so i went to cvs and bought a bunch of stuff...17 dollars worth of stuff i wouldnt normally spend full price on.

what i dont get is this exta bucks thing. i tried to ask the lady but there were people in back of me...she told me it all depends on how much i spend.


so, you earn the extra bucks when you spend $$..that i get. but how much? when do you get the extra bucks?

im intrigued by gals getting free stuff and i think im just confusing myself..help!

You get your extra care bucks 2 days later in a form of a coupon on the bottom of a receipt. You can go in and have them scan your card and the coupon will print out or it will print out the next time you shop there. So if you just bought a bunch of the freebies- you can go in 2 days later and they will print you out a coupon for the freebie amounts- it is good for a few weeks- but they do expire. You also earn 2% on all purchases back- but this is paid quarterly- so I am guessing another coupon would print out when you get these. You can also track your account online- just enter your card #, zip code and last name- it takes a day to get info online if you just signed up though. I bought some freebies on Monday- then last night went back in for a few other things and when I checked out- the cashier gave me my coupon for my extra care bucks- so I have those to use the next time I shop. I might go back and get some more of the 2 for 1 Arm and Hammer laundry detergent. Hope this helps!

Thanks for clearing this up for me. I understood about the 2% of purchases but I wasn't sure how the free products worked. I saw they have tampons that are free this week and I also have a coupon. So it will actually get paid to buy them. I will have to go see if they have any left.

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DS - 7
DD - 4

I'm with crazykelly. I've been hearing everyone rave about the CVS things but I'm having trouble figuring it out. Our sale flyers don't advertise ANY extra bucks, so the only way I can find out what the freebie items are is by looking online. So I did go in yesterday and buy the things the people here (and on another freebie site) say are free. So I'm gonna go in tomorrow and see if it worked. If not, I'm gonna be cranky. If it worked then I'll be doing the happy dance.

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Way too complicated for me. I have never liked their system- they really have you hooked into having to come back and spend more. Unless you are a regular CVS shopper, it seems like you would wind up spending more than you normally would.

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

ok im gonna post one more time so no one throw anything at me!


OK! here is my basic prob that i keep getting confused with.

do i walk into cvs and buy *anything*, with like coupons and stuff and still receive or accumulate those extra bucks

OR

do i have to buy those certain items that they have advertised on the extra bucks page to qualify for the extra bucks?

i mean, i can certainly go in there and work it well with my coupons that i have...but they are items that are not the "extra care bucks stuff"

this is where i think im getting confused.

You do earn extra care bucks on every purchase- just more with the ones that they advertise as being "free". From my understanding they track your total purchases per quarter and you would get 2% back in the form of their store coupons. I just had one open near me- so the ads I have been getting in my Sunday paper have an entire page with freebies on it. It is defenitely a system that has you coming back. I bought a few of the freebies this week and now am saving my extra care bucks to use on the freebies for next week and I will just keep rolling my extra care buck coupons like that. Does that make sense?

My understanding is like mnmomma's. 2% of ALL purchases go on your extra bucks, but there are certain items that are basically free...i.e. they cost 3.99, but you get 3.99 back in extra care bucks. So most people who are into this stockpiling thing only buy the ones that are basically free, then you just keep going back and using those free extra care bucks to buy more. I think I understand the CONCEPT of how to do it, but the problem is that MY CVS doesn't advertise what you get the extra care bucks for. So I went & bought what OTHER people said their cvs's had....not sure if that's gonna work. Find out later today.

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Yeah this confuses me too. Seems like all the ECB I get are $ off when you buy $ worth of CVS brand items, not $ off anything. I am misunderstanding what that means 'cuz I have one right now for $3 off (I think) when you buy $15 worth of CVS brand. Well what if what I want to buy is not CVS brand? Seems complicated to me and I have never seen the 2% back I don't think.

The 2% only comes up 4 times a year, so you wont see those again until Jan. Right now they have pantene icy shine, playtex sport, kotex ultra compact, colegate max fresh, samy haircare, vo5 red, act restorive mouthwash and reach cross action power toothbrushes all on ECB for the whole month of October. I went in last week and bought a few of these and used manuf coupons, then two days later my ECBs for those printed. I spent $8.xx on my first trip and ended up getting $16.xx back in ECBs since I used coupons too. I bought more ECB stuff with the ones that printed. Right now I still have one for $11.97 and will have around $28.xx more printing on my next trip. The way I do mine is my buying mostly ECB items and a few other items, that way I have ECBs print up every time I shop. This month the bottom of my receipt has my 4th quarter spending at $120.xx and I've only really spent about $10 out of pocket.