Tip of the Day Tuesday: Check out the CVS Advisor Panel!

I haven’t posted much about CVS lately because in my opinion, there haven’t really been any good deals to post and also, I’ve been a bit bitter toward CVS because they refused to reprint the ECBs that I lost when I was mugged. I had completely forgotten about the CVS Advisor Panel until I got an e-mail from them. I qualified for a $5 ECB just for completing a survey that took me about 5-10 minutes to complete!

Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up for the CVS Advisor Panel here (you will need your CVS Extra Care card # to sign up)–CVS Advisor panel.

2. Complete the surveys that they send you in e-mail. They are usually for 5, 10, or 15 ECBs. There used to be a waiting period of a few days and then your ECBs would print on your next in store visit, but now you get a link right away to print yours. Even if you don’t qualify for the survey, they will usually give you a $2 ECB just for completing the screener!

New CVS $5/20 printable coupon! – the link is no longer working :(


UPDATE: This link is no longer working. You can still print the $5/30. Details are in this post here.

Yesterday I posted about a CVS $5/30 printable coupon. Now there is a new printable $5/20 coupon here. To access the coupon, click on the colored squares to “peel them back” and then a yellow circle will appear that says “print your coupon.”

The code is a one time use code, so if you want more, you will have to print from multiple computers. If you try to use the same code more than once, it will beep and say that it has already been used.

CVS $5/30 coupon


I saw this posted on HCW and wanted to share.

There is a new CVS printable for $5 off a $30 purchase. You get it for taking the Medicare quiz here.

Here are the answers to the questions:

1. 54%
2. 34%
3. True

You should have the option to print at the end.

The best candy deals for the week of 10/18


I have put off buying my Halloween candy this year because I keep hoping for a great deal like there has been in previous years and it just doesn’t seem to be happening this year.

Here are all of the candy coupons I am aware of:
$0.55/1 Reese’s candy from the 8-23SS
$1/1 Hershey’s Kisses from the 9-13SS
$1/3 Hershey’s Fun Size snacks from the 9-27SS
$1/2 Hershey’s Bliss bags from the 9-20SS
$1/2 Nestle Fun size bags – 10-18 RP
Hershey’s buy 3, get 1 FREE coupon from the 10-18SS
Trident Layers Gum, buy one get one free from the 10-18SS
$1/1 Nestle candy and $1/1 Wonka candy printables here (you can print 2 per account/computer)
$1/2 Mars candy – 10-11 RP

UPDATE: There is a $2/1 Wonka and $2/1 Nestle printable available on coupons.com. These are for the bigger (24 oz) bags, but you should still be able to get some good deals using these coupons!

Here are the best deals I’ve seen on candy thus far this week:

Toys ‘R Us has the best deals in my opinion – they have their Halloween candy (6.34 oz-18.7 oz) for $1.74/bag.

*Nestle/Wonka candy will be $.74/bag with the $1/1 coupon

*Buy 4 bags of Hershey’s candy, use the $1/3 coupon and the B3G1 free coupon and pay $4.22 OOP (that’s $1.05/bag)

*Buy 2 bags of Mars candy, use the $1/2 coupon and pay $2.48 OOP (that’s $1.24/bag)

Walgreens has their fun size candy 2/$4.

*Nestle/Wonka candy will be $1/bag with the $1/1 coupon

*Buy 4 bags of Hershey’s candy, use the $1/3 coupon and the B3G1 free coupon and pay $5 OOP ($1.25/bag)

You can check out the CVS deals here.

I will update with possible grocery deals after the ads come out on Wednesday.

CVS deals for the week of 10/18


My disclaimer here is that I am incredibly disappointed in CVS right now. All of my ECBs were in my purse when it was stolen last week (a total of $27). I have been “rolling” those ECBs for over 2 years now. I contacted their customer service last Monday and I was SURE that they would be willing to re-print my ECBs since they could see them in the system and they weren’t used/expired, but they refused. I thought that was pretty poor customer service.

Having said that, there are some deals that I decided to go ahead and do this week even though it’s killing me to have to spend this money up front out of pocket.

If you are new to shopping at CVS and would like some tips, check out this article here.

Here are the highlights this week:

FREEBIES:

Glade Fragrance Collection Reed Diffuser or 4-10 oz candle – $6.99, get a $6.99 ECB (limit 1 per household)
**Hopefully you printed the $3.50/1 coupon I posted recently, but if not, there was also a $3/1 coupon in the 10-4 SS insert

OTHER ECB DEALS:
*Buy Coke or Dasani 12 pk, 12 oz cans – 4/$13, get a $3 ECB (limit 1 per household)

*Buy CoverGirl Lash Blast Length – $8.99, get a $2 ECB (limit 1 per household)

*Buy 2 GM cereals (2/$5) and milk ($2.49), get a $3 ECB (limit 1 per household)
$1/2 GM cereals printable here

*Spend $20 on Halloween candy, get a $5 ECB (limit 1 per household): Hershey’s/Mars fun size 8 pks are $1, Hershey’s/Mars/Nestle fun size bags are 2/$5
$0.55/1 Reese’s candy from the 8-23SS
$1/1 Hershey’s Kisses from the 9-13SS
$1/3 Hershey’s Fun Size snacks from the 9-27SS
$1/2 Hershey’s Bliss bags from the 9-20SS
$1/2 Nestle Fun size bags – 10-18 RP
Hershey’s buy 3, get 1 FREE coupon from the 10-18SS
Trident Layers Gum, buy one get one free from the 10-18SS
$1/1 Nestle candy and $1/1 Wonka candy printables here

