBs - so free!)

Coupons used:
-$2.00 Complete, found here
- $15.97 ECBs from previous trip

Total after coupons & ECBs: $.01

Earned: $14.98 ECBs ($8.99, $4.99 & $1.00)

I was planning to stop with Transaction #1, but a $5/$15 coupon printed out! If you have one of these, this second deal is a $5 moneymaker!!

Transaction #2:

$8.99 - Complete contact solution (earns $8.99 ECBs - so free!)
$10.00 - (6) Promax enery bars (earns $5 ECBs for 3 - so free!)

Coupons used:
-$5/$15 CRT printed on Transaction #1 (if you didn't get the $5/$15, just get 3 Promax bars)
-$14.98 ECBs from Transaction #1

Total after coupons & ECBs: $.01

Earned: $18.99 ECBs ($8.99 & $10.00)

Come back next week & maybe the deals will be a little better! :)

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Thanksgiving (& CVS!)

Happy Thanksgiving!  (A few days late, I realize.)  We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving as a married couple at my parents' house with some good time with family, a great Thanksgiving dinner, and even a bonfire!  As CVS is new to us this year, we were blown away by the sales this past weekend!  My sister & her boyfriend even both got a CVS card & started learning the ropes.  You can see below what we came home with (between all three of us):

Because there were three of us making transactions, we went through the line so many times that we even returned later in the day to take the cashier some gingerbread.  It was the least we could do after being "those customers" in the morning.  

I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving as well!  And... come back tomorrow to see some super easy, fun Christmas ornaments that we've made today.

CVS Thanksgiving Deals!

These deals are amazing!! Make sure you get to your store early before they're gone. I checked the store near where we'll be for Thanksgiving, and they said they have normal operating hours, 8am til 10pm.

The deals below are the best way that I could divide up my current ECBs plus the ECBs that I will receive in order to have the lowest out of pocket cost. Hope this helps you figure our your transactions! And... have a very happy Thanksgiving!

(If you're looking for the regular weekly deals this week, check out my other post here. The items below are just on sale Thursday-Saturday this week.)

Transaction #1:

$6.99 - Universal remote (Earns 6.99 ECBs)
$7.99 - Titanium Schick Quattro Trimmer (Earns $6 ECBs)
$4.47 - (3) Gatorades (1.49 each) (Earns $4.47 ECBs)
$3.79 - Sally Hansen Nail Polish (Earns $3.79 ECBs)

Total before coupons & ECBs: $23.24

Coupons to use:
-$4.00 Schick razor, December All You magazine
-$1/2 Gatorade G2, CVS Beauty Book coupon
- $17.98 ECBs from previous trip

Total after coupons & ECBs: $.26 (plus applicable tax)
Earns: $21.25 ECBs ($6.99, $6, $4.47 & $3.79)

Transaction #2 (this is a pretty large transaction - you may want to break this into smaller ones):

$8.99 - Complete contact solution (Earns $8.99 ECBs)
$2.99 - Colgate toothpaste (Earns $2.99 ECBs)
$3.99 - Playtex sport tampons (Earns $3 ECBs)
$5.69 - Johnson's Softlotion (Earns $5.69 ECBs)
$5.99 - Bic Soleil Razor (Earns $5.99 ECBs)
$6.99 - Loreal lip gloss (Earns $6.99 ECBs)
$7.99 - Covergirl liquid makeup (Earns $7.99 ECBs)

Total before coupons & ECBs: $42.63

Coupons to use:
- $1.50 Colgate toothpaste found here
- $1 Playtex found here
- $3 Bic razor, newspaper insert
- $1 any Covergirl makeup, newspaper insert
- $21.25 ECBs from Transaction #1
- $14.49 ECBs from a previous week

Total OOP: $.39 (plus tax)
Earns: $41.64 ECBs!!

