Disclosure: This post is brought to you by CVS. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.

For some reason, we never shopped at the drugstore when I was a child.  That was partly because we were pretty healthy; I didn’t have my first antibiotic until I was 20 years old.  The only drugstore I remember from my childhood was a very small independently-owned shop that sold candy and other limited items.   Over-the-counter medication was quite expensive there so if we did need cough syrup or pain medication we generally bought it at the department store.  Things have changed since those days.  Now, I primarily shop for our household basics at CVS.  When I am intentional about my purchases and use the coupons that apply to specific products, I can often come away with owing only a handful of change.  It’s amazing that the savings are so great!   We rarely buy our toiletries or cleaning products at the department store anymore because it’s just so much less expensive at CVS.  Let me explain how we do it.

The first thing I do when I walk into the CVS store is visit the Magic Coupon Machine.  It’s one of my favorite things to do because it always offers substantial savings in store!! It even makes a cute little medley while it’s printing the coupons.  Usually my daughter scans my card for me because she somehow gets it to print off six at a time.  Here’s a tip — always scan your card more than once!!   When it runs out of coupons for you, it will tell you.  Usually I can get three strips of coupons on one visit.  I compare those coupons to the ones I bring to the store.  You can use two coupons per item — a store coupon and a manufacturer’s coupon.   If you can pair these coupons with a sale, you’re totally rocking the savings!!!   I was able to do this with the Right Guard I purchased (see picture below), plus I found some that had a bonus amount.  Double score!   If you don’t have a big stash of coupons at home, it’s really easy to print the ones you need.  I get my printable coupons from MyPoints or similar sites.  Remember that I’m not an extreme couponer by any means.  We don’t have the time, patience, or storage space to stockpile a year’s worth of toilet paper.  We buy what we’ll use in a reasonable amount of time, trying to take advantage of the sales and coupon availability.

For example, toothpaste is something everyone needs.  There’s probably a way that I could make it myself but let’s face it, I’m never going to do that.  The closest I can get to saving money on toothpaste is buying it on sale.  As you can see, I purchased two tubes of toothpaste on this trip.  I had one manufacturer’s coupon for each tube.  This brand was on sale, plus rewarding me for my purchase by giving me ExtraCare Bucks.   Additionally, the Magic Coupon Machine printed a coupon for milk.  CVS already has low prices on milk in my area, so this was a huge savings.  It ended up being at least $2 less than I would pay at the grocery store.  Since it was an item that was already on my list, that was even better!  My total purchase was around $18 after coupons and tax.  I also ended up with $8 in ExtraCare Bucks.

Some people make multiple transactions to “roll” their ExtraCare Bucks.  That means they receive ExtraCare Bucks that print on transaction #1 and use those to purchase transaction #2, and so on.  The savvy shoppers might conduct as many as four transactions in a visit.  I used to do that a long time ago, but I just don’t have time anymore. However, if I don’t use the ExtraCare Bucks right away I tend to let them expire since I don’t go every week.   Now what I do is make my purchase, then use the ExtraCare Bucks to pay for items that don’t earn any rewards.  In this trip, I ended up with $8 in ExtraCare Bucks.  My daughter loves to take beef jerky to school for lunch, so I bought 2 packs that were on sale for $4 each.   I ended up paying tax only for those.

Be sure that you sign up for email promotions with CVS, too.  You’ll also want to follow their Facebook page.  They send me coupons and ExtraCare Bucks on a regular basis.  Often those coupons provide a flat discount on a minimum purchase ($5 off $15 purchase, for example).  If you aren’t sure how to hit that minimum purchase amount, consider grabbing one of the items that never seem to go on sale.  My kids request toys like Pillow Pets for Christmas; using one of the dollars-off coupons makes those prices more reasonable.  I also check out the clearance items to help me get to that minimum amount.  This week they had a great discount on summer clearance items.  Some of the flip-flops were around 75-cents per pair.   By saving on the basics for my household, we’re able to stay within a budget while getting the products we need.

These are just some of the ways that I shop at CVS.  Once you find your own shopping style, you’ll be amazed with the amount of money you can save!