FreeVS!

It all started with SoyJoy bars. I was looking for a good, healthy afternoon snack and decided to try them out. Since the closest Publix was 45 minutes away, I ran into CVS to pick up a box, and at the end of my receipt was a coupon like thing that said "$4 Extra Bucks." I was intrigued. I did some research, and I discovered that CVS was much more than a drug store that I ran into for contact solution or candy bars - it was my ticket to lots and lots of free items. Extra Bucks would soon become my best friends, and I'm about to fill you in on the secret of how CVS (or "Free"VS as some avid CVS fans call it!) can help you to start couponing and stockpiling necessities.

First things first - what is an Extra Buck? Here's a picture:

Extra Bucks (ECBs) are basically coupons that can be spent more or less like a gift card on anything in the store except prescriptions, alcohol, tobacco and a few other things. This means it's basically free money because once you earn it you can go in and spend it on things you would normally buy anyway like milk, toothpaste, etc. However, you can also roll Extra Bucks from week to week, which is how you can start to get things for free, or even make money on them.

All you need to start earning Extra Bucks is an Extra Care Card, which you can pick up for free at any CVS:

There are four main ways to earn Extra Bucks. First, you earn Extra Bucks based on your spending at CVS. You earn 2% back on every purchase you make at CVS and $1 ECB for every two prescriptions you have filled there. These ECBs print quarterly at the end of your receipt. You can also earn Extra Bucks by getting a "Green Bag Tag." These cost $0.99 and you tie them onto your reusable bag. For every fourth visit that you use a reusable bag and have your tag scanned, you get $1 ECB back. Another way you can earn some ECBs is by signing up to be a CVS Advisor here. Periodically they will send out surveys you can fill out in exchange for ECBs. The way that you will likely earn most of your ECBs, though, is on weekly and monthly ECB deals.

Each week, CVS has a variety of deals where you earn a certain amount of ECBs back on various items throughout the store. These can range from $1 ECB back all the way up to earning the full cost of the item back in ECBs. In addition to getting Extra Bucks back, you can use coupons on these items as well to make it an even sweeter deal. Websites like AFullCup and I Heart CVS post weekly and monthly deals as well as coupon match ups. You have a full month to spend your ECBs after they're issued, which gives you lots of time to wait for a good deal. I often feel like the deals come in waves, and unfortunately the next two weeks are shaping up to be a little slow. I'm hopeful that in November I'll have some better deals to post, but I wanted to give you all a heads up so you know more about what Extra Bucks are and how you can definitely use them to your advantage! Make sure you have your Extra Care Cards ready and you join the CVS advisor panel, because I'll hopefully have some good deals to share with yall soon!