Transaction #3:

$2.99 - Colgate toothpaste (Earns $2.99 ECBs)
$1.00 - King-sized Hershey's bar...yum! (Earns $1 ECBs)
$5.98 - (2) Aussie products (2.99 each) (Earns $5.98 ECBs)
$5.99 - Bic Soleil Razor (Earns $5.99 ECBs)
$6.99 - Loreal lip gloss (Earns $6.99 ECBs)
$5.99 - Covergirl pressed powder (Earns $5.99 ECBs)
$5.99 - Garnier Nutrioniste Cleansing Towelettes (Earns $5.99 ECBs)

Total before coupons & ECBs: $34.93

Coupons to use:
- $1.00 Colgate toothpaste, newspaper insert
- $1.00 any Aussie product, newspaper insert
- $3 Bic razor, newspaper insert
- $1 any Covergirl makeup, newspaper insert
- $28.66 ECBs from Transaction #2 ($8.99, $5.69, $5.99, & $7.99)

Total OOP: $.27 (plus tax)
Earns: $34.93 ECBs!!

CVS Deals: November 23-29

This was one of my best CVS trips ever due to a really nice manager! I have no idea if these deals will work everywhere, but it's definitely worth asking about - especially to grow your ECBs before Thursday!

(If you'd like to check out some scenarios for the sale Thursday-Saturday of this week, check out my other post here.)

Transaction #1:

$8.99 - Complete contact solution (earns $8.99 ECBs - so free!)
$3.49 - Crest Pro-Health Toothpaste (Monthly deal - free after ECBs)
$.88 - Candy Canes (filler that I also just wanted)

Coupons used:
-$1.00 when you buy 2 toothpastes, newspaper insert
- $15 ECBs from previous trip

Total after coupons & ECBs: $.91

Earned: $12.48 ECBs ($8.99 & $3.49)
(NOTE: According to my receipt, the Crest toothpaste limit is 4 - I thought it was 5. If you haven't reached this limit of 4 you'll earn $3.49 more ECBs than I did.)

Transaction #2:

$8.99 - (2) Maybelline Liquid Mineral Makeup

I had brought just one makeup up to the counter & the manager then informed that the makeup was on sale buy one, get one free. So, I grabbed another one, and he rang it up. **UPDATE: A friend also tried this & let me know that this did not work for her. Apparently, it's not really buy one get one free - I apologize if any of you tried this.**

Used $8.99 ECBs from Transaction #1

Total OOP: $0
Earns: $17.98 ECBs!! (apparently the makeup limit is 2)

CVS Deals: September 21-27

This week I really used the first transaction to help "grow" my ECBs and start the candy deal (for Halloween), but I was really most excited about the second transaction! I also spent more out of pocket than usual, but we got a lot of things that we really needed that don't normally give ECBs (toilet paper, for example - at least as far as I've seen).

Transaction #1:

$11.99 - Revlon Revitalift (earns $11.99 ECBs - so free!)
$4.99 - Nivea for Men Body Wash (earns $4.99 ECBs - moneymaker after coupon!)
$4.99 - Adidas deodorant (earns $4.00 ECBs - free after coupon!)
$9.00 - (2) Hershey's big bags M&M (start toward spend $15/get $7 ECBs candy deal)

Coupons used:
-$5/$30 CVS coupon from e-mail
-$2 Hershey's big bags - CVS CRT (cash register coupon)
-$1.00 Nivea body wash, newspaper insert
-$1.00 Adidas deodorant, newspaper insert

Total after coupons: $23 (not exactly - I lost my receipt)
Used $14 ECBs from previous trip

Total OOP: $8 (again, this is a higher than normal OOP, but helps out transaction #2)
Earns: $20.98 ECBs ($11.99, $4.99, & $4.00)

Transaction #2:

$12.98 - (2) Cottonelle toilet paper 12 packs (toward spend $25, get $10 ECBs)
$6.49 - Viva 8 pack paper towels (toward spend $25, get $10 ECBs)
$6.00 - (6) Kleenex (finishes spend $25, get $10 ECBs)
$6.16 - (7) Hershey's/Mars 8-pack candy (finishes spend $15, get $7 ECBs from transaction #1)

