CVS
CVS is one of the very best stores to coupon at, whether you’re a beginner, or lifelong couponer, cvs is the place to be! Here is the CVS coupon policy you should become familiar with:
Why is this?
Because at CVS we can pair our manufacturer coupons with our CVS coupons otherwise known as CRT’s (cash register tape). This helps us to maximize our savings week after week! To get started couponing at CVS be sure to download their FREE app and set up an Extra Care Account, that will be linked to your phone number, and used everytime you checkout at CVS. On your CVS app you will find digital manufacturer coupons AND CRT’s as well as other helpful information.
ECB = Extra Care Bucks. We get these for various deals after completing them. These deals are in the weekly CVS ad. They work like cash at CVS to pay for items, so think of your ECB’s as actual money, but money that does expire. ECB’s do have an expiration date, and must be used prior to this date passing. Make sure not to use ecb’s that are higher than your total. Example: Your total is $18. If you use (2) $10 ecb’s totaling $20, you will NOT get the extra $2 back so you’ll lose that $2. Try to use ecb’s that get you as close as possible to your total without going over.
CRT = cash register tape These are extra savings we get each week for our deals. CRT’s are able to be used WITH our regular manufacturer coupons on the same items! Some are the same given to all card holders and some are individual and based on our spending habits. We get new ones beginning each Sunday that can be printed out of the red box in-store. For the individual ones, you can print them at the red box, add them to your card online on the cvs app or cvs.com. Note that crt’s that are given to every card holder can ONLY be printed in-store at the redbox machine.
* = Item counts towards beauty For every $30 spent on beauty items you get $3 beauty bucks that work just like regular ecb’s for deals. Beauty bucks are added (usually) 2 days after your deal was completed. Beauty items include: makeup, fragrance, facial products (but not shave), haircare, and lotions. Body wash, deodorant and oral care is not included. Be sure to sign up for beauty club in your cvs app so your beauty bucks will start to kick in!
Other CVS things
- Percent savings come off AFTER all ecb’s, crts and coupons are applied. It is best to pay with cash not ecb’s when using % savings on your deal. For example: Save 25% on Lysol items. This 25% off your Lysol will be deducted AFTER any CRT’s, manufacturer coupons, and ECB’s are used towards your total.
- 98% rule is where some stores allow your total needed for a deal to only be 98% to meet the threshold. Example: Spend $30 get $10 ecb’s. Your total could be $29.40 and still get the $10 ecb’s. You can figure this for any deal by taking the total amount needed for a deal and x that by .98. (30 x .98 = 29.40) Not all stores go by this rule however.
- Spend threshold CRT’s cannot stack with each other. For example: You have a CRT $4/$20 purchase, and also have a CRT $2/$6 body wash. You can not use both at the same time on the same products. In order to use both in the same transaction, you must increase your out of pocket expense, before tax is applied to $26.