CVS Shopping Trip
Transaction #1
2 Maxwell House K-Cups – $5.99 each
Used 2 $1/1 printable1 CVS Razor – $6.99
Used $5/1 CVS razor store coupon from the in-store coupon machine2 Suave Professionals 2-in-1 – $2
Used 2 $1.50/1 coupon from the 9/29 RedPlum insertUsed $13 ECBs from previous shopping trips
Free after coupons, Received $3 ECBs (for buying CVS razor) and $3 ECBs (for buying 2 Maxwell coffees)
Transaction #2
3 Ghirardelli Chocolate Bars – $3.59 each
Used 3 $1/1 printableUsed $6 ECBs from transaction #1
Paid $1.77 out of pocket, Received $2 ECBs (for buying 3 Ghirardelli)
Total before sales, coupons and ECBs: $33.74
Total after sales, coupons and ECBs: $1.77 PLUS $2 ECBs leftover
Ginger says
It is not entirely truthful to say she got $33 worth of stuff for $1.77 because she used $13 worth of EB and only got back $2. So really she spent $12.77 which is still half off.
Rachel says
I thought this too. Still a great deal, but not everyone has $13 worth of ECBs saved up so this deal doesnt work for everyone.
Luba says
This is why I stopped shopping at CVS. Their deals are not as appealing to me anymore, and I don’t want to buy just whatever to roll ECBs. It’s just not worth it for me personally. If it it for others, great! 🙂
Erin says
Still, it works out to $1.59 per item, which seems steep to me for nonnecessities and shampoo that is free at Kroger without jumping through hoops, but those darn ECBs have to roll to make shopping there remotely worthwhile. I spent all mine just to be done . . . then I got a survey from the advisory panel. Sigh. But I did use the $5 ECBs to get Cetaphil for $1 a bar OOP, which is awesome for that soap. I’ll probably spend the $5 from that on Halloween candy . . . though Black Friday is coming, and they had some great stuff free after ECBs last year–dishwasher detergent and Carmex, which was awesome.
Luba says
Yes, last year’s CVS and Walgreen’s Black Friday deals were Amazing! 🙂
Crystal says
She shares her deals here every week so you can follow along and see how she rolls her ECBs each week (she’s been doing this since her very first shopping trip at CVS). Because she’s not counting her ECBs earned from this transaction toward this transaction’s total, it does work out to be correct that that’s all she paid out of pocket.
However, if you’re just starting from scratch, it will cost you more out of pocket the first week. My apologies for the confusion there and I hope that clears things up!
I can’t wait to see how she rolls her ECB’s next week!
Anne says
I appreciate these posts, Crystal. I calculate my transactions the same way as Gretchen does: what is the bottom line or my out-of-pocket.
It is important to note that Gretchen isn’t necessarily showing readers deals they can do, but rather how she minimizes her out-of-pocket by rolling rewards.
I personally don’t like it when people say something is free after +ups, register rewards, or extra care bucks because if I pay something out-of-pocket and lose the rewards, I am still out that money I spent (yes, this has happened to me!) 🙂
There are different ways to detail transactions, but as long as we are spending within our budgets and saving money, I hope we can all support each other rather than find fault.