CVS Extra Care Bucks Rebate Program: How to Get the Most Free Money and Stuff

If you are lucky enough to have a CVS drugstore in your vicinity, then line yourself up and take your free money! Okay, it's not cash, but every penny that you don't have to spend on item "X" means a penny you can spend at another store on item "Y". Here's the scoop:

First, yes, you must get one of those ubiquitous shopper's scan cards. Sorry, can't be helped. If you're paranoid about your personal information, then you can always just supply a false address. However, you will never receive any coupons or offers in the mail if you do this. If you do decide to supply fake information, you need to keep up with it in case you later need to get a new card due to loss or damage.

Secondly, you need access to the weekly ad. CVS operates on a Sunday - Saturday sale cycle, and their ad paper is usually found in the Sunday newspaper. If you don't get the paper, or don't get the CVS ad, you can always access it on their website. If you would like to plan your trip before the news sales cycle starts, you can check out the Tips of the Trade board at MyCoupons, or the CVS section of the Hot Deals forum at Families.com. At both places, there are a couple of people who have early access to advertisements and are able to post the contents of the next week's ad as early as Tuesday or Wednesday before the new ad starts on Sunday. I find this an invaluable tool in planning my trips and expenditures.

Now you need to understand the two kinds of Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) that are available, and how they work. There are quarterly ECBs, and 2-day ECBs. CVS keeps track of your purchases through the quarter, and awards you approximately 2% of your final amount at the end of the quarter as an ECB that you can spend on anything in the store. I say "approximately" since they actually award the amounts in tiers of 50 cents, 75 cents, and so on. They also award $1 for every two prescriptions you have filled in their pharmacies. These quarterly ECBs are awarded into your account about two weeks after the end of a calendar quarter, and are usually for several weeks.