Photograph Credit: CVS

Though usually one earns ExtraBucks Rewards from purchasing items, periodically, CVS rewards customers with ExtraBucks coupons.

For a limited time, CVS will e-mail customers, who sign in or create a CVS.com account and add prescription management by April 25, 2014, a $3 ExtraBucks Rewards coupon.

The coupon should arrive in your e-mail inbox by May 7, 2014. You can then use the $3 ExtraBucks Rewards coupon on your next transaction at CVS.

Remember, you can roll these earnings. Meaning, you can take the $3 CVS gives you, and use it on a purchase where you redeem manufacturer and/or store coupons and earn more ExtraBucks Rewards.

CVS has great deals and sales to meet your family’s needs while staying within your family’s budget. I’m so thankful for the deals at CVS as it helped us financially get through the diapers years, is helping us through the school years, and will take us into our empty-nester years.

In using time wisely, taking a few minutes to create or sign in to your account and add prescription management will result in a $3 ExtraBucks Rewards coupon to help stretch your dollars. Hurry, you only have until Friday, April 25, 2014, to earn the coupon. Happy savings!

Photograph Credit: CVS

If you have been skeptical about FREE products at drugstores and if anyone can actually leave the store without paying a penny, then CVS has a skeptic-crushing deal for you.

Now, you must have a CVS Extra Care card. If you don’t have one, then just go to the register and request one when you arrive.

The cashier will have you fill out a short form (use your junk e-mail), and then give you a card.

With your card in hand, go to the coupon machine. It is usually located in the front of the store at the beginning of an aisle. If you don’t see it, then just ask. CVS cashiers are so friendly.

1. Scan your CVS Extra Care card, and wait. At least one coupon will generate. The one for $.79 off a Just the Basics single roll paper towel.

2. Locate the paper goods aisle, and pick up a single roll of Just the Basics which is on sale for $.79 this week*.

3. Go to checkout.

4. Present your CVS Extra Care card which the cashier will scan.

5. The paper towels will ring up at $.79*.

6. Give the cashier your coupon.

7. Watch the balance go to $0.

8. Walk out of CVS with your FREE paper towels.

*This deal is available through Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Dear skeptic, you can get items for FREE, and I know you can always use an extra roll of paper towels. I love to have my children handle these transactions because it requires one coupon.

They love seeing how to get items the legitimate way for FREE. It also builds their confidence in using coupons. Because coupons are great ways to stretching your dollars while using time wisely. Happy savings!

Question: Do you shop at CVS?

Ignoring most of the FREE and inexpensive deals at the drugstores for most of 2013, I was lured into CVS this week by the FREE chocolate.

Limiting my CVS trips to great sales on diapers, pull-ups, and Mountain Dew last year, I was glad to snag a freebie. You, too, can pickup FREE M&Ms through January 11, 2014, by combining a sale with a store coupon.

Miss 3 and I planned to stop by CVS on Wednesday morning, but one of our other errands took a bit longer than expected. So, we bumped that errand to Thursday morning where we stopped at a local CVS location.

Finding the Coupon Machine

With my keychain, housing my CVS loyalty card, in hand, Miss 3 went to the red coupon machine and scanned our card. She then waited beside the output slot for the coupons to emerge. After getting the coupons, she scanned the card again, but no more coupons printed.

Photograph Credit: CVS (from e-mail message)

Gathering the Product

Looking over the coupons, we received the $.75 off Mars Chocolate Singles.

Though we could have chosen a Snickers, Twix, 3 Muskateers, or Milky Way bar, Miss 3 chose her favorite plain Nim&Nims (M&Ms).

The Nim&Nims is a cute “–ism” that we enjoy and are not yet ready to correct. 😉

Using the Coupon

Teaching Miss 3 how to use her coupon, I helped her organize her items. She proceeded to checkout with the loyalty card, her coupon, and Nim&Nims. As we shop during non-peak hours, we had the place to ourselves, so we could take our time.

The cashier enjoyed her 3-year-old customer, who proudly presented the items in the correct order

1. Loyalty card
2. M&Ms (on sale for $.75)
3. Coupon (store coupon for $.75 off)

Smiling, the cashier took her items, gave her the receipt, and thanked her for shopping at CVS. As Miss 3 was admiring her package of M&Ms, I retrieved my keys before leaving CVS.

I enjoyed this shopping trip as Miss 3 is gaining confidence in using coupons. She completed the transaction without needing money while getting a reward for her efforts.

If you are new to couponing, are teaching someone how to use coupons, or just need a chocolate pick-me-up, then swing by your local CVS to see if the coupon prints for you. Our coupon had an expiration date of January 17. However, the Mars singles are on sale through Saturday, January 11, 2014 at the $.75 price which makes the item FREE.

TIP: As CVS limits the number of prints for store coupons, you may or may not get the $.75 coupon from the coupon machine. When the print limit is reached, that coupon will no longer print. I share this because sometimes the limit is reached before the sale is over.

In using time wisely, this deal may not fit into your schedule. If that is the case, then let it go. There will be other deals. Believe me, I passed on so many great deals last year, and we still saved more than we spent in 2013. I’ll be sharing those results in tomorrow’s post.

Getting back into coupons, I was glad to have a very easy transaction that resulted in Miss 3’s confidence, a few minutes of time, no out-of-pocket cost, and a reward to share. In stretching our dollars, I couldn’t pass up FREE chocolate and a teachable couponing session. Happy savings!

Question: If you went, did you get the FREE Mars Chocolate coupon?