CVS 101 and ECBs - Is It Worth Your Time?

A few years ago I never really consider shopping at CVS. Why? Well, I thought it was a drugstore with high prices, not likely to have enough bargains to make it worth my while to stop there. I stopped at CVS to pick up a prescription one Sunday morning before church and found several ladies shopping talking about getting things for free and ecbs. Ok that got my attention. I was ready to learn.

First you will need a CVS Extra Care Card. You can get this card at any cashier for free and you will need to complete the registration form. Then I needed to learn what was an ECB (extra care bucks). An ECB is an instant rebate or instant coupon on your next purchase.

For example if I purchase a tube of toothpaste on sale for $2.99 and it produces $2.99 in ECBs, I will pay out of pocket $2.99 plus tax for that item. At the bottom of my receipt it will print out a $2.99 ECB. If the limit on the toothpaste is 5, then I can purchase another tube of the toothpaste and when the cashier tells me that will be $2.99 I can hand her the $2.99 ECB I just received and my oop for the second toothpaste is zero. I can then do this 3 more times using the ECBs from my previous purchase for $0 oop. The total cost of 5 tubes of toothpaste originally was $14.95. At the end I will have purchased 5 tubes of toothpaste for an original out of pocket of $2.99 and I will still have an ECB of $2.99 for future purchases.

But wait, I use coupons. Does CVS allow me to use a manufacturer’s coupon on items that are going to be free after ECBs? Yes they do. So if I purchased that original tube of toothpaste for $2.99 and used a $1 coupon on it, my out of pocket will only be $1.99. Will the $2.99 ECB still print out? Yes it will. However, when you go to buy the second tube of toothpaste things will change. If you use another $1 coupon on the second tube of toothpaste your subtotal is only going to be $1.99 and you have an ECB for $2.99. What to do? You buy what is called a filler item – another item that is $1 so you don’t lose that dollar. Why? I consider ECBs cash (ok CVS cash but cash) and I would never hand them $3 in cash when my total was $2 and tell them to keep the $1. So I go to the trial size section or travel section and I pick up a $1 hand lotion or mouthwash, etc… I then buy my second tube of toothpaste using my $1 coupon and also the $1 filler item, use my previous ECBs and my oop is $0. I then repeat these transactions 3 more times until I reach my limit. The total cost of 5 tubes of toothpaste and 4 filler items would have been $18.95 if I hadn’t used ECBs and coupons. At the end I have purchased 5 tubes of toothpaste, 4 hand lotions (or filler items) and my oop was $1.99 (plus tax) and I still have an ECB for $2.99 for future purchases. Is it worth your time? Well with this scenario I just saved $16.94 to spend on other items my family needs and I now have enough toothpaste and hand lotion for a couple of months at least, and I still have $2.99 to spend on my next purchase at CVS.

Is it worth it? Definitely. Do the cashiers mind doing multiple transactions for you? No they don't. I have yet to have a cashier at CVS refuse to allow me to do multiple transactions.

I now carefully look at CVS weekly sales flyer every Sunday morning to see what is free or nearly free for that week. I then check my coupons to see if I have any coupons that will match up to those items and then I am off to CVS.

CVS 102 - registering online for additional savings, $3/$15 and $4/$20 coupons and how to use them, Coming Soon.

Great post. I have been rolling ECB's for a few years now, and am lucky to have one right at the end of my street. Happy savings!

Great post!!!!!

Great article.

Thanks for the post..It will be very useful.

Thanks for taking the time to explain this. CVS is coming to my town!

Loved the post and I'm at the edge of my seat to see how I can get the $4/20 to print out! I have gotten $10/50 many times but never anything smaller. I really rack my brain to do that and come out ahead...

OK, I am sorry, CVS got a sale this week but next week is when you will get two pages full on school supplies and you will get the same amount in extra bucks back, TWO FULL PAGES !!!

Hope you guys get there on time sunday early or get a rain check!

I am completely hooked on CVS. My favorite store. I no longer want to go clothes shopping or grocery shopping. CVS is where I love to shop. I love the CSO I refer to it as my friend . I do my best to roll the ECB as much as possible. One day I had my daughter floored when the total would have been over 30+ dollars and I only paid 9-10 dollars. NO tax cause of the state. Since I found out about the ECB and that it was "money" I used to throw away. Always saw it at the bottom of the receipt but didnt know what it was knew the card was for a discount. Well NOW I KNOW...I am ADDICTED TO CVS.

Thank you!!! i <3 cvs!!!