CVs Deals for Dec 6--12

Just found out that my mom has been visiting my blog. Hey Mom! Thanks for showing me coupons when I was a teen. It's sure is different from how we shopped back in PI!

Go to MSM for more deals and scenarios!

Here are the best deals I see this week:
Merry Brite Santa Hats $3.99 each
Get $3.99 ECB back, limit 2

Merry Brite Mini Ornaments, $1.99 each
Get $1.99 ECB back, limit 2

Emergenc Immune Booster, $3.99 each
Get $3.99 ECB back, limit 1

Zantac 150 (24ct) or Zantac 75 (30 ct)
Get $8.99 ECB back, limit 1

Complete Multi-Purpose Solution, $9.99
Get $9.99 ECB back, limit 1 (December deal-not just this week)

Zantac & Complete have $1 Qs but our region did not get them.


On to the CVS $5 Challenge. See other ways to stretch your $5 here.

A couple of years ago, before using internet coupons and reading other blogs, I used to figure out my deal scenarios using very little cash. Since then, I've saved up enough so that I can get more and build up my ECBs. But sometimes I do think back on those simpler times when I only got what we needed and didn't have to worry about hunting down coupons or figuring out storage for the stockpile.

While talking to my mom this week, she told me that she's been trying to figure out CVS. Looking at the deals, she would ask herself "Do I need this?" I need to ask myself that too! I often get carried away with getting stuff for free, I don't even think about what to do with all the free stuff.

Now that I've got that off my chest, back in olden days when I had only about $5 to spend at CVS, I would keep rolling the ECBs by doing a few transactions. Since I shopped Sunday mornings or on weeknights when the store is slow, the cashier had no problem helping me. I paid for the first transaction then use the ECBs that would print from the receipts to pay for the other transactions.
Here is how I would do it using this week's deals:

Frist Transaction:
Merry Brite Hat, $3.99
Pay $3.99 out-of-pocket
Get $3.99 ECBs back

Second Transaction:
EmergenC Immune Booster, $3.99
Pay with $3.99 ECB from above
Get $3.99 ECBs back

Third Transaction:
2 Merry Brite Mini Ornaments, $3.98
Pay with $3.99 ECB from above
Get $3.98 ECBs back

Total out-of-pocket cost: $3.99
Total ECBs left for next weeek: $3.98
Total if you didn't rollover ECBs in 3 transactions: $11.96

Here are a few things that helped me get started:
1. Finding the store that I like and likes to work with me
2. Doing small transactions so it's easy to keep it straight
3. Calling the store to see if there are any sale items left if I can't shop until after Tuesday. The free one after ECBs go within a day or 2.

I remember being frustrated many times finding the shelves empty and vowing never to shop at CVS ever again. But really, I just needed to have a different shopping strategy and get a raincheck!