973beachbum
Senior Associate
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Joined: Dec 17, 2010 16:12:13 GMT -5
Posts: 10,501 
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Post by 973beachbum on Jul 31, 2012 14:00:24 GMT -5
Constanz, thank you for explaining! Dancinmama: Thank you for the warm welcome. I have actually been reading for a LONG time but have been lazy to start thinking I needed to have bunch of coupons piled up. But I just jumped in with CVS and I have been doing really great compared to before. It has only been about 3 weeks and have gotten a lot of very good/almost free/free deals. But I am slowing down to make sure I reduce my OOP even more. I am mostly interested in personal care/household stuff/baby stuff, not really interested in candy/food/etc... I have a question regarding the beauty club. I have bought probably close to $100 worth of stuff before i realized I needed to sign up separately for it. I asked at CVS if they could credit me if i showed my receipts and she said she didn't have that option but she gave me a $5 EB. Now at the bottom of my receipt it says "sign up limit reached" I am guessing referring to the 10% off you get when you sign up but it does not show me my year-to-date spending towards beauty club and neither does the online account. How can I find out my balance? Busymom, the beauty club enrollment limit reaches is just the computer's way of telling itself that you are enrolled. If you look on the bottom of your receipt under the title EXTRACARE CARD BALANCE AS OF TODAY'S DATE (you should see) every $50 beauty $5 Extrabucks 2012 beauty club spending amount toward this reward $X.XX Amount needed to earn reward $X.XX It should be under the TRIP SUMMARY and above THIS WEEKS EXTRA BUCK OFFERS I HTH Welcome! |
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dancinmama
Senior Associate
LIVIN' THE DREAM!!
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 20:49:45 GMT -5
Posts: 10,659
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Post by dancinmama on Jul 31, 2012 14:24:38 GMT -5
Constanz, thank you for explaining! Dancinmama: Thank you for the warm welcome. I have actually been reading for a LONG time but have been lazy to start thinking I needed to have bunch of coupons piled up. But I just jumped in with CVS and I have been doing really great compared to before. It has only been about 3 weeks and have gotten a lot of very good/almost free/free deals. But I am slowing down to make sure I reduce my OOP even more. I am mostly interested in personal care/household stuff/baby stuff, not really interested in candy/food/etc... I have a question regarding the beauty club. I have bought probably close to $100 worth of stuff before i realized I needed to sign up separately for it. I asked at CVS if they could credit me if i showed my receipts and she said she didn't have that option but she gave me a $5 EB. Now at the bottom of my receipt it says "sign up limit reached" I am guessing referring to the 10% off you get when you sign up but it does not show me my year-to-date spending towards beauty club and neither does the online account. How can I find out my balance?The balance shows at the bottom of your receipt; but like we've said, there is a delay. We always tell newbies to TAKE IT SLOW, which it seems you have already figured out (smart girl!!). For me, it is not how quickly I can build a stockpile or even how much I save using coupons.....it is ALL about OOP. How much do I have to spend of my own money to get the products my family uses on a regular basis. As far as having a pile of coupons is concerned, you'll begin to notice how many coupons on average it takes to do a lot of the deals. This week, if you wanted to reach $25 and get an $5 EB for buying Olay cleansers and body wash, you would have needed to buy (3) of each product which means (3) sets of inserts a week would have been sufficient; if you wanted to buy enough to do the P&G $10 Olay rebate, you would have needed to buy (4) of each so you would have needed (4) sets inserts. It also depends how much you want to stockpile. I feel pretty comfortable if I can get (6) sets of inserts each week. Of course, more is always better, but (6) seems to give me enough to do almost any deal that comes along where multiple coupons are needed to lower OOP and buy enough products to get the reward offered. You are smart because the absolute best things to stockpile are non-perishables: soaps, paper products, diapers, wipes, toiletries, etc. - anything that will be of use even if you don't need it for another 2-5 years. Don't count food out though. CVS carries a lot of pantry staples that most people use regularly. I am not suggesting that you stockpile (10) quarts of mayonaise of (30) lbs. of sugar, but start tracking your usage of the pantry items that your family uses regularly (flour, sugars, mayo, mustard, ketchup, coffee, tea, canned tuna, cereal, pasta and pasta sauce, peanut butter, jelly/jam, etc.) and don't be afraid to stockpile according to your usage when these items are free/cheap (freap). Even though you might not be interested in free candy, it sure comes in handy around Halloween. I was a little bummed that I missed out on getting a ton of free candy bars last week, but that's the way it goes when you leave on vacation.  CVS also provides a very cheap/free way to put together great Easter baskets or buy sweet stocking stuffers, etc. |
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973beachbum
Senior Associate
Politics Admin
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 16:12:13 GMT -5
Posts: 10,501
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Post by 973beachbum on Jul 31, 2012 14:41:51 GMT -5
