Using Fillers at CVS
Once you understand how to work ECBs at CVS (it is not hard) you are ready to move on to another level of couponing.
Using Fillers
A filler can be anything that brings the total to where you need it in order to use a coupon. In this example we needed the total (before coupons) to reach $25 in order to use the $5 off $25 CVS printable. The $5 off $25 CVS printable does not state that the total needs to be $25 after coupons, so we needed the value of the products to reach $25 before coupons. Most of your Walgreens coupons will state that the total must be $25 after all coupons (we lovingly call this a “Yuck Deal“).
This week CVS is offering $10 RRs WYB $20 in Dove products.
The total of 5 Dove products is enough to qualify for the $10 ECBs but not to use the $5 off $25 CVS printable, so we used a filler. This filler was something that we had a coupon for free by requesting a free sample.
5 Dove $4.99 each ($24.95 total)
-Used 5 $1 coupon 10/4 RP
-Used 1 $1 CVS $100 Coupon Book (can only use one per customer)
Always $5.29 (filler)
-Free $5.29 coupon from requesting a free sample
-$5 off $25 CVS printable
Out Of Pocket (OOP): $13.95
Received $10 ECBs
Final Price: $3.95
This example is the ideal filler situation; purchase the filler item, get the filler item free with a coupon, and qualify to use the $5 off $25 coupon.
We like to save our free coupons for cases like this where we can get the maximum value for buying that free item.
If we had purchased another Dove product at $4.99 would have brought the total to $29.94. This would have qualified us to use the $5 off $25 CVS printable and we could have used another $1 Dove coupon, but this would have put us at a OOP of $17.94. Here is the breakdown:
6 Dove $29.94
-Used 6 $1 coupon 10/4 RP
-Used 1 $1 CVS $100 Coupon Book (can only use one per coupon)
-$5 off $25 CVS printable
Out of Pocket: $17.94
Received $10 ECBs
Final Price: $7.94
Using this same example you could have purchased something a little cheaper, like a candy bar as your filler.
5 Dove $4.99 each ($24.95 total)
-Used 5 $1 coupon 10/4 RP
-Used 1 $1 CVS $100 Coupon Book (can only use one per customer)
Candy Bar $.99
-$5 off $25 CVS printable
Out of Pocket: $14.94
Received $10 ECBs
Final Price: $4.94
We would have used this example if we didn’t have the free Always coupon.
If we could have found another Dove product that was less than $4.99 it would have been a little cheaper on our OOP. We could have purchased only 4 of the $4.99 Dove products and only one cheaper Dove product. If we had been able to find that Dove product we would had to make sure that the cost of the filler was enough to make up the difference to get to the $25.
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