*Nestle Pure Life water – 24 pk, 8 oz bottles – $4.49, get a $1 ECB (limit 1 per household)

*Spend $15 on Revlon cosmetics, get a $7 ECB (limit 1 per household) (PSA $3.90)
$1/1 Revlon cosmetics – 10-11 SS insert

*Spend $20 on the following Wyeth products, get a $10 ECB (limit 1 per household): Dimetapp, Robitussin – $5.99, Advil – $4.50, Chapstick – $1.50, Centrum – $10
$2/1 Robitussin printable here
$2/1 Dimetapp printable here
$2/1 Advil PM printable here

BOGO FREE DEALS:
*Act II popcorn – use 2 coupons for more savings!
.40/1 Act II popcorn – 9-20 SS insert
*Colgate Total toothpaste or toothbrush – use 2 coupons for more savings!
$1/1 Colgate Total, Max White, Max Fresh, Sensitive, or Kids toothpaste – 10-11 SS insert
$1/1 Colgate Total Advanced printable here

*CVS Pharmacy batteries
*CVS Pharmacy Vitamins/Minerals/Herbs
*Gatorade, Sobe, or Izze
*Maxwell House
$1/2 Maxwell House printable on coupons.com
*Progresso soups

OTHER DEALS:
*Glade Sense & Spray or Plug-Ins Lasting Impressions – 2/$10
$4/1 Glade Sense & Spray printable here
$4/1 Glade Sense & Spray – 10-18 SS insert

CVS $/$ COUPONS:
There is a $5/25 printable coupon here when you take the flu quiz. If you print more than one coupon after you take the quiz, they will have the same bar codes, and you will not be able to use more than one. Even if you take the quiz again and try to print, it will have the same code. Follow the instructions here to print coupons with unique codes. The coupon is good for 2 weeks!

The following scenarios are for people who are new to shopping at CVS and have few (or no) ECBs to start with. (These are just ideas….you do not have to follow this exact order and you can skip some items if you do not want/need them):

Transaction #1:
Buy 1 Glade Fragrance Collection Reed Diffuser or Soy Candle – $6.99

Use $3/1 coupon (or $3.50/1 printable if you have it)

Spend $3.99 OOP, get a $6.99 ECB

Transaction #2:
Buy 2 GM cereals – 2/$5
Buy 1 gallon milk – $2.49
Buy 1 Hershey’s/Mars fun size 8 pk – $1

Use $1/2 GM cereals printable
Use $6.99 Glade ECB

Spend .50 OOP, earn a $3 ECB

Here are my scenarios (these are basically all items I need):

Transaction #1:
Buy Glade Fragrance Collection soy candle – $6.99
Buy 4 Nestle Fun size bags – $10
Buy 4 Hershey’s fun size bags – $10

Use 4 $1 Nestle printables
Use $1/3 Hershey’s Fun size bags coupon
Use B3G1 free Hershey’s fun size bags coupon (should take off $2.50)
Use $3.50 Glade printable coupon (no longer available)
Use $5/25 CVS printable coupon

Total before coupons = $26.99
Total after coupons = $10.99

Spend $10.99, get a $6.99 ECB (Glade) and a $5 ECB (candy)

Transaction #2:
Buy 4 12 pks Coke products – 4/$13
Buy 2 Glade Sense & Spray – $10
Buy 2 GM cereals – 2/$5

use 2 $4 Sense & Spray coupons
Use $1/2 GM cereals coupon
Use $5/25 CVS coupon
Use Glade $6.99 ECB

Total before coupons = $28
Total after coupons = $7.01, earn $3 ECB for Coke products

Transaction #3:
Buy 2 Robitussin – $5.50/each
Buy 2 Dimetapp – $5.50/each
Buy 1 milk – $2.49
Buy 1 Hershey’s fun size 8 pk – $1

Use 2 $2 Robitussin coupons
Use 2 $2 Dimetapp coupons
Use $3 Coke ECB
Use $5 candy ECB
Use $5/25 CVS coupon

Total before coupons = $25.49

Total after coupons = $4.49, earn $10 ECB (cough medicine), earn $3 ECB (milk/cereal)

Total OOP = $22.49, but I will get $5 back from the SC Johnson rebate here making it $17.49 OOP and now I have $13 in ECBs to spend.

Frequently asked questions:

Do you really do multiple transactions at your stores?

I usually have $20-30 ECB on hand, so I don’t have to break up my transactions as much as I did when I first started, but when I was getting started, I would do multiple small transactions and even now sometimes if I am doing several deals, I have to break things up. If you are doing multiple transactions, I recommend that you let the cashier know up front that is what you are planning to do. If there are several people in line, let them go in between your transactions. This gives you time to clip your ECBs and get prepared for your next transaction.

My store was out of all the freebie items first thing this morning. Can I get a raincheck?

This all depends on your store. I have contacted corporate about this before because some stores in my area give rainchecks and others won’t. According to corporate, this is up to the individual stores.

I bought the wrong item or I bought the RIGHT item and my ECB didn’t print. What can I do?

If you bought the right item, show the store clerk your ad and your receipt. They should be able to manually print your ECB at the store. If they don’t know how, you can call customer service and they can add one to your account that will print within 48 hours (you have to wait 48 hours from your purchase time to do this so they can “see” your transaction in their computer).

If you bought the wrong item and didn’t receive ECBs, you can do a return and purchase the correct item. If you paid using ECBs, they will have to give you money on a gift card.