This week at CVS

It was a good week at CVS. Not my best ever, but certainly nothing to be ashamed of. All of this cost $1.49 out of pocket. Here's how. . .

Transaction #1
Adidas deodorant 4.99
Speed stick 24/7 deodorant 3.99
South Beach Living granola bars 2.50
Coupons: $2 off $10 purchase, $1 off Adidas, $1 off Speed Stick, $2 off SBL bars
Subtotal: $12.16
Paid with $5 of Extra Care Bucks (ECB) and $0.60 out of pocket
Got $6 ECB back

Transaction #2
Opti Free Replenish Contact solution $7.99
True North Almond Clusters $3.00
Coupons: $2 off $10 purchase, $3 off Opti Free, $1 off Almonds
Subtotal: $11.64
Paid with $4 of ECB and $0.99 out of pocket

Transaction #3
Jumbo Pack Playskool diapers $10.99
South Beach Living granola bars $2.50
Coupons: $2 off $10 purchase, $2 off Playskool diapers, $2 off SBL bars
Total before coupons: $14.29
Paid with $7.49 of ECB, no cash required

I've noticed something interesting about paying with the Extra Care Bucks. I think of them as CVS cash, but they're actually a little better than that. They're rung up as coupons and reduce your pre-tax total. That in turn reduces the amount of tax you're charged. So, if the total is $2.50 and you give them a $2 ECB slip, the new total is $0.38, not $0.50 like I would have expected.

It was a good week, in that I only spent $1.59 out of pocket for $38.09 worth of merchandise (At least that's what CVS charges for it. Whether it's actually worth that much is debatable!). It wasn't as good as far as ECB's go. I used up $16.49 of those and only got $6 back. I'll have to work on replenishing my stock of these over the next few weeks.

My year-to-date CVS savings: $612.48!