They are definitely some strategies involved in shopping. Basically, my goal is to get the lowest price and then use a coupon to get an even lower price! When I think about shopping CVS, there are a few "helpful hints" to share:
A. Know when to shop
I usually shop CVS on Thursday or Saturday evening.
Thursday is a good day for 2 reasons:
1. My store gets a truck on Wednesday, so by Thursday they are usually well stocked.
2. I usually get a $/$ cpn in my email on Thursday morning from CVS. So, most weeks I wait until I get this!
Saturday evening is also a good time to shop at my CVS, because I can shop two different ads. That means, I can combine the current ad deals w/the deals that are supposed to start the next day. Sometimes I need to do this in order to use my $/$ coupon. For example, if I get a $5/$25 cpn, I might not have enough to buy for the current week. But, if I look ahead and see some upcoming good deals, then I can usually make it to the required subtotal.
B. Know how to use those ECBs!
Basically, the general rule here, is use your ECBs to buy something that will generate more ECBs. That's what's called rolling. That way, you always have ECBs on hand, and you usually have a low oop(out of pocket). One exception for me is I sometimes will use ECBs for Diet Coke 12 packs. They don't usually generate more ECBs or it's never enough to cover the cost. But, it beats paying full price at another store.