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

[deeann7]

Originally Posted by Isis123 I just got a $5 off $30 from CVS. Is the $30 before or after coupons at CVS

before coupons

[hedgehog]

Originally Posted by seedlady that is the basic idea to trading.... it's done in pms, btw, and KEEP the pms till both sides arrive...

Oh, seedlady, why didn't I read this post before? :sad::shrug7:
Just last Friday, I made a nice trade with... oh, well, how stupid I can be, I wrote the nickname on a piece of paper (and it got lost somewhere, may be my dog ate it).
Anyway, we were trading not through PM, but through coupon database. And we both agreed on the trade. And I mailed my coupons to that lady... and wanted to post a comment on that trade - and now I can't even find dialog regarding this trade. It just dissappeared.
And I have no clue if that lady received my coupons. And I didn't receive her part of trade yet (that's actually the least of my worries)... And I can't even communicate with that lady, because, as I said, I'm very, well, stupid :hectic1::shrug7:
I hope somehow that lady will come through and find me herself. And if not - that's the lesson for me

[seedlady]

ok, wagon train people, how are things going?

it took me a month to tell you everything i know- but it only takes you an hour to learn it. doesn't seem fair!


every time we have a dull week , by tuesday someone will find something kewl, and we will all rush to cut coupons and go get some whateveritis. so do not despair, even if the pickings look lean. take a little nap, and rest up for deals next week.

[seedlady]

today we learn to rep.


down at the bottom of the left hand side, there is an icon of a person- yellow if said person is online now, and grey if offline, btw.

next to it is a line drawing of a scale. if you click on that, you can add to the poster's "rep"utation, and add a comment about why you liked the post.

please feel free to practice on deeann7, who pops in here very often and posts helpful suggestions, and links posts up for you.

then, go wild, and rep other newbies. it's fun ! your limit is 10 reps per day to give, and you can't re-rep someone till you have repped 10 others in between.


if you post that you have repped, i'll leave it up for a while so others can rep you, and we can have our own little repping party.


i'll make coffee, and you bring snacks! have fun !

[seedlady]

Originally Posted by Moma Seedlady, Can you please explain stacking coupons at CVS? Is a CRT coupon able to be stacked with a Manu. Q? When stacking is there a proper order in which to give the coupons to the cashier? Thanks!!

the max number you are allowed is one of each per item.

the order i prefer is $/$$, then cvs coupons, then ecbs, then manufacturer coupons. ( then gift card or money or debit card---) the only reason to do it that way is it costs the least oop.

in some states the order doesn't matter- in my state it does. it saves me because the ecb removes tax from those items, and the manu coupon can PAY the tax. in some states, it's a wash, so it doesn't really matter. but for me, time after time, i have proven that the order matters. when i do them accidently out of order, my bill is higher.


:shrug7: editing in july- something about the tax is changing, and we are working on it. but nothing about this order is wrong. if there is an advantage, this order gets it, and if there is not, no harm, no foul.:shrug7:

[seedlady]

Originally Posted by Moma SeedLady, Will you explain the order in which to give ECB's, CRT's, Manu Q's and CVS Q's? Will you also tell me what is considered a CVS Q? Are they the offers emailed? On the receipt? (or is that a CRT?) In the flyers @ CVS? How do you know if you can stack them with Manu Q's? Thanks in advance!!

a store coupon has a 4 as the first number. a manufacturer has a 5 or a 9.

[seedlady]

today i have 2 things to teach you.


1. how to read that silly limit thing on the receipt.

if they had written it in german, and translated into gobbeldygook they would have gotten about how this reads.

so, watch and learn.

cvs keeps track of 2 things- one is the money amount, if that is what you are aiming at. it is fairly straightforward.

amount needed 20.00 if you buy ( for example, some coke 12 packs) it will do the math for you .

let's say you have bought 3 12 packs, so you have spent 10 dollars.

it will say- needed to buy $10.00. thus you know when you buy 10 more dollars worth, you will hit the jackpot, and win your ecb.


now on the limit 5 colgate, it is sort of backwards.


amount bought.....2

needed to buy...1

this will look like you can only buy one more, but it is really counting down toward the jackpot, and if you buy ONE more, you will get the ecb.

now it says:

amount bought...3

needed to buy...1

so it looks like the limit is one MORE. but no- if you buy one more, you will hit the ecb jackpot, and it will say

amount bought ...4

needed to buy....1.

when you buy the 5th one it will switch to


******limit reached******

those stars are your signal to QUIT buying the whateveritis, because there are NO more jackpots for you. the ecb machine is done.


look at your receipt, and read this, every day for a week. then one day you will say- oh, it is counting DOWN to the next care buck- i see.

