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Last week proved to be a very fruitful week for CVS shopping! By buying OTC medicine using our Flexible Spending Account, we were able to bank some Extra Care Bucks to use for this week (and future trips)! We also purchased candy, cereal, nuts and Sobe in order to take advantage of various deals.
Here is a list of what we purchased – all shown in the picture above (except for the Pop Rocks, which my wife devoured ate during the 30 second ride home 
):
16 bottles of Sobe
5 boxes of Raisin Bran
1 box of Frosted Flakes
2 Cans of Emerald Peanuts
2 Bags of Emerald Walnuts
1 Bottle of Dawn Hand Renewal Dish Detergent
2 Sticks of Right Guard Deoderant
1 Schick Hydro 5 Razor
1 Bag of Skittles
1 Bag of Starburst
2 Reese XL Bars
1 Mr Goodbar (large)
2 Boxes of Zegerid OTC
2 Boxes of Blink Tears
2 Bottles of Dulcolax Balance
2 Boxes of Tylenol Precise Heat Wraps
1 Bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide
1 Pack of Pop Rocks
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I am glad to say that we had a coupon for every item on this list, except for the candy (which was on sale). Actually, we try very hard to only purchase items that are on sale AND for which we have coupons! That is why using the Coupon Database is so important!
Here are the totals of how much we paid, saved, coupons used and tax paid 
:
Total Value – $182.51
Savings from weekly deals – $46.55
Manufacturer & CVS coupons – $45.99
Extra Care Bucks Spent – $32.99
Flexible Spending Account – $54.91
Total Savings – $180.44 (99%)
Subtotal – $(0.51)
Tax – $2.58
Total Paid – $2.07
Yes, you read that correctly, we purchased $182.51 worth of items and only paid $2.07. Actually, they owed us $0.51 before tax!
We also earned $66.96 in ECBs, meaning that CVS paid us $64.89 to empty their shelves!!!
Have you made any great savings recently? Be sure to share them below.
Do you have any questions on how to get paid to shop?
© 2010, Khaleef Crumbley. All rights reserved.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow- thanks for the info! I always feel like I spend too much of my money at CVS, but with this, I will definitely start saving.
Deb
We felt the same way until we discovered these little tricks to shopping at CVS!
Thanks for the comment!
Uh, ok.
Me thinks you have too much time on your hands.
You “saved” $180 on … a few boxes of Raisan Bran and Dulcolax.
This is not thrift, it is folly. Manipulating CVS’ coupon system proves… what?
Thanks for the comment!
I was just as skeptical when I first read about someone eating for $1/day (my motivation for learning how to shop like this). However, I assure you that these numbers are accurate. Actually, if you check out my earlier CVS posts, I used to include the receipts as well. Here are two of them:
http://knsfinancial.com/cvs-paid-us-to-shop/
http://knsfinancial.com/how-we-saved-over-125-in-20-minutes-at-cvs/
The point is not just to have a limited amount of supplies (Raisin Bran and Dulcolax as you stated), but to spend next to nothing on household items and certain groceries, so that on your trips to the supermarket you can just focus on food.
One of the biggest contributors to a large grocery budget is buying these non-food items at the grocery store (where they are much more expensive). So, by paying a few dollars for glade, medical supplies, cereal, body wash, shampoo, candy, beverages, batteries, ice cream, razors, etc., and then applying the same methods to grocery stores, you can dramatically reduce your budget.
The amount that I list under “savings” represents the difference between what I paid in cash (actually, my debit card), and what the items would cost if they were not on sale and I had no coupons, ECBs, or an FSA.
Very, very impressive; this would be impossible here in the UK
Thanks Laura!
What is different about shopping in the UK? Are you not able to use that many coupons, or are stores less liberal with their deals?
Wow, that’s impressive! Great work! This rivals some of the best savings efforts I have seen in quite a while. I get happy when I get something I need for 50% off. But this is off the charts.
Thanks Squirrelers!
I just hope I can keep it up and expand this to more than just CVS. We actually saved a little over 40% at ShopRite recently as well.
That is quite impressive. I actually have about $10 in cvs bucks that I need to use by 8/30. This post reminded me about it…thanks, I would hate to forget about it.
Thanks, Kristia! I recently let a $5/$25 coupon expire…almost brought me to tears!
Wow! I’m jealous! You put me to shame!
Did you see the news bit on the lady who was so good at clipping coupons and buying things when they were on sale that when she bought something worth $250, her total bill came out to $2???
Amazing!
Thanks for the comment, Young and Thrifty!
$250?!? No, I didn’t hear about that one. I can imagine that, especially if you are able to take advantage of every coupon on the sale items.
I love shopping at CVS, as I think they have by far the best deals. Plus, even if your ECBs expire, they will still accept them. (If it isn’t really, really expired.)
Your savings make mine look like small potatoes. I haven’t needed much at CVS lately, but when I shop their, I always save WAY more than I spend!
Thanks for the comment!
I didn’t know that about the expired ECBs! My savings vary based on the weekly deals and ECBs offered. I hope we can expand this to Walgreens and Target soon.
Wow, that’s very, very nice! Go shopping and come away with the store owing you money… too funny!
Yeah, I get excited when that happens! This order was great for us because we got a bunch of cereal.
Thanks for stopping by!
Wow! That’s impressive. I’ve been applauding my husband for using coupons for items on sale, but your purchase takes the cake. I’ll have to check out your coupon database for further details.
Thanks Little House! I just wish I knew about this sooner! The coupon database is great because it means that we don’t have to worry about cutting and organizing coupons. We just do a search on sale items and print or cut the corresponding coupons right before our trip.
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