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

[seedlady]

welcome to the wagon train.



i will try to keep it cleaned up, and short. if i take your post out, it's not because i don't like you. ( i love your new hair color, btw.)


select a place to stack your inserts when they come in.


go ask your next door neighbor to save hers for you.

mention at work that you are looking for inserts.

step one: locate or get cvs card.

step two: if you have time, wander around the store, and look for coupons. they are often right by the item that the coupon is for.

look around the beauty aisle for coupons.

if you see someone with a binder, ask her a question- most couponers are the most generous people you will ever meet.

[seedlady]

what's a wagon train (as it pertains to HCW)?

when crossing america in the early days, a family could go it alone, and face all dangers and problems themselves, or set out with a group, band together, stay together and help each other out . i'm using the term to refer to a group of newbies, all learning cvs together, and each learning from the other's mistakes, so they don't have to face cvs alone.




your assignment today: get an envelope, and put either a 10 or a 20 dollar bill into it. ( that should be the only money you will ever donate to cvs, btw. unless you give them a nickel here and there later.)

[Maur]

So if I understand you correctly you'll be guiding us newbies thru scenerios to gather the most ECBs without spending a lot of $ oop? So far I'm on the train:) Hope I'm not alone.

[seedlady]

ok, today i want you to get a notebook, and write the dates in it, one week per page, for january and even february and march.

then, from posts on the main board, either write down ALL the ecb offers, or just the ones you are interested in.

skip lines, so there is room to add the dates for the coupons when you learn them.



mine looks like this: oh- i'm making this up- don't try to BUY these!)


4.99 wyb (when you buy) clairol intensive color brown only

1/17 r 2$


10 wyb 20 $ listed medicines - tylenol, etc.

5/13s, 6/14 r, ay12


the point to all this is to have one place where you keep all the info- what to buy, what you will earn, and where to find the coupons. i note anything different- if the hip makeup has to be the METALLIC, i'd write that.

then, i hunt out the coupons, and paperclip them to that week's page.


coupons are coded with the date, then the source.

s is smartsource (or ss)

r (or rp) is red plum

P&G i'll let you work out yourself- yes, it will be on the test!

AY is all you, a magazine that is only available at walmart or by subscription. you want one for your birthday. or mother's day.


( i wrote this in january, and by george i ordered MYSELF a subscription for mother's day- i wanted it- i bought it !)



have a lovely day !

[~Ms. Nicole]

So you have one page that says January (for the monthly ECB's)



and then pages after that:

week 1,

week 2,

week 3,

week 4.


february- monthly (assuming they GIVE US SOME next month!)


week 1

week 2

........................ etc.





then grab a calendar and fill in the next 8 to 10 weeks

for the weekly deals.


( i took out the dates- do your OWN homework !)

[seedlady]

that's how i do it. then in the store, when i see whatchmacallits, and my brain goes "ding" i can look it up, and see they are on sale n*e*x*t week, and not buy them today.

my brain is rather random.




( i keep the next 10 weeks ahead, because that is the farthest out sneak peek i've ever seen.)

[deeann7]

This is wonderful!
I am sending you another newbie I have been helping.
I know she will be a lurker at first ( I know you are reading this) but hope she will join
soon.
You all are in great hands seed is the best!
Enjoy your little victories because in no time they will turn into big hauls.

[seedlady]

there are many goals at cvs. you will need to work out your own.

my basic goal is to get a lot of stuff without paying much of my own money.

cvs often has new/transfer prescription gift card offers. even if you don't have a script now, cut one out. for years i kept on taped to the inside of the heater closet door. then when a new one came out, i tossed the old one, and taped up the new one. that way, if a kid got sick, i could just grab one on my way out the door. i keep one magneted to the fridge these days. i get a gift card pretty much once every month or two, so i don't spend ANY of my own money there. ( well, ok, i spent 4 cents once this year, and a penny just this week, because it seemed like too much trouble to dig the gc out of my back pocket.) but mostly i'm playing with 'house money'.


in each transaction, you will have sub-goals. if you have a $4/20 , your first goal is to choose at least 20 dollars worth of stuff.


then, if there is also , say, a 10 dollar ecb offered if you buy 20 dollars worth of some kind of makeup, or medicine, you need to hit that amount. you can do it all at once, or put things in all week, as you shop. buuuuuuuuut, you have to hit it. close does not count at cvs. it says 20, it means 20. not 19.98.


if , as you shop, you need to spend another amount of money, because, for example, you have only a 9.99 ecb, and you have only chosen 7 dollars of stuff, you can look ahead at what else you need for the medicine deal, and throw a tylenol in. the "credit" for the tylenol will stay in your account, and you will need that much less when you go to do that deal.

i am teaching the basic priniciples here- don't everybody pm me that there is no tylenol deal this week!


then, at the smacky end, make a little note of what ecbs you expect. pull your cart out of traffic, and check that they all printed. it is a LOT easier to fix right then than it will be to bring the junk back next time you come, and try to find the 6.2 colgate with the white star that says "new". you laugh, but cvs is persnickity. if they say it has to say "whitening", it has to say whitening. it's their game, and they are strict.



now, just as an aside, let me mention what i do with some of the stuff i have to buy to do certain deals. once i have enough shampoo , makeup, excedrin, etc.to take care of the next year or 2, i put the rest into a bag, and take it to farmers market. a stunningly high percentage of vendors will swap. i don't feel comfortable making exact deals, so i just offer the bag to them, and tell them to take whatever they want. some say yes, some say no, and some say "and would you like some lettuce?" if you want to practice this, bring water bottles, or cans of soda. remember that diet dr.pepper your teen HAD to have? well, bring the other 11 cans down to fm, and give them away. if nothing else, it gets it out of the house. but i'm willing to bet that you will be given some produce. i may not have much money, but i can get a case of fruit for a brut deodorant and a couple of colgates!

[seedlady]

i'm working out a raok in my head, but i thought i'd go ahead and link up the lists so you can see what i'm talking about.



oh, wait- in order to post on the raok board, you have to join the trading board. so, i'll back up a step. start thinking about joining the trading board. it's a simple procedure- they let ME in.


it gives permission to us to exchange addresses, so we can mail coupons to each other, and spells out what happens in the event a trade fails. ( a moderator shows up on your doorstep and slaps you around). well, not really- you are just asked to fix the trade, and if you don't , you can be banned from hwc. ( that one is true, but i tell you, it doesn't happen often!)

now that i have scared you thoroughly, go join the trading forum. i'll wait. the mods there are really nice!




the link for traders is also down at the bottom of the home page.

[seedlady]

Seedlady, one thing I would like to learn about that I haven't gotten into is the prescription transfer/new prescription gift card that you mentioned a few posts ago. Would you mind going over how to find these, and how to go about following through with it? If it is not appropriate for this thread, and the process is mentioned elsewhere, if you wouldn't mind directing me, I would appreciate knowing how to go about doing this, as this is one aspect of CVS that I know nothing about. TIA!

all right, i'll try. this one was a hot seller at my last coupon talk....who doesn't want free money?


at its most basic, rite aid or target or.......puts a coupon in their ad that says- bring us your prescription, and we will give you a 30 $ gift card. ( it may be for new, it may be for transfer, it may be for both.)


cvs puts up a window banner that says " we accept all competitors' pharmacy coupons". this means you can cut out the coupon, and bring it to either store.