[seedlady]

2.

the quarterly bonus.


divide the year into 4 quarters. jan-mar, apr -jun, jul-sep, and oct- dec.

that was the easy part. cvs will pay you a bonus of 2 per cent of the actual CASH you spend, and pay it one the first day of each quarter.( or the first time you show up at their fine emporium thereafter.)


this means that if you spend 100 dollars, they will give you a bonus ecb, with a lovely black oval at the top, worth 2 dollars. not to be sneezed at, but you will not be getting rich here. they round down, and pay on 25 dollar units. so, you drop your spending to the nearest 25 dollars.....104.68 becomes 100. 49.34 becomes 25. then for each 25 dollars, you get 50 cents. TWO bright shiny quarters for every 25 dollars of your hard-earned money that crosses the counter.


with me so far?


now, in order to have time to do the math, the account closes on the 15th of the month before the bucks print. so, june 15th your spending will reset , and july 1 you will get your bucks.

[seedlady]

Originally Posted by lakies You said it was based on the cash that you spend...so do I understand this correctly: -- CVS coupons do not count towards the quarterly spending TRUE -- Mfg coupons do not count towards the quarterly spending TRUE -- ECB's do not count towards the quarterly spending ALSO TRUE Now, what about the ($25) CVS gift card you get for transferring a prescription? Is this counted as cash as you use it, or does it also not count towards the quarterly spending? this one took me a while. when they give you the card- they SUBTRACT the value from your spending. i kid you not. you might have spent 54 dollars, and you are pretty happy- oh good- i'll get a dollar, pretty sure- and then BOOM they subtract the 25 or 30 dollars when they give you a gift card. then, as you spend it, the money counts toward your spending total. i still think it stinks, but i can understand their thinking- not gonna pay that woman TWICE for shopping here.... Many thanks, tried to rep you but it told me to spread the love around before I could rep you again. How many other reps does it take before I can re- rep someone? i do believe it is 10 in between, and 10 total per day.

i answered in between the questions inside the quotes.

[seedlady]

Originally Posted by angiesnabox Me again, I am sooooo confused.:shrug7: The make-up deals are coming up soon and being new to CVS and having a teenage daughter in the house I can surely use make-up. What I can not seem to comprehend is when any deals is running such as this one buy x and get xx... If I use coupons do the coupons make me have to spend more OOP to reach x? If I use coupons does the products totals still reach x and I get the plus of the coupon discount as well? :hectic1: My mind is running in 100 circles hope this makes some sense. Thanks, Angie

if i understand you correctly, and i might, you want to know how coupons count toward deals.

if the deal is buy 20 dollars worth of revlon, and get a 10 ecb, and you have 5 or 6 assorted revlon coupons, what happens?

take a little red basket, and put 20 dollars worth of revlon items in it- a lipstick, a mascara, and 2 packs of emery boards, for example.

go back to the pharmacy, and sit in a lovely cushioned chair. add up the costs. ( i am making all of these up- i have NO idea what revlon costs .)


lipstick 12.99. mascara 7.99 hey- wait a sec- that's over 20 dollars. woo hoo. and i have a coupon for 2 dollars off, and one for 3 dollars off. wowie zowie. i can buy 21.98 worth of revlon, and only pay - um- 17 dollars. wow.

and i don't even need the emery boards- guess i might as well hang them back up. then do so.

then, you buy the 20 dollars worth, and you PAY with the coupons, and then you get extra care bucks back. so, in my made up example, you pay about 17, and get back 10, for a net loss to your family budget of 7 dollars, but a net gain of a happy teen.




ok, ok, the short form- coupons are a form of payment. that's all.