A different type of CVS Tips column

Sorry I've been away from doing my blog for awhile. I had other things that got in the way.

But I thought I'd take a different approach to my blog this evening and tell you about my latest trip to CVS and sneak in some usual information along the way.

I was in my car heading home from my daughter's house, and I suddenly got thirsty. I pulled into the drive-thru at the Taco Bell near her apartment. But then I thought that I could get more for my money if I went to the 24-hr CVS near my house plus get some ideas on what to put in a CVS Tips blog.

As luck would have it, I was stopped by a train just two blocks from CVS. Fortunately (or so I thought), the train went through fairly quickly, so I wasn't too upset.

But as I approached the store, there were all sorts of people yelling at each other near the doorway and in the parking lot, so I stayed in my car to decide whether or not to go somewhere else. But after a young blonde woman said "(The sixth letter of the alphabet) you," and pointed to a car and recited the car's license plate number, "and you," and pointed to a second car and called out the number on its license plate, "and you!" and pointed to a third car and did the same, all of those cars left the parking lot. When they left the parking lot, two police cars came, and the girl started talking to the police officers about all of the people she had pointed out in the parking lot had wanted to beat her up. At this point, I thought it was safe to go into the store.

The cashier asked how I was when I came in to the store. I said I was OK but I came at an interesting moment. He said it was crazy. Then one of his co-workers, who was pushing a huge cart of beverages, said, "What's really crazy is how much is on this cart, and I could use some help with it." Then the girl who was yelling at everyone in the parking lot apologized for all of the commotion. She seemed a bit too calm for someone who claimed that three carloads of people almost had beat her up...

I went to the ExtraCare Coupon Center to see if there were any good coupons for me. Among the coupons was $3 off of Revlon cosmetics coupon. This was the fourth one I had gotten this week, and there is an extrabucks rewards deal on Revlon cosmetics with an interesting twist. It's a Buy $15, Get $5 extrabucks rewards deal, but all Revlon cosmetics are Buy 1, Get One 50 percent this week. That means that you have to buy more cosmetic items to get to the $15 mark, but you have more to show for it. Prior to getting my first $3 coupon, I wasn't sure I liked the deal, but the $3 coupon made it better.

But I realized that missed a very important word on the coupon. The coupon was for a $3 Revlon cosmetics ITEM! So that means that one coupon can be used per item bought for the $5 extrabucks reward deal! Additionally the deal can be repeated up to six times. So, for example, if you bought four items that totaled $30 after the Buy 1 Get 1 50 percent off was figured in, and you had four $3 coupons from the ExtraCare Coupon Center, which I do, the total would come down to $18 out of pocket. Since a $30 purchase would qualify for two $5 extrabucks rewards, it would be like getting $30 of Revlon cosmetics for $8.

Even better would be if you got a $4 off of $20 coupon through the email today like I did. That also could be used on the deal, which would bring the price down to $4 after extrabucks rewards!

Thinking about all of this made me even thirstier, so I went to the refrigerated section to get something to drink. I thought about buying one of the beverages that are part of the Buy 6/$10, Get $2 extrabucks rewards and picking up some more when I got paid. The beverages in the deal include the 1 liter size of Evian and 15.2-16.9 oz. bottles of Fuze, Minute Maid, Gold Peak, or Honest Tea. Since I like a wide variety of beverages, this deal is up my alley. However, I ended up getting a bottle of Diet Snapple Peach Tea. Snapple in the 16 oz. size, along with 20 oz. vitaminwater and 700 ml smartwater, are on sale for 99 cents this week at CVS.

While I was deciding what drink I should get, a young couple came up beside me and the female member of the couple was weighing the benefits of the beverage deals out loud in the same manner that I was going through them in my own mind. Addiction to shopping at CVS starts early!

At the checkout, the cashier asked me if I would take quarters instead of dollars for some of my change. I agreed. But he gave me the same amount in change as I had given him to pay for my drink, which I politely let him know.

As I left, the woman who was screaming at everyone when I got to the store was departing into the night with her boyfriend on his motor scooter.

So my CVS Tip is that if you have a choice late at night between getting something to drink through a drive-thru and going to CVS, you might be safer by staying in your car and going through a drive-thru. But it wouldn't be as exciting.