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When your CVS store is out of a sale item, do you get a rain check? Well, I do. And then I proceed to never use them and accumulate a HUGE stack of them. They never expire, so why toss them, right?
This week I decided to start using some of my CVS rain checks. I figured I’d do a few at a time so that the cashiers don’t hate me. 🙂 My favorite way to use a rain check is to wait until there’s a coupon available for the item.
Here’s how this week’s transactions went. (Why do I always end up buying chocolate and toothpaste in the same shopping trip???)
Transaction #1
1 Colgate Sensitive Pro Relief Toothpaste – $4.99
3 U by Kotex Liners – $.99 (rain check price)
– 1 $0.75/1 Colgate Toothpaste, exp. 3/17/12 (SS 02/26/12 R)
– 3 $1/1 U by Kotex Product printable (adjusted to $.99 each)
– $4 ECBs (from last week)
Out-of-Pocket Cost: $.24 plus tax
ECBs Earned: $4.00 (Colgate)
Transaction #2
1 Hershey Bliss Chocolates – $3.99 (sale price this week)
– $1/1 Hershey Bliss Chocolate CVS coupon from in-store coupon machine
-$1/1 Hershey’s Bliss, exp. 3/20/12 (ALL YOU Feb ’12)
-$2.00 ECBs (from last week)
Out-of-Pocket Cost: $0
ECBs Earned: $3.99 (Rain check was for full-price back*)
Total Value Purchased: $11.95
Total Out-of-Pocket Cost: $.24 plus tax
Savings: $11.71 (98%)
* Now for my weird rain check story. I had a rain check for the Hershey’s Bliss. It was for $5.99 for 1 bag and then get $5.99 in ECBs back. They’re on sale this week for $3.99, and the register would not let the cashier put in the higher price. So we settled on just doing the $3.99 and giving me back the $3.99 in ECBs. Because they print the ECBs manually, I ended up with $4 ECBs.
Now I just have to figure out how to use up the other 25 rain checks that I have!
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If I had 25 rain checks, I would wait until I get a $4 off $20 coupon or $5 off $25 in my Extracare Account and purchase something I need (usually diapers in my case) and use the rain checks to get me to the $X off $XX threshold, in addition to the item I really want. The more manufacturers coupons available for those products, the better. I have done this a lot with free product coupons, but I am just beginning to really go for the rain checks. I think it will serve the same purpose.
I’m with you Amie. I’ve done the free product coupons to hit the $$ amount on the CVS coupons. I’m going to have to start looking at my rain checks more strategically too. Great advice!