Wednesday, January 6, 2010

CVS takes on Walmart

So I've been wondering... Is it worth cutting coupons, watching for sale items in weekly flyers and signing up for a store's discount program?

YES!

But aren't Walmart's prices the cheapest?

Not always!

My CVS purchase today proves you don't always save more by visiting your local Supercenter.



As an example, here are two items I purchased at CVS today:
1 Ensure 6-pack
1 Renu Contact Solution bottle

At CVS, the Ensure was on sale for $6.99 and the Renu for $7.99. At Walmart, the Ensure would be $6.97 and the Renu would be $6.00. I know what you're thinking... "How in the world is CVS cheaper? Clearly Walmart is $2.01 cheaper than CVS."

Or are they?

Well, not today. I had a coupon for $5 off any $20 CVS purchase and CVS gave me $2 Extracare Bucks (ECB) to use on a future purchase just for buying the Renu.

So in reality, CVS was $4.99 CHEAPER than Walmart! Here's how it breaks down. The items at Walmart totaled $12.97, but the same items at CVS were $14.98 - $5 coupon - $2 ECB = $7.98!

To make things even better, CVS's Extracare program gives you 2% back with every purchase. For details click HERE. Also the Green bag tag program gives you one $1 ECB on every 4th CVS visit.

~~~~~

For all you crazy coupon queens out there, here's my complete purchase today.



(Bought)
2 Ensure 6-pks at $6.99 each
1 GE Energy Smart light blub at $2.99
1 Renu Contact Solution bottle at $7.99
1 CVS Green Bag tag at $0.99

(Used)
$5 off $20 coupon
$1 and $2 ECBs
$1 off coupon for the Renu
$2 off instant peel off sticker for the Renu
$1 off coupon for the light bulb

The bill was $13.95 w/o tax, but I received $5.50 back in ECBs making the real total $8.45!!!

2 comments:

Night Nurse said...

How do you go about signing up for "discount" clubs?? I haven't been able to find any "coupon queen" classes out here, so I'm open for any tips for stretching our dollars. :o) How are you feeling these days?

The Andersons said...

when will the babies arrive??