Getting the most out of CVS

Everyone's heard of Extreme Couponing. The show is inspiring, but have you actually tried it? After I found myself with four stacks of coupon inserts, a binder and considering spending $10 in trading card holders, I realized that grocery couponing is a really time consuming commitment. No wonder most of the women on that show are stay at home moms.

After some time and consideration, I've decided the best way to take full advantage of couponing is to pick one store, and the grocery store should be at the bottom of your list, unless you are willing and able to commit around 10 hours a week to reading store flyers and planning meals. Not to mention my boyfriend hates waiting in an aisle as I consider what coupon to use. If you are interested in grocery couponing, the Krazy Coupon Lady has really detailed instructions for coupon beginners, as well as posts specific to various grocery stores.

I've picked CVS as my couponing store, and I must admit I've become quite the expert. I've managed to get most of my cosmetics and personal products (soap, toothpaste, shampoo) at about 80% savings. I haven't paid for a razor in about two years.

Four steps to become a CVS coupon fiend:

1. Get a CVS card. This is a free membership card that you can use in CVS stores to gain points. Have the cashier swipe the card at every transaction (even prescriptions) and you get 2% back in Extrabucks (store credit) every quarter.

2. Register the CVS card online. When you register your card, you can go online to get Extrabucks savings (additional coupons), see how much your balance is, and they also email you Extrabucks every once in a while. Today they just sent me $3.00 for no reason!

3. Sign up for the free CVS Beauty Club. This club gets you additional points towards Extrabucks-- $5 for every $50 you spend on makeup, soap, hair products, etc. They also send you a 10% off coupon upon joining, and will also occasionally email you. You also get extrabucks on your birthday!

4. Sign up for the CVS Health and Pharmacy Club. Another free program! You get $5 EB for every ten prescriptions you fill, even if you have no copay!

Now, how do I get so much free stuff? Occasionally I coupon the newspapers for beauty coupons. The key is to roll your EB's so that you keep getting beauty bucks points. For example, today I checked my Beauty Club balance, and saw I needed only .16 to get my $5 EBs. I also happened to get a free $3.00 EB coupon in my email. What did I do? Wet and Wild nailpolish was $1.99 and was Buy One, Get One 50% Off. I bought two, bringing my balance to $3.00, and paid for it with the EBs, essentially getting free nailpolish. And here's the key: your beauty club points are based on the transaction before coupons. So tomorrow, I'll have a lovely email with a $5 EB coupon.

If you're willing and able, go into CVS and spend $5 or $10 only on products that offer EBs back. Keep rolling those EBs and you'll have makeup and body products galore for very little money.

Here's a picture of one of my latest, best CVS transactions:

The First Post!

Welcome to my blog! I begin my PhD on Monday, and a huge goal I have is to follow my finances quite carefully. I have been lucky enough to get a stipend, and plan to manage it carefully so that I can 1) have a tangible savings account and 2) have paid a large portion off of my student loans, which I acquired during my two MA degrees and undergrad. I will be chronicling my journey by sharing the amounts of what I have saved and what I have paid off. I plan to utilize savings accounts, CDs, and a Roth IRA.

I have always lived frugally, so this shouldn't be too much of a change for me. I have been searching, however, for some good blogs to follow that discuss how to save while in a PhD, and I have been a bit disappointed. Thus, my blog is a creation of what I cannot find on the internet, and I hope it can benefit you all!