Free Coupon Class:
Week 1
Welcome to week one of the Free Coupon Class at Saving Money Plan! If you stick with this Monday course for 10 weeks, I can promise you that you will be able to bring the joys of free toiletries, household goods, and non-perishable items into your house on a regular basis. Just a couple years ago I had no idea about any of this, and now I almost never pay for any toiletries or household items. And I am hardly alone. Thousands of Americans are doing this every day, and I want to teach you how. Turns out – it’s not so hard at all!
Haven’t joined the free course yet? Go here.
To start, I want to review some of the things I talked about in the Introduction last week.
Why should you do the Free Coupon Class?
Couponing is one of the best budgeting secrets out there, and the stuff you can get regularly for free or for pennies on the dollar will amaze you. The premise of a coupon is simple = a coupon lets you save a bit of money off the purchase price of an item you buy. However, many people believe you can’t really save much money with coupons. I say they are dead wrong – and that if you don’t think you can save much it’s because you aren’t using coupons effectively! This free coupon class will teach you to start reaping the rewards that thousands of Americans are enjoying – hundreds of dollars in free toiletries and household items on a regular basis.
What you need if you want to participate:
1. You need to want to do this.
To me, this is fun. It’s also one of the best kept secrets about saving tons of money every month to free up your budget. I love getting tons of toiletries, face washes, make-up, razors, toilet paper, candy, non-perishable food and regular household products free. Now that I hardly ever pay more than pennies for things at Rite Aid, CVS, or Walgreens, it’s painful to see how many thousands of dollars people waste each year by not learning a simple system. However, if this sounds boring to you – this is not the class for you!
2. You need these items:
- A box or drawer you will devote to this project
- A notebook and pen
- Sunday newspaper each week that has coupon inserts inside (there are other options, and you can do it without this – but I highly recommend this)
- Somewhere to print Printable Coupons (optional)
3. You need to commit to doing these things every week if you want to see success:
Come to www.savingmoneyplan.com at least once a week to read what your directions are for what you need to do this week to get your free items. Or, if you’re signed up for the class it will come automatically to your email address.
So, are we ready to dive in?
Week 1 Assignment:
Free or Nearly Free CVS Items
We are starting simple, of course, with the goal that after this week’s fun you’ll be so excited about all your free goodies that you’ll be looking forward to making things a bit more complicated in moving forward.
This Week’s Assignment:
If you learn nothing else from this couponing course, let it be that every single month you can pick up multiple free or very low cost items at Rite Aid and CVS and Walgreens without clipping any coupons at all. Although I am here to teach you why clipping coupons is so worth it (in later steps in the course), for now you should be amazed that weeks 1 and 2 don’t require any actual clipping!
However, just because I’m not yet asking you to start clipping coupons doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to start saving them! As of today, please start saving the Sunday papers you receive every week and put them in a box or drawer you have devoted to the project. Over time, those many coupons will prove to be a gold mine for you – and we’ll start using them next week;)
The CVS Extra Care Bucks (“ECB”) Program
The CVS system is based on the idea of the “extra care buck” or “ecb”. One ECB is worth one dollar, but ECBs are only good at CVS. So the key to CVS freebies are that you only get money back in the form of ECBs (coupons which are printed at the bottom of your receipt). If you buy something advertised as a product that will give you back ECBs those ECBs will print at the bottom of your receipt. These printed receipts are your money for you to use on the future at items at CVS. Thus, it is critical that you don’t throw out your receipts with ECBs printed on them!
If you buy something advertised as “free after ECBs”, then you will have the money in the form of an ECB coupon as soon as you leave the register. Many couponers *love* this because it means that then you can immediately use those free ECBs in a second “transaction” (purchase).
We’ll talk a bit more about that in later assignments, but here’s an example:
For instance, I walk into the store to pick up a $4.99 tube of lipstick that is advertised as “free after ECBs”. I purchase the lipstick (making sure they scan my ECB card) and immediately the $4.99 is printed out. So I can go back in the aisle, pick up some milk, come back to the cash register, and use the ECB coupons I received in the last transaction to pay, instead of paying with cash.
(Had I bought the milk and the lipstick all at one time, I would have paid out money for both, and had more ECB coupons to spend next time I come to CVS.) However, if you have an ECB for $4.99 and you only purchase $4 of stuff with it – you WON’T get a refund! So you want to always buy something worth a little more than the value of the ECBs you have.
Every month, a number of items at CVS are completely free after ECBs. The key to getting your feet wet in the ECB system is to pick up these items first. They are easy as pie and no coupons needed.
First, you need to know how to hear about the CVS deals for the month and the week. You can sign up to get your CVS weekly store circular delivered to your email here. They also come in your Sunday newspaper, and you can also find the circular at the front of the store. Finally, many couponers these days don’t even both to look at the circulars and simply make sure to log into a blog like this one to see the list of deals for that week. Then you can print that blog post and just take it with you to CVS.
Simple!
This week, the first thing you will need to do is sign up for the CVS Extra Care Buck program. Although you can do this online, I recommend going into your store to do so, because you will get your card immediately, and won’t have to wait a few weeks for it to get sent to you. Ask for an application at the register if you don’t see one out.
Make sure your card is registered with your email address. You can do this on the original form, at CVS.com, or call 1-800-SHOP CVS. Eventually they will send you a $4/20 purchase coupon.
Now that you have your ECB card, you can start making your purchases. This week, I want you to go into your store and buy the following three items.
