Marc Serafino
With almost 10,000 locations (as of 2016), CVS Pharmacy is the largest pharmacy chain in the United States. Chances are you live in a vicinity of a CVS and have at one point bought something from one of their many stores.
Before your next trip to a local CVS, or before visiting the company’s website, we suggest you read this article so you could save money on your next purchases. Here are…
13 Ways to Save Money at CVS Pharmacy
These tips “cover” both pharma and beauty products, as well as other items you can find at CVS…
1. Sign-up for the ExtraCare Program
The number one step is to sign-up for CVS’ loyalty program that will help you save in the long run. Once you get the card, you should register it online from where CVS will start sending you coupons and deals. Also, with every purchase you will be earning the so called ExtraBucks that can be used towards your future CVS purchases.
2. Go beyond the basic ExtraCare Program
Check out the ExtraCare Pharmacy & Health Rewards and ExtraCare BeautyClub. With the former, you will be earning $5 ExtraBucks Rewards every time you fill 10 prescriptions, as well as on flu shots and other services. The similar rewards apply to the ExtraCare BeautyClub — it gets you $5 ExtraBucks Rewards on every $50 spent on beauty products.
3. Check out the special offers
CVS sends out a weekly circular, highlighting special deals and offers. This weekly ad is also available online at CVS’ website from where you could also check out the page with all the deals the pharmacy chain has to offer. If you’re in the “rewards mood,” you may want to check which of the offers come with ExtraBucks so you could fund your future purchases. Also, watching for the special deals should help you stock up on commonly used items like soaps and shampoos — you’ll want to buy those while they are offered for less.
4. Keep the bucks alive
CVS’ ExtraBucks don’t last forever (they last 30 days) and sooner or later you will have to spend them — otherwise, you’ll lose them. To prevent that from happening, make sure to buy something from CVS every 20-30 days. It shouldn’t be a problem considering we are talking about essential products all of us need. As soon as you buy something new, you have extended the “life” of your ExtraBucks for another 30 days.
5. Clip the coupons
Coupons.com is your friend here but you can also find CVS coupons on other sites. At the time of writing this article, we have found a few dozen different coupons, offering anything from free shipping to certain percentage off qualifying purchases. Beyond CVS’ own coupons, you can also use those issued by the manufacturer; and here’s the best part — you can combine the two kinds of coupons for extra savings. Pretty cool! 😉
6. Buy pre-owned CVS gift cards
Use a service like Gift Card Granny or Raise to buy a pre-owned gift card for less and save up to 10 percent! At the time of writing this article that kind of savings was available for CVS gift cards. It could go both ways from there… (related: 7 Gift Card Hacks to Help You Save Money)
7. Take Advantage of Free Health Screenings
Every year, CVS Health runs the Project Health campaign at select CVS Pharmacy locations. The free wellness program delivers an array of health risk assessments, including blood pressure, Body Mass Index (BMI), glucose and total cholesterol screenings. The screening events also feature a smoking cessation program and offer participants information about their health insurance options. Typically, the free Project Health events are held in communities with large multicultural and uninsured populations. They are open to everyone and do not require an appointment.
8. Get rain checks
If you want an item that is currently unavailable, ask the clerk for a rain check, which is a slip of paper that allows you to purchase the item at the sale price at a later date. During that time, you could also try to get a coupon for that product to further save on its purchase.
9. Get free samples of beauty products
This shouldn’t be your long-term strategy to get products; however, getting free samples could help you find something that works best for you. In order to get free samples, you will have to add $15 or more in beauty products to your basket and then select one of the samples provided. You must be an ExtraCare member and signed in to a CVS.com account with your ExtraCare card attached to your account. It’s actually pretty easy and from this page you can see what’s currently being offered.
10. Register your ExtraCare card with Upromise
Those with college-bound kids get to save even more. In order to take advantage of this offer, you will have to register your ExtraCare card with Upromise, and from there CVS will contribute 3% of your nonprescription purchases of select items into your Upromise account. You know how they say — every little adds up, so make sure to make the necessary steps to benefit from this, essentially free money.
11. Join CVS’ Advisor Panel
When you become a member of the CVS Advisor Panel, you get to participate in online surveys a couple times a year and earn ExtraBucks for your effort. These surveys help CVS know what you like and dislike, so they could improve the shopping experience for all of us.
12. Download the CVS mobile app
And use it to manage your ExtraBucks rewards. In fact, when you link your ExtraCare card with the app, you’ll get $5 ExtraBucks Rewards! This works only for the first time, but even afterwards the app will provide you with quick access to the latest deals and coupons, as well as other exclusive offers (for mobile app users). In addition, the app is easy to use for refills and a must-have tool for MinuteClinic users.
13. Follow CVS on Social Media
This is where you can scoop additional deals and coupons. CVS is present on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Make sure to follow, like and subscribe (respectively) to their stuff to be among the first ones to know when the deal is on.
And more…
We’d like to hear your thoughts, or better yet, an additional tip (or two) we could share with our audience. If you are using some other tool or technique to save at CVS make sure to share it in the comments form below. We are always on the lookout for useful stuff. Thanks. 😉
