Guest Post from a First Time CVSer

One of my favorite things is inspiring a newbie to try the CVS game. They are usually shocked by what they can save by strategically combining coupons and Extra Care Bucks.

My long-time reader and twitter buddy, Lisa, finally had the opportunity to experience CVS in her neighborhood. Longs Drugs was recently acquired by CVS and converted their stores nationwide.

I asked Lisa to write about her experience from a newbie’s perspective and I am so excited to share it with my readers! She even included a photo, I am so proud.

Let’s see how she did:

I have been a fan of Alyssa’s blog for a long time. I’ve been impressed by her coupon savings and amazed by CVS deals. We just got CVS stores so I was finally able to try them out!

I looked at the CVS ad carefully, mainly at Extra Bucks offers. I dug through unorganized coupons all over my house, trying to match them up with products in the ad. I listed all sorts of scenarios to find the best way to make my purchases. Who says moms don’t need math skills? I tried to focus on things that we normally buy and use. Finally I was ready!

I came up with 3 transactions. I have 2 CVS stores fairly close to my house. Off I went to the first store, got my card, purchased items, used coupons and received Extra Bucks. Whew! Drove right to the other store and took care of the second transaction – found items, used coupons and Extra Bucks and earned more Extra Bucks. That cashier had trouble getting it all to work out right, but was successful in the end (they are new to it all). My wonderful hubby went back out to that store later to get the last of the items, used Extra Bucks and got more back without any issues.

Here’s everything I bought:

Lisa's CVS Haul

Rather than give you all the details, let’s just look at the bottom line. My total out-of-pocket after using $4.50 coupons and $17.00 Extra Bucks was $48.00. That sounds like a lot to spend at once, but if you look at the picture, you can see that I bought a lot of pricey items and stocked up. I still have $3.00 Extra Bucks leftover. So I saved $21.50 off of the CVS sale prices. That’s a big savings!

But I don’t normally buy these items at CVS. I would probably purchase them at Walmart. So, did I save money over Walmart prices? I decided to check. If I had purchased all the same items at Walmart and remembered coupons, I would have spent $62.70.

So I saved $14.70 over Walmart prices and still have $3.00 to spend! WOW! The difference is in the Extra Bucks, so that’s what I’ll focus on when I do my CVS transactions. There are some additional savings though that I didn’t add in – with your ExtraCare Card, you earn 2% back on your purchases.

Thanks, Alyssa for inspiring me to try CVS and save a lot of money! If you haven’t tried CVS yet, what are you waiting for?

Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolates

Fabulous job, Lisa! I think you are now an official convert. Here are a few tips for next time and for other newbies:

• Be sure to register your Extra Care card with CVS.com to receive email updates. They typically send new users a $4 off $20 purchase coupon.
• Don’t hesitate to purchase items you do not need if they are money makers.  You can always donate them to a local charity, and then use the Extra Care bucks you receive to buy things you do need, like milk!
• Check out my CVS $5 Challenge every Sunday for easy scenarios with step-by-step instructions.  This will help you get started for $5 or less at CVS.
• Remember to never take CVSing too seriously.