Today I paid $0.00 out of pocket for $ worth of items. I did pay $6.46 on a gift card that I have been using since the beginning of the year and got three items that I really wanted.
Transaction 1
Item: Bounty paper towels
Price: $6.99
CVS Extra Care Bucks earned: $1.00
Item: Herbal essences shampoo
Price: $5.99
CVS Extra Care Bucks earned: $2.00
Item: Biotrue contact lens cleaner
Price: $2.99
CVS Extra Care Bucks earned: $2.99 FREE item after ECBs
Total coupons used: $10 ECBs
Total paid today: $6.46 , on gift card.
Total CVS Extra Care Bucks earned today: $5.99
Total out of pocket to date: $0.00
Gift Card balance : $10.48
Total CVS Extra Care Bucks earned to date: $102.46
CVS Extra Care Bucks Used to date: $96.47
CVS Extra Care Bucks Balance: $
Abbreviations used
MFR = manufacturer coupon
ECB = extra care bucks
Join me next time as I look for more ways to save money as I visit CVS.
Great as always.
I like reading your posts about CVS. I noticed something strange the last time I bought something at CVS. My company now offers a debit card option for the flexible spending plan (FSA). I bought mixed items for about $30, and had a bunch of coupons (i.e. $5 off $25 purchase) and some ECBs. After all the discounts, the total was about $20, and about $15 of it was FSA eligible. The debit card works when you buy mixed items (i.e. some are FSA eligible and some are not) if you first swipe your FSA debit card, and pay the balance in cash or with another credit card.
I found that CVS (formerly Longs where I am) allowed me to pay for the full retail price + tax of the FSA items with the FSA debit card, and did not prorate the discounts and coupons into the price. I ended up getting about $30 worth of stuff for only $5 out of pocket. I don’t consider the FSA to be out-of-pocket since I have already committed a certain payroll deduction at the beginning of the year.
The downside of FSAs are that you have to use up your balance by the end of the year (or whenever your employer decides to lay you off), or you will lose the remaining balance.