Thursday, November 29, 2012

CVS "ecatnomics": how you can use CVS' percentage off coupons to your advantage

I used to sigh when I got emails from CVS with percentage off coupons of regular-priced items. The only time I bought items at CVS was when they were on sale, so I usually deleted those emails. Even if I printed off the coupon or saved it to my ExtraCare card, I rarely used them.

But one day I had a rare 30 percent off coupon from CVS on non-sale or promotional items. I saved it to my card thinking that I wouldn't use it. But as I was wandering down the pet food aisle, I looked at the 67-cent price of a can of Friskies cat food and realized that 30 percent off of 67 cents was equal to around 20 cents off each can of cat food. Since the Friskies canned cat food usually is on sale for 55 cents a can, I realized I would save more money if I took advantage of the 30 percent off coupon.

Today I got a 20 percent off coupon, and Friskies cat food will be on sale for 55 cents a can next week. I wasn't sure which would be a better deal, so I used the calculator on my computer and found out that it would be slightly cheaper to stock up on cat food with the 20 percent deal (53.6 cents a can) than to wait until next week to get it for 55 cents a can.

In a previous post, I touched on the fact that you can purchase magazines with the percentage off coupons, but I didn't stress what a good deal this is. I've never seen a discount on magazines at other stores above 10 percent. Additionally, you can save even more money with magazine coupons and with SavingStar rebates. If you wait until Sunday to use the percentage off coupons, you even can get a break on your Sunday newspaper.

Another thing I found out recently is that you can combine CVS percentage off coupons with those that give you a certain amount off of a minimum purchase. I plan to use one of my $10 off of a $50 purchase coupons in conjunction with my 20 percent off coupon to score even more savings this weekend at CVS.

Given my example with cat food being cheaper at CVS even with a 20 percent coupon than with next week's sale price of 55 cents a can, I'd suggest that you take a few minutes to think about what items you buy at CVS on a regular basis and see if you could get some better deals with the percentage off coupons.

3 comments:

  1. What a great tip for using your %percentage off coupons for Magazines!! Even Better!
    My question for you is: What 3 magazines have valuable coupons?

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  2. I'm planning a shopping trip soon! I'm a Late Night/Early MOrning SHoppeR! :)

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  3. Hi Shani,

    There are usually $2 coupons available for InStyle if you wait awhile. Right now there is only a $1 coupon available on coupons.com. SavingStar has had $2 rebates deals on the magazine as well. So if you buy the magazine in conjunction with a percentage off CVS coupon, a SavingStar rebate, and a manufacturer's coupon, you can end up getting the magazine for free or next to free.

    If you happen to like country music, there also is a $1 coupon on coupons.com for People Country. Coupon Network has a $1 coupon for Time magazine.

    Those are all I can find at the moment. If I come across any other coupons or if SavingStar offers a rebate on the December issue of InStyle or other magazines, I'll let you know.

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