CVS Trip Break Down 6/3

Okay so I'm sure most of you saw this picture posted on Facebook earlier but I wanted to break it down a little and tell you how I manage these awesome super low out of pocket and money making transactions work.

So I did this all in one transaction and it looked something like this:

(2) Crest mouth wash

(2) Softsoap bar soap

(1) Ladies speedstick

(1) Tampax radiant

(2) Colgate total toothpaste

(2) Oral-B Toothbrushes

(1) Bic razor

I used $9 in CVS coupons, $7.50 in manufacture coupons and $23 in extra buck rewards. So I paid out of pocket 29 cents and then tax.

I earned back $24 in rewards ($5 each for the mouthwash, $2 for the softsoap, $1 for the tampax, $2 each for the toothpaste, $2 each for the toothbrushes and $3 for the razors) and I will submit for a Proctor and Gamble rebate I found that states when you purchase $25 in P&G products they will give you a $10 reward card back :).

The key to making the drug store game work in your favor is to build your rewards and use them like cash instead of using your own money. If that makes sense. To build your reward base is probably the hardest thing to do at first and that's because you tend to spend alot more out of pocket at first to build it.  But if you can have at last $20 in rewards on hand on any given week you will be able to "roll" those into another transaction and lower your out of pocket to a low amount (probably tax) or nothing at all.

Just remember, there's no way around paying taxes so be prepared to pay those no matter what. Occasionally some coupons will be accepted at total face value even though they exceed the cost of the item and may take away some of the tax but most stores do not allow overage so I always go in knowing I'm spending at least tax. The only exception to this is if you have a gift card you are paying the balance with, these of course can pay for anything including tax.