CVS is one of my favorite stores to coupon at! Maybe that's because it's where I got my "couponing legs". I'm from the Midwest, where there was a CVS around every corner. Now I'm in Upstate New York, and there aren't nearly as many CVS stores (but we have Rite Aid up here!), but I still make sure to shop there at least once a week to take advantage of their great deals!
Here's what you need to know to get started:
Extra Care Card - this is a free rewards card that you get from CVS; if you don't have one, stop in at CVS and get one today! You need to have a card to get all the great deals that CVS has to offer. Once you get your card, make sure to sign up online with your card number and your email address so that you can receive special email coupons. Please note: ONE CARD PER HOUSEHOLD.
Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) - these are like CVS cash. You earn ECBs when you buy certain items at CVS, as indicated in their weekly ad. The rewards and items change weekly. When you purchase an item that give you ECBs, the ECB will print out on your receipt after you pay. Here are some guidelines for ECB:
Beauty Club - Sign up online to receive 5ECB for every $50 in cosmetics that you spend (before coupons!). Once you have spent the required amount, the ECB will print at the Red Machine. These are called Beauty Bucks.
Red Machine/Box - Inside the CVS store, usually not far from the front door, is the red kiosk machine. Make sure to scan your Extra Care Card everytime you go in. It will print out CVS coupons for you to use. Some coupons will print for everyone, others print only for you - they are based on your personal shopping habits (so if you buy diapers at CVS, you will get store coupons for diapers). You can maximize your savings by using these q's! At CVS, you can "stack" a man-q with a CVS q on the same item. Make sure to scan your card until the machine says "Hey Super Scanner" - more and more coupons may continue to print!
Emailed Coupons - Another way to get store coupons is by signing up with your email address. You can do this by going to cvs.com and clicking on Extra Care. Then click on My Information. On the right side of the screen is an option to "Opt In" - make sure you say yes. To be noted: many members have found that they stop receiving emails from CVS after couponing there for awhile. It is kind of a wash - you may not receive the emails anymore, but you are receiving many more coupons from the red box. There really is nothing you can do to begin receiving emails again, other than getting a new card and using a new email address - unfortunately, this means that you will have to re-establish your shopping habits to start getting lots of red box coupons again. (Some people have found that changing your email address helps, but this is not guaranteed, nor is calling corporate)
$/$$ Coupons - These are CVS q's that print at the Red Machine, and also sometimes on the bottom of your receipt. These are purchased-based coupons - they require that you spend a specific amount on certain products in order to get the discount. An example would be "$5 off any $15 cosmetics purchase". This means you must spend $15 (before coupons), then the coupon will take $5 off. You can stack this with other CVS q's (such as "$5 off any 2 Revlon cosmetics), as well as applicable MQs ($3 off an Revlon lip product)
Quarterly Bucks - CVS tracks your OOP each quarter - Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sept, Oct-Dec. Then, on the 15th of the month following the end of the quarter, the Red Machine will print out an ECB worth 2% of your spending for the previous quarter. This is a percentage of your actual SPENDING - the actual cash that comes out of your pocket at the end of each transaction, after all coupons, discounts, and ECBs are used.
%-off Coupons - CVS will sometimes issue coupons that are for a certain percent off your purchase. These are sometime emailed to you, sometimes printed at the red box, and sometimes in the ad. These coupons are good for regular-priced items only; however, they can be used on items that trigger ECBs, as long as the item is not on sale. The value of the coupon is figured up by the amount you spend AFTER the use of $/$$ q's, Beauty Bucks, and force-printed ECBs, but BEFORE other CVS q's and MQs.
Post by Kim Meroney
Here's what you need to know to get started:
Extra Care Card - this is a free rewards card that you get from CVS; if you don't have one, stop in at CVS and get one today! You need to have a card to get all the great deals that CVS has to offer. Once you get your card, make sure to sign up online with your card number and your email address so that you can receive special email coupons. Please note: ONE CARD PER HOUSEHOLD.
Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) - these are like CVS cash. You earn ECBs when you buy certain items at CVS, as indicated in their weekly ad. The rewards and items change weekly. When you purchase an item that give you ECBs, the ECB will print out on your receipt after you pay. Here are some guidelines for ECB:
- Some deals require the purchase of a specific number of items ("Buy 2, Get 4ECB")
- Some deals require that you spend a certain amount ("Spend $30, Get 10ECB"). You must only meet the $-purchase requirement BEFORE your coupons...and you only have to meet 98% of the required spend, so if the required spend is $30, your ECB will print when you hit $29.60 before coupons. Another thing to keep in mind with these deals...if you do not spend the entire amount in one transaction, the system will reduce the amount you spent to the next lower dollar. So if you spend $9.80 in one transaction on a deal where you need to spend $30 to get the ECB, they system will only recognize that you spent $9.
- Once your ECBs print, you can use them like cash on just about anything in the store, except liquor, tobacco, lottery, gift cards.
- ECB deals can only be done a limited number of times, as indicated in the ad.
- ECBs do expire, usually one month after printing. They cannot be re-issued and they cannot be accepted after the expiration.
Beauty Club - Sign up online to receive 5ECB for every $50 in cosmetics that you spend (before coupons!). Once you have spent the required amount, the ECB will print at the Red Machine. These are called Beauty Bucks.
Red Machine/Box - Inside the CVS store, usually not far from the front door, is the red kiosk machine. Make sure to scan your Extra Care Card everytime you go in. It will print out CVS coupons for you to use. Some coupons will print for everyone, others print only for you - they are based on your personal shopping habits (so if you buy diapers at CVS, you will get store coupons for diapers). You can maximize your savings by using these q's! At CVS, you can "stack" a man-q with a CVS q on the same item. Make sure to scan your card until the machine says "Hey Super Scanner" - more and more coupons may continue to print!
Emailed Coupons - Another way to get store coupons is by signing up with your email address. You can do this by going to cvs.com and clicking on Extra Care. Then click on My Information. On the right side of the screen is an option to "Opt In" - make sure you say yes. To be noted: many members have found that they stop receiving emails from CVS after couponing there for awhile. It is kind of a wash - you may not receive the emails anymore, but you are receiving many more coupons from the red box. There really is nothing you can do to begin receiving emails again, other than getting a new card and using a new email address - unfortunately, this means that you will have to re-establish your shopping habits to start getting lots of red box coupons again. (Some people have found that changing your email address helps, but this is not guaranteed, nor is calling corporate)
$/$$ Coupons - These are CVS q's that print at the Red Machine, and also sometimes on the bottom of your receipt. These are purchased-based coupons - they require that you spend a specific amount on certain products in order to get the discount. An example would be "$5 off any $15 cosmetics purchase". This means you must spend $15 (before coupons), then the coupon will take $5 off. You can stack this with other CVS q's (such as "$5 off any 2 Revlon cosmetics), as well as applicable MQs ($3 off an Revlon lip product)
Quarterly Bucks - CVS tracks your OOP each quarter - Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sept, Oct-Dec. Then, on the 15th of the month following the end of the quarter, the Red Machine will print out an ECB worth 2% of your spending for the previous quarter. This is a percentage of your actual SPENDING - the actual cash that comes out of your pocket at the end of each transaction, after all coupons, discounts, and ECBs are used.
%-off Coupons - CVS will sometimes issue coupons that are for a certain percent off your purchase. These are sometime emailed to you, sometimes printed at the red box, and sometimes in the ad. These coupons are good for regular-priced items only; however, they can be used on items that trigger ECBs, as long as the item is not on sale. The value of the coupon is figured up by the amount you spend AFTER the use of $/$$ q's, Beauty Bucks, and force-printed ECBs, but BEFORE other CVS q's and MQs.
Post by Kim Meroney
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