Comments on: Step By Step CVS Money Maker – Eating Well On $1 A Day

By: jeffrey

jeffrey — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:03:45 +0000

@Monica

They cancel each other out.

By: Monica

Monica — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:33:02 +0000

Hi Jeffrey,

I can’t thank you enough for this blog. We are having a tough time right now and I feel very blessed to have learned something that not only I can save money on – but be able to give to my food bank at the same time. A quick question though….on the B1G1…….in doing the math, if CVS has a B1G1 and I have a coupon for B1G1 – shouldn’t I be getting three instead of 2? 1 that I “pay” for with my coupon – 1 free from the CVS sale. But the coupon has 1 free as well, right? Or does they just cancel it out? Good luck to you!!!

By: jeffrey

jeffrey — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:40:34 +0000

@The Heg

I learned about how the CVS cash registers work by accident. I went up one day with all my coupons assuming that I needed to hit the price after all the CVS discounts came out (like you mentioned) and had the CVS manager of the store explained to me specifically how the system works and that I didn’t need to buy so much to hit the $20 mark to trigger the coupon. She was the one that told me to always make sure the cashier doesn’t hit the total key (otherwise I would have no clue of how the system works). There is no official written policy that I have been able to find on this, but since a manager told me about it, I assume that it is okay to ask.

By: The Heg

The Heg — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:59:28 +0000

I am very surprised that your CVS allows you apply the $4 off of $20 BEFORE totalling the actual cost of your purchases. The CVSes that I shop at here in So. Cal would never agree to do this and I think CVS is right on this. If I buy four $5 items at BOGO, then I am only spending $10, it doesn’t seem right that I should be able to use a $4 off of $20 coupon under the fiction that I spent $20. In other words, I view BOGO as really being 50% off, with a minimum purchase of 2. Thoughts?

By: Mitch

Mitch — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:38:17 +0000

Heh. This isincredibly useful. Although
I don’t currently have a place to gather Sunday inserts (my area only gets P&G Inserts but I haven’t been able to get more than one a week without buying a paper) but will be heading back to college soon. Going to see if I can hit up some places around campus to see if I can take advantage of all this useful information.

I had no idea about the b1g1 but will definitely keep that in mind for the future.

By: T

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:56:21 +0000

Thanks, Jeffrey. I was curious, since I wasn’t sure if I was seeing anything about the bag tags.

By: jeffrey

jeffrey — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 04:19:48 +0000

Yes, I use reusable bags whan I shop at CVS and have a bag tag. I had a tag long before I started this challenge — great way to earn a little extra money to use on anything you want. (I don’t at Safeway for the reasons you stated)

By: T

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 03:03:55 +0000

This seems as good a place as any to ask about CVS “bag tags”. I recall you mentioning that you don’t use reusable bags because 1) no one gives you a discount for using them and 2) the food pantries need the plastic.

Given your challenge, though, it seems every cent matters. CVS sells these $1.00 bag tags that give you $1.00 back for every fourth visit with a reusable bag (so, effectively, $0.25 back per visit). I would think buying a $1.00 tag and reusing a bag for all these CVS trips you make would be totally up your alley for this last month. Of course, your sister would argue that the original dollar to buy the bag tag comes out of your eating budget – and I’d agree. Mostly because the subsequent money back (more than $1, surely, since you shop there with fair regularity) would be added to your grocery budget.

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:39:33 +0000

Thank you so much for this post. It’s great to see this all spelled out. I feel like there are little things, like the cashier not pressing Total, that still get me. This kind of info will help me feel more confident to coupon courageously in the future.

By: A

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:09:45 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe your store allows a negative subtotal. Stores in my area won’t allow that. If a coupon brings the subtotal below zero the register beeps and it won’t put it through.