Complete Multi-Purpose Contact Solution, $8.99
Get $8.99 ECBs (Limit 1)
= FREE
Stride Shift 14 ct. $.99
Get $.99 extra care bucks
=FREE
Skintimate Shave Cream, $3.99
Get $3 ECBs
= $.99
Colgate Total Advanced or Enamel Toothpaste, $2.99
Get $2 ECBs (Limit 1)
= $.99
Schick Hydro 3 or 5 blade razor system with hydrating gel reservoir $8.97
Get $6 extra care bucks
= $2.97
Renpure Organics and Organix Shampoos and Conditioners, $4.99
Rebate tags are found on the bottles – if you buy one, you just send in the rebate to get the cost of your bottle back!
So let’s review the steps this week:
- Go to your local CVS to sign up for your ECB card.
- Pick up the deals above.
- Make sure the cashier scans your ECB card before ringing you up.
- Your total will be $31.94 + tax Out Of Pocket (“OOP”) if you buy all the products. In return, you will get $21 in Extra Care Bucks printed and a $5 rebate that you have to mail in. So you will have spent $1.98 – or $4.97 if you buy the Schick Hydro Blade System
So – that was week 1;) I hope you had fun testing a very easy example of how the coupon game can work at drugstores. If you have any questions at all about anything, make sure to email me at savingmoneyplan (at) gmail (dot) com or leave a comment on the blog and I’ll be sure to get back to you. I’m so looking forward to hearing your stories – the good stuff and the challenges – about how this worked for you this week!
Tell Everyone About Your Experiences Couponing
If you did your couponing this week, tell us about it in the comments section so that others can read about your experiences learning and mastering the art of couponing!
Don’t have a CVS in my area…I do have a Walgreens and Rite-Aid!! I look forward to the next assignement
Great Amy!
While I don’t shop at CVS (since I work for Walgreens), I won’t be using these deals, but still can’t wait for next week!!
Thanks Erin!
I will do this assignment as long as I have the out of pocket money to start with, on a strick budget this week! Maybe I can buy items I need anyhow with the ECB’s. I hope to do this this week!
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Favorite Silly Facebook Applications =-.
I am looking forward to learning all I can. Thank you so much for the chance to learn more.
Thanks for this course! I’ve been trying to figure out couponing for some weeks now, and have felt that I needed someone to take me by the hand and lead me through it step by step. I’m so excited because your instructions are just what I have been hoping to find. I already have a question about this week’s assignment: am I supposed to purchase all those items one at a time and use the ECB from each transaction toward the next; or, do I purchase all the items all at once in one transaction? TIA!
Hi Jonna – You can do it either way. SO it may be easier as a first timer to purchase all at once and get a bunch of ECBs – but if you want to keep the out of pocket expenses low, you could split it in multiple transactions. Does that make sense?
I am like Jonna…I felt that I needed someone to take me by the hand and walk me through step by step, so I’m so greatful that someone is willing to take the time to help us make the most of our small budgets. As I’m on a strict budget (my husband goes to school full time (completely out of pocket) and we still have lots of bills to pay), I won’t be able to do this week’s assignment without justifying it to my husband.
I do however have a question…I have a CVS card, but I’m not sure that it’s an actual ECB card…is there a difference…do they have different cards that they offer? Thanks for the help
You’re CVS Card should say “Extra Care” on it big red letters. Does it?
I am in a small rural town. We don’t have a CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid. I already clip coupons and check different websites for free stuff. What more can I do?
Hey Debra – There are a bunch of great free items at Rite Aid this week even for people who don’t live near a rite aid – so do those!
Last summer I got almost free diapers at eithr CVS or Rite Aid (can’t remember which one) and I have wanted to figure out how to use this better on a more regular basis so I’m really excited about this step-by-step. Are we suppose to be saving the ECBs for week two instead of using them this week on other things we need to by?
Stephanie – You can do either thing you want here. Save OR use;)
Well, my foray into CVS was a bust! couldn’t find the contact solution or Renpure hair care. bought the Stride, Skintamate shave cream and Colgate Total. they didn’t have the Schick Hydros at all. but the only thing i got EBR for was the Colgate. don’t know why the Stride gum didn’t get done as it WAs the right one. as was the Irish spring 8 pk soap. i think they Skintamate they had was a ploy as it WASNT the right one. but either way i should have received $2 for the irish spring and $1 for the gum.
okok i know $3. but hey i really TRIED!
my son wanted the bogo Speed stick deodorant instead.
i used coupons also. was that wrong?
FYI – I’m a CVS employee.
If the extra bucks don’t print out, point it out to the cashier. There is a way for them to ‘force’ extra bucks to print. If by mistake you got the wrong product you can go ahead and return it right away and buy the correct one. I know people got confused at which Stride gum was on sale, or someone signed a flavor incorrectly. If something is signed incorrectly we are to give you the price indicated on the sign. (Keep in mind sometimes products get shifted around during the day.)
If a CVS is out of a product you can always ask for a rain check. The rain check will include the extra bucks. If you use a rain check with extra bucks be sure to point it out to the cashier when you hand it back. Rain checks are good at any CVS and never expire. I have been handed rain checks 3 or 4 years old.
Thank you SO much!
I GOT EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE SCHICK HYDRO. I GUESS THEY WERE OUT. I ALSO HAD A $.75 COUPON FOR THE TOOTHPASTE. I SPENT $23 OOP & I GOT $15 ECB’S BACK! WOO HOO! THIS IS FUN! WILL THERE BE AN ASSIGNMENT FOR THE ECB’S THAT WE GOT BACK? SINCE I DON’T USE CONTACT SOLUTION, I’LL BE SAVING IT FOR A GIFT.
THANX CLAIRE!