Constanz, thank you for explaining! Dancinmama: Thank you for the warm welcome. I have actually been reading for a LONG time but have been lazy to start thinking I needed to have bunch of coupons piled up. But I just jumped in with CVS and I have been doing really great compared to before. It has only been about 3 weeks and have gotten a lot of very good/almost free/free deals. But I am slowing down to make sure I reduce my OOP even more. I am mostly interested in personal care/household stuff/baby stuff, not really interested in candy/food/etc... I have a question regarding the beauty club. I have bought probably close to $100 worth of stuff before i realized I needed to sign up separately for it. I asked at CVS if they could credit me if i showed my receipts and she said she didn't have that option but she gave me a $5 EB. Now at the bottom of my receipt it says "sign up limit reached" I am guessing referring to the 10% off you get when you sign up but it does not show me my year-to-date spending towards beauty club and neither does the online account. How can I find out my balance?The balance shows at the bottom of your receipt; but like we've said, there is a delay. We always tell newbies to TAKE IT SLOW, which it seems you have already figured out (smart girl!!). For me, it is not how quickly I can build a stockpile or even how much I save using coupons.....it is ALL about OOP. How much do I have to spend of my own money to get the products my family uses on a regular basis. As far as having a pile of coupons is concerned, you'll begin to notice how many coupons on average it takes to do a lot of the deals. This week, if you wanted to reach $25 and get an $5 EB for buying Olay cleansers and body wash, you would have needed to buy (3) of each product which means (3) sets of inserts a week would have been sufficient; if you wanted to buy enough to do the P&G $10 Olay rebate, you would have needed to buy (4) of each so you would have needed (4) sets inserts. It also depends how much you want to stockpile. I feel pretty comfortable if I can get (6) sets of inserts each week. Of course, more is always better, but (6) seems to give me enough to do almost any deal that comes along where multiple coupons are needed to lower OOP and buy enough products to get the reward offered. Not to nit pick but to do the $10 olay rebate wyb $30 you only needed 3 inserts. That way you got 3 BOGO coupons for the BW and you only needed 2 of the $3/2 facial cleansers coupons for 4 cleansers. 3@5.99=17.97 and 4@3.74=$14.96 for a total of $32.93. Plus get a $5 ECB and send in for the rebate. ;D To get the two $5 ECBs you had to buy 5 BW's and 6 cleansers. That really is a lot if someone didn't have neighbors to help by giving them their inserts or let them cut one or two. I actually have a neighbor whose wife says she keeps all the coupons. He husband won't remove the who inserts because she would be mad at him. But he does cut out one or two for me if I ask since in the 30 plus years of marriage he has never actually seen her go back and open one up from the pile she keeps for a month waiting to be used.  |
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dancinmama
Senior Associate
LIVIN' THE DREAM!!
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 20:49:45 GMT -5
Posts: 10,659
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Post by dancinmama on Jul 31, 2012 15:04:09 GMT -5
The balance shows at the bottom of your receipt; but like we've said, there is a delay. We always tell newbies to TAKE IT SLOW, which it seems you have already figured out (smart girl!!). For me, it is not how quickly I can build a stockpile or even how much I save using coupons.....it is ALL about OOP. How much do I have to spend of my own money to get the products my family uses on a regular basis. As far as having a pile of coupons is concerned, you'll begin to notice how many coupons on average it takes to do a lot of the deals. This week, if you wanted to reach $25 and get an $5 EB for buying Olay cleansers and body wash, you would have needed to buy (3) of each product which means (3) sets of inserts a week would have been sufficient; if you wanted to buy enough to do the P&G $10 Olay rebate, you would have needed to buy (4) of each so you would have needed (4) sets inserts. It also depends how much you want to stockpile. I feel pretty comfortable if I can get (6) sets of inserts each week. Of course, more is always better, but (6) seems to give me enough to do almost any deal that comes along where multiple coupons are needed to lower OOP and buy enough products to get the reward offered. Not to nit pick but to do the $10 olay rebate wyb $30 you only needed 3 inserts. That way you got 3 BOGO coupons for the BW and you only needed 2 of the $3/2 facial cleansers coupons for 4 cleansers. 3@5.99=17.97 and 4@3.74=$14.96 for a total of $32.93. Plus get a $5 ECB and send in for the rebate. ;D To get the two $5 ECBs you had to buy 5 BW's and 6 cleansers. That really is a lot if someone didn't have neighbors to help by giving them their inserts or let them cut one or two. I actually have a neighbor whose wife says she keeps all the coupons. He husband won't remove the who inserts because she would be mad at him. But he does cut out one or two for me if I ask since in the 30 plus years of marriage he has never actually seen her go back and open one up from the pile she keeps for a month waiting to be used. Thanks for the post. I stand corrected. |
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dancinmama
Senior Associate
LIVIN' THE DREAM!!
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 20:49:45 GMT -5
Posts: 10,659
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Post by dancinmama on Jul 31, 2012 21:45:04 GMT -5
Okie dokie you hounds. The August Grocery Challenge thread is up. Please head over there to post!!
See ya there!! ;D
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CVS also provides a very cheap/free way to put together great Easter baskets or buy sweet stocking stuffers, etc.