CVS Shop from Monday

 I had $22.50 in ECBs(none of which was expiring until 9/8 but I had CRTs and Qs expiring and I wanted to get out of the house)so Hubs and I took a short ride across the river to CVS on Monday.

First off I bought this........

1 x Physician's Formula lip stick=$9.99

2 x Halloween themed Hallmark Cards at .99¢ ea.=$1.98

SubTotal.....$11.97

I used these coupons......

1 x $4/1 Physician's formula item CVS CRT Q=$4.00(gotten 2 weeks ago?)

1 x $3/2 Hallmark Cards CVS Q=$3.00

Coupon Total=$7.00

Except the cashier modified the Hallmark Q down to $1.98, the total for the 2 cards.  All the Youtube CVS gurus said they got $1.02 in overage since their cashiers didn't modify the Q.  Bummer for me, right?

So my coupons came out to $5.98.  $1197-$5.98=$5.99

I paid with a $5 ECB I had so my total OOP was .99¢+.06¢ sales tax so $1.05.

I earned back a $7 ECB for buying the Physcian's Formula. rah.

Then I wanted to do the Spend $40/Get $10 ECB offer so I bought this.........

The Elvive hair products, the Old Spice body wash, the Bic pens, the Crest toothpaste and the Nature Valley bars were all part of that deal.  the Cheerios weren't nor was the Colgate.

BUT...I had a Spend $18/Get $3 off Oral Care CRT and a Spend $12/Get $3 food CRT so I had to add those products to the transaction to get(along with Qs for them)to hit the spending amounts and get the additional $$s off(because it was a better deal overall).

This is one of the things that skeeves me out about CVS....having to do a massive transaction and a lot of advance planning.  Plus sometimes you can't advance plan because if the red box gives you a  good/great deal then you have to partially redo your planned deal.

Another thing that gives me the heebies jeebies is the way they ring up stuff and trying to follow what is coming off in terms of Q/CRTs/ECBs/etc.

So anyway the transaction was this.......

2 x Elvive items on sale=$8.00

2 x OS body wash BOGO50%=$10.48

2 x Bic pens BOGO50%=$4.03

3 x Crest toothpaste B2G1Free=$9..98

4 x Nature Valley bars on sale$1.99=$7.96

My Spend $40/Get $10 ECB total was $40.45

Also bought-

2 x Cheerios=$5.00

2 x Colgate($3.69/$4.59)=$8.28

SubTotal....$53.73

*I was going to add more .99¢ Hallmark cards as I had 2 more $3/2 CVS Qs for those which would give me $2.04 overage in a perfect world like on Youtube but I knew the cashier here would modify those Qs down so I skipped that.

Coupons Used........

1 x $2/1 Elvive CVS digital Q=$2.00

1 x $2/1 Elvive IPA=$2.00

1 x $5.49 BOGOFree Old Spice CVS digital Q=$5.49

1 x $1.50/2 Bic writing items CVS digital Q=$1.50

1 x $5/2 or was it 3? Crest items CVS digital Q=$5.00

1 x $1/2 Nature Valley CVS digital Q=$1.00

1 x $1/2 Nature Valley Peelie Q=$1.00

1 x $1/2  Big G Cereals CVS digital Q=$1.00

1 x $3/2 Colgate CVS digital Q=$3.00

1 x $3/$18 Oral Care CVS CRT=$3.00

1 x $3/$12 Food CVS CRT=$3.00

Coupon Total.......$27.99

$53.73-$27.99=$25.74

I used all $24.50 in ECBs I had(including the just earned $7 for PF)and was left with paying $1.24+.03¢ sales tax=$1.27 OOP.

I earned back $14 in new ECBs($10 spend $40/Get $10, $4 Spend $8 on Colgate).  And I also earned a $3 Beauty Buck the next day because between the shampoo I bought and the lipstick it pushed me over the $30 threshold so I have $17 in ECB.

But I spent $24.50 in ECBs so this all cost me $9.82 in cash OOP and ECBs. ($7.82 if I can get the SavingStar rebates worked out.)  I don't consider this a great trip.

I was also counting on $2 plus credit toward a $5 rebate on GM cereals there on SavingStar but the CVS card on file is wrong and that site won't let me link my active card. I get a message saying "linking loyalty cards is unavailable" so I emailed support but I can't get a reply. Ugh.  Is anyone having a problem linking loyalty cards on Saving Star too?

So I don't have to go back there until mid September(when the ECBs start expiring again).  Eventually I'll say "screw it" and not buy anything that gives back ECBs and be done with CVS again. ;-)  I'll stick to Rite-Aid as long as they hang in there.

Did anyone get a great deal at CVS this week?  Tell us all about it.

Sluggy