Coupons used:
-$5/$30 CVS coupon from email
-$.50 Cottonelle from 9/21 newspaper insert
-$.50 Cottonelle from older newspaper - nice cashier took expired coupon
-$.50/3 Kleenex from newspaper insert
-$.35 Viva paper towels

Total after coupons: $24.28
Used $20.98 ECBs from Transaction #1

Total OOP: $3.30
Earns: $17 ECBs ($10.00 & $7.00)

(I won't be doing these deals again, but according to my receipt, the Kimberly Clark deal AND the candy deal both have a higher limit than 1 as advertised!)

CVS Deals: August 22-28 (or 24-30)

I live in an area that is apparently in the test market for changing the CVS ad from Friday through Thursday, so I went ahead and made my visits today (Saturday) since CVS had emailed out a $3/$15 coupon.

Transaction #1:

$11.98 - 2 Zipfizz energy drinks (earns $11.98 ECBs - so free!)
$1.49 - Kotex lightdays (earns $1.49 ECBs - so free!)
$2.50 - Glade candle
$.99 - Softsoap handsoap

Coupons used:
-$3/$15 CVS coupon from e-mail
-$.75 Kotex, SS 7/20/08
-$1.00 Glade candle, newspaper insert
-$.35 Softsoap, newspaper insert

Total after coupons: $11.86
Used $12 ECBs from previous trip - cashier adjusted down

Total OOP: $.13
Earns: $13.47 ECBs ($11.98 & $1.49)

Transaction #2:
(I used a lot of ECBs on this - but this is something that we use a lot of and it is almost never on sale. It is a pretty good deal if you use a lot of contact solution and have the ECBs to cover it. Also, other brands usually irritate my eyes.)

$15.99 Opti-Free value pack contact solution (earns $2 ECBs)

Coupons used:
-$3/$15 CVS coupon from email
-$1 Opti-Free from Coupons.com

Total after coupons: $11.99
Used $11.98 ECBs from Transaction #1

Total OOP: $.07
Earns: $2 ECBs

(You end up paying $5/bottle for the contact solution after ECBs and coupons - not bad for this product!)

My CVS Deals for August 10-16

Learning how to stretch our money at CVS has been very exciting, rewarding, and fun for my husband and I over the past few months. I'd explain how to best shop at CVS, but Crystal at Money Saving Mom already does an excellent job here.


Without further ado, here are my transactions for the week:

Transaction #1:
$12 - 4 bags Dove chocolate (earn $5 ECBs when you buy $10 of select candy)

Coupons:
-$6 - 2 BOGO printables from several weeks ago on Coupons.com

Total after coupons: $6
Used $5.79 ECBs from a previous trip

Total OOP: $.27
Earns: $5 ECBs


Transaction #2:
$5.99 - Alavert (earns $3 ECBs)
$6.99 - CVS Skin Effects Product (earns $5 ECBs)
$5.76 - 2 Herbal Essence Mousse (no ECBs earned - I just needed this & had a coupon)
$.50 - SweetTarts candy (filler - also earns toward candy deal in case I decide to do that again)
$.50 - Spree candy (same as SweetTarts)

Coupons:
-$2 Alavert CRT (printed last week!)
-$4 Alavert manufacturer's Q here
-$2 CVS Skin Effect Q - CVS Beauty Magazine
-$2 when you buy 2 Herbal Essence product - P&G 8/3/08

Total after coupons: $9.74
Used $9.99 ECBs from a previous trip

Total OOP: $.09
Earns: $8 ECBs

It turns out I could have done this all in one transaction, but at first I hadn't completely planned my second transaction and thought I'd need the ECBs from the first one. This just goes to show how important the planning is!

*Also, since this is my first CVS post, I just want to let you know - I typically try to keep my CVSing to just a few transactions a week and I try to keep them reasonable. For example, I will stockpile items that are a good deal or that have potential to be given away, but I also try to be realistic and can say no to CVS on weeks that just aren't worth my time to go there.