What I did do was get some CVS shopping in.
So here's the down and dirty for those that do not have coupons and want a great deal. All you need is a CVS ExtraCare card.
Coke products are part of the "Buy $30, Get a $10 Gas Card" deal this week.
Coke product 12-packs are on sale 4 for $12 this week, only if you buy them 4 at a time.
Buy 4 for $12 + tax and you will get $20 credit towards the $30 needed for the gas card deal.
So...
1. Buy 4 Coke 12-packs. Get a $20 gas card credit.
2. Go to another CVS. Buy 4 Coke 12-packs. Earn a $10 gas card and get a $10 credit rolled over for your next gas card.
3. Go to a 3rd CVS. Buy 4 Coke 12-packs. Get another $10 gas card.
End result: You own 12 12-packs of Coke products. You paid $36 + tax. You have $20 in gas cards.
Rumor has it the gas card deal is a June monthly deal with a limit of 6 gas cards.
Of course I had to make it more complicated...
There is another June monthly deal at CVS on Ban (deodorant) products. It's "Buy 2 Ban products, get a $4 ExtraCare Buck (ECB)." Last weekend there were insert coupons for $2 off the Ban cooling cloths. The cooling clothes are $3.59 at CVS. So, buy 2 for 7.18, use 2 coupons, pay 3.18, get a $4 ECB. So essentially you are getting free cooling cloths and making a small profit in fake CVS money.
Initially, I wasn't going to do this because I don't buy things that I don't use. Then, I figured out these would be great to have in my car to wipe down with after my runs when I'm out at the state park or at a race. I had 4 coupons so I did the deal twice and ended up with 2 $4 ECBs plus my 4 packs of cooling cloths.
free cooling cloths
The monthly limit on this deal is 6. I only did it twice because I only buy 4 newspapers a week. Plus, as soon as this deal came out last week, all the couponers pretty much cleared the shelf at CVS. Even if I got more coupons this month, there is no product left on the shelf... I know, I checked this morning!
So here was my plan...
I had 2 $4 ECBs. I also had 2 $3 off $15 CVS coupons.
Store #1: Buy 4 Diet Coke 12 packs ($12). I needed to spend $3 more to use the $3 off $15 coupon. I figured I was up to $12 all ready and the $3 would just be free money. I looked for more Ban but the shelves were still empty so I threw in a 3-pack of Orbit gum.
Used the $4 ECB and $3 off $15 coupon, paid $8.84.
What was interesting was what printed at the bottom of my receipt.
I was expecting a $20 gas card credit. Instead, I got a $29 credit. All I could figure was that the Coke was getting a bigger than $20 credit. I ran back inside and bought a bottle of Ajax for $0.99. This was part of the deal too and CVS deals will payout at 98% (meaning you only need to spend 98% of the amount you are suppose to attain - so I just needed $29.40 total for a gas card).
So Ajax got credited and I got my $10 gas card. Now I'm thinking "Holy crap! This is a better deal than I thought. I just spent $9.90 total for 4 12-packs, a 3 pack of gum, a bottle of Ajax, and got a $10 gas card!"
So now this is where I got into a little trouble. I deviated from my original plan of just buying Diet Cokes because I thought I was going to end up with a crazy deal...
Had I just done Diet Coke 12 packs and just used my 2 $4 ECBs, I would have ended up with 12 12-packs for $28 and $20 in gas cards. But noooo...
Store #2: I did figure out in the parking lot that the Orbit was counting towards the gas card deal too so that was part of why my credit was $29 for my first transaction. Still, that meant I got $26 for the Diet Cokes... Well, I did the exact same products again and used the same two coupons again but just did it in one transaction.
Except this time, I didn't get the same amount credited like I did at the first CVS and ended up $6.02 short.
Well crap! I guess that's what I get for being greedy. Now I had to spend another $6 for my next gas card. I was still going to end up spending less than $28 for 2 gas cards but I wasn't getting all my Coke products either because I just needed $6 more and I didn't want to spend $12.
Store #3. Bought an 18-pack of Scott toilet paper that was part of the deal for $6.99 minus a $0.75 coupon.
...and got my second $10 gas card.
So, spent $26.53 for all this...
Yup. This is why I coupon. I love to play the game.
Could I do some more deals this week? Sure. The gas card limit for the month is 6. Will I? Probably not. I'm set on Diet Cokes for awhile. All my 12-packs expire in August. Diet soft drinks don't keep very well past their expiration dates - they start going flat. There should be some Labor Day deals by then. I am not a reseller. I just buy what I think my family will consume so I think I'm good for now!
Have you found any good deals this week?
P.S. OK. I have to share another story that I read on one of my coupon forums...
Last month, CVS had a monthly deal that involved buying bars of Neutrogena soap and earning ECBs. I didn't do the deal so I don't know all the details but, essentially, it was kinda like the Ban deal this month - use coupons and get the Neutrogena free plus make a profit in ECBs. I think the "profit" was a buck or two. Of course all the bars of Neutrogena soap sold out the first week. Well, some woman got caught bringing in her own bars of Neutrogena soap and rebuying them! OMG! Are you kidding me?
G'night now!
***UPDATE*** I found out where the extra $6 credit from my first transaction came from. Last week there was a gas card deal that I didn't do but Lancaster caramels were included in the deal. I purchased 2 bags because I had coupons and got them for $0.50 a bag... but they gave me a $6 gas card credit... which carried over to this week because the gas card deal is a June monthly deal.
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