Tips: seedlady's wagon train (a guide for newbies.)

[loveebella]

Originally Posted by colormestyle Hi, It was mentioned that we should present ECB before manuf. coupons. What happens, though, when the ECB covers the total cost of the item? For example toothpaste is $3.50 and I use 3.50 ECB. Why do I still want to use a manufacturer coupon on that toothpaste and why only after the ECB? Is this the concept of overage?

You can still use a 3.50 ECB if that is what you have BUT you will need to find something to spend that extra 1$ on.

When this happens to me I try to find something I need like starch or a small container of baby wipes or a small lotion from the trial section.
I also try to keep the cost close to 1.00 so that my oop will still be low.

I do not want to waste the ECB ( by allowing the cashier to lower my ECB to the amount of items I bought which in your case would be 2.50) I want to use that 1 up, it's mine gosh darn it.

Also if you are buying toothpaste for 3.50 get 3.50 ECb and have a 1q that is considered a MM money maker. Because you will only pay out 2.50 + tax but will get back 3.50.
If you did not have the q it would be considered free but by using the q' you are making money.
It's wonderful ain't it

[petergabrielfan]

Originally Posted by loveebella Also if you are buying toothpaste for 3.50 get 3.50 ECb and have a 1q that is considered a MM money maker. Because you will only pay out 2.50 + tax but will get back 3.50. If you did not have the q it would be considered free but by using the q' you are making money. It's wonderful ain't it

Just throwing this out there because not everyone is on the same page with this. This would not be a MM to me. You're paying $2.50 in cold, hard cash and you're getting back $3.50 ECB. This is not equal in my mind and I know there are others here that think the same.

[Carrie77]

Originally Posted by petergabrielfan Just throwing this out there because not everyone is on the same page with this. This would not be a MM to me. You're paying $2.50 in cold, hard cash and you're getting back $3.50 ECB. This is not equal in my mind and I know there are others here that think the same.

Your right, money is not the same as EB, but once people get into the "swing of things" of shopping at CVS they never pay in cash, they just roll their EBs. That $2.50 would be paid with prior extra bucks and then you get a $3.50 EB back, so you would really "make" $1 in extra bucks (and pay only tax OOP).

I hardly ever pay in cash, except when I first started out or if I want something really desperately. Some people also cash out all their EBs and have to "buy in" again.

HTH,
Carrie

[seedlady]

what does CRT mean ?

that comes up all the time, and i got thinking about why we use that acronym.

crt= cash register tape = receipt.

and i remembered back in the early 70s we traded like this-

we used to pay by the word for ads in refunding mags, and that saved 10 cents!

we had to do potlucks, because it took a month to mail and publish the ad , and several days to trade. the internet still amazes me!

so the ad would say

40 coupons 141, epop, no crts.

and then give her address, and she would get mine from my envelope, and mail back.

that would mean, i'll mail you 40 coupons of my choice , and you mail me 40 coupons, your choice ( one for one!) and we will each buy our own stamp. there are no cash register tapes involved.

or it might say crt spaghettios, and if you had one, you'd toss it in.

those were truly potluck, because of the time lag. you couldn't ask for specific coupons, because they would be expiring during the 5 to 6 week lag time.

so now when we ask for coupons from next week's insert, and get them by tuesday of that week, well girls, you have NO idea how easy you have it!

40 was one ounce worth- so you didn't need to add a second stamp.

[savings4debra]

OK...climbing aboard. Woot Woot!

[JoesWife]

I am jumping onboard :) I've been couponing for almost 2 years but have never tried CVS. I got a homemailer from them (from the card I got there a LONG time ago) with 2 GC with Script purchase & a $5.00/sometotal 20 or 30 I think... My DH came home with 3 new scripts so... I've gotten the 2 $25 GC's already & am waiting to fill the 3rd till I can find another Q Hehehehe. Thanks for all the info Seedlady! I tried to rep you but I've got to spread the love.

[JoesWife]

Could someone explain what the 'bag tag' is? I am assuming it's the tag from a CVS reusable tote???

[seedlady]

a bag tag is a little piece of cardboard/paper shaped like a leaf that you can buy for 99 cents, then each time you bring your own bag in, rather than use a cvs bag, they scan it. each 4 scans become a $1.00 ecb. limit is one scan per day. but it doesn't take long to move into profit-land!

look at the registers, or ask an employee.

[bzzlady]

Lots of great info, thank you so much.

[maberlyne]

Thank you so much for this! Today I did a combo of manufact coupons, ecbs, $4 off $20, and a coupon printed from their scanner and got a great deal! All thanks to all your wonderful information!

I do have a few questions, though. The coupons that you can print from the kiosks - how often do those change? Weekly? I thought I saw somewhere else that (if you don't print them from the kiosk?) they'll print on the receipt tape?

Could you go over the order of the coupons when checking out? As I mentioned before, I had a variety being used. I had handed her the 4/20 last and she at first said she couldn't use it... I was confused, because I was sure to be over 20 before coupons, etc. Anyway, she was nice and voided the sale and re-rang it, so now I know... but I'd like to know the theory behind! Thank you so much!