Hello readers! Mendy asked me to do a guest post on my two specialties- Target and CVS. I have always loved Target and shopped at Target and spent waaaay too much money at Target. It wasn't until I started couponing about a year ago that I realized Target can be a gold mine of great deals. As for CVS, I don't think I had ever set foot in that store until I started couponing. It is way overpriced if you go in there and pay full price for things. But don't be intimidated, because it is also a gold mine of great deals once you get the hang of it.
Let's start with CVS because it's more complicated and then I'll finish with my simple and lovely Target.
The first thing you want to do at CVS is go to the front register and ask the cashier for an ExtraCare card. This is your ticket to the good prices, and also the ExtraCare bucks... which is how you will get the good deals. (Don't forget to register your ExtraCare card online when you get home. Just go to CVS.com). Each time you go into CVS you want to scan your card at the big, red Coupon Center. This is usually located near the front door. The machine will print out CVS coupons and any ExtraCare bucks that you have earned.
CVS deals have two categories- ECB (ExtraCare bucks) deals and non-ECB deals. I usually only buy deals that have an ECB attached. What this means is that you will buy a certain product and on your receipt an ECB will print. This is CVS money that can be used toward anything in the store. When you pair ECB's with coupons, you can get items for very cheap or free. Here's an example from this coming week, July 3-9.
-Buy one Oral-B Advantage or Cross Action Toothbrush at $3, get a $1 ECB
Buy 2 Sunday papers (7/3) and find the P&G insert. There will be a $2 off coupon for this toothbrush. So here's your scenario. This deal has a limit of two, so you will do two separate transactions in order to make the most of your money.
Transaction #1
Buy 1 toothbrush @ $3
-Use $2 off coupon
Pay $1 out of pocket and get a $1 ECB, so it's basically free!
Transaction #2
Buy 1 toothbrush @ $3
-Use $2 off coupon
-Use $1 ECB
Pay NOTHING out of pocket and get a $1 ECB, so you are making money!
The more familiar you become with CVS, the more items you can add per transaction and the more ECB's you will make. To find out what deals CVS has each week and to get some ideas for transactions, check out SouthernSavers.com. I know this may seem overwhelming, but if you start out simple and give yourself time to learn, you will find that you will have end up with a mini drugstore in your home with very little money spent on it!
Now to talk about Target, which is much more straight forward. The biggest thing to know about Target is that they will accept one Target coupon and one manufacturer's coupon per item. This is how you will get the best deals. There is currently a great deal on Sally Hansen nail polish... you can get is for just $.04! Here's how-
Buy 1 Sally Hansen nail polish at $2.04
(there will be multiple kinds at multiple prices,
so try to search until you find the cheapest one)
-Use $1 off Target coupon (under beauty)
-Use $1 0ff Manufacturer's coupon (under personal care)
Pay just $.04 out of pocket!
To find Target deals I use SouthernSavers.com, and MyFrugalAdventures.com. I tend to go to Target at least once a week to grab the new deals that have come out over the previous week... and I might also grab extra stuff I wasn't planning on buying because hey, I just love that store!
I hope this post has help shed some light on these two stores. If you have any questions, come visit me at my blog! Happy couponing!!!
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