I want to give a special welcome to those visiting from the CVS/Walgreens group at CafeMom!
Much to my delight, we have new participants each week! Last week was a record 25!
Don’t forget you can now grab a clickable CVS $5 Challenge Button for your post or blog.
If you are a first time visitor, here’s the lowdown:
Join me on Sundays as I host The $5.00 CVS Challenge!
Seasoned CVSers: share your best scenario(s) for the upcoming week at CVS.
Your budget: $5.00 out-of-pocket cash.
Your mission: to grow that $5.00 into even more ECBs to use in upcoming weeks.
Simply post your scenarios on your blog, then drop by Keeping the Kingdom First and add your permalink to the Mr. Linky box below.
Please link directly to your post, not your homepage. It would be lovely if you would also link back to The CVS $5 Challenge in your post.
If you have any questions about linking, please feel free to email me!
*RULES* Bloggers: Please make sure at least one scenario is $5 OOP or less
1. Come up with your best scenario/scenarios for the upcoming week at CVS using the current weekly ad, monthly deals, and coupons available. Your budget for Out of Pocket (OOP) expenses on the first transaction is only $5.00 (either cash OOP or ECBs on hand).
2. Using up to (3) scenarios (we don’t want to overwhelm the newbies with too many transactions), offer up your best scenarios to “grow” that $5.00 into more ECBs to use in following weeks.
3. If you want to divide your $5.00 allowance over the three scenarios to make them work, that’s fine!
Here is MY $5 Scenario for the week of February 22nd:
*coupons in red
Transaction #1
Buy 1 Gillette Fusion Gamer razor @ $7.99
$4/1 Gillette Fusion (P&G 2/8/09)
Total After Coupon= $3.99
ECBs earned= $4.00
Transaction #2
Buy 1 Extreme Energy 6-hour Shot 2 pk @ $4.99 (separate from monthly deal)
Buy 1 Colgate cavity toothpaste @ $0.88
$0.75/1 Colgate toothpaste (SS 2/22/09)
Pay with $4.00 ECBs from above
Total After Coupons & ECBs= $1.12
ECBs earned= $4.99
Grand Total OOP= $5.11 (close enough, right?)
Total Value= $13.86 with $4.99 ECBs remaining!
Keep rolling those ECBs for even more savings!
There you have it! A way to play the CVS ECB game by helping newbies learn the ropes. And who knows – you just might be inspired yourself by some of the deals you find, too!
Don’t have a blog? You can leave a comment with your scenario, too. I invite everyone to participate in The $5.00 CVS Challenge – no deal is too small, believe me!
By the way, we bloggers LOVE to get comments, so please do take a moment to spread a little comment love. Thanks!
Please, please, continue reminding readers to consider donating some of the freebies that they get. Here in AZ we are facing a 10% cut in Medicaid funding. My agency runs residential homes for people with disabilities who are unable to live independently. We are always, always in need of personal care items, household cleaners, and the like. I’m sure this is true of other organizations as well.
Has anyone else had problems finding the Fusion Gamer? I haven’t been able to find it all month, and we have 2 CVS stores and a Walgreens. The tags are up at least at Walgreens, but it’s like they aren’t even stocking it at CVS because there are no tags at all. It makes me wonder if the Gamer might be a closeout and once they’re gone, they’re plain gone.
Oh wow, this is very helpful! I have not tried CVS yet because it seems so confusing. I’m going to try now with your $5 challenge! THANK YOU! I’m also going to post this on my blog, thanks so much.
OK, I have bought the gamer once already. I’ve noticed it in the paper every week. Is this once for the month or can we buy one each time it’s in the paper??
PS – I also encourage donating. Our church has a food pantry and I just took four bags full of shampoo, razors toothpaste, etc! You know we’ll be getting more for free from our lovely CVS, donate!
Stacy- absolutely! Donating freebies is definitely something I encourage. Especially right now, more than ever.
I have also had trouble finding the Gamer razor. I recommend asking CVS for a raincheck if you cannot locate one. They may also offer an alternative if they do not have it in stock.
The Hamstras- It is actually a new deal each week! Can you believe it?
great! Thanks!