Let's Talk ECB and RR

This post will hopefully shed some light on what Extra Care Bucks and Register Rewards are, how to get, them, and how to use them effectively.

Extra Care Bucks (ECB) are coupons or "store credits" from CVS that you receive for purchasing certain items. These print out on the bottom of any receipt in which you purchased a qualifying item.

Register Rewards (RR) are coupons or "store credits" from Walgreens that you receive for purchasing qualifying items. These print out as a Catalina and are separate from your receipt.

ECB and RR are some of the BEST things you can use at these two stores. For a long time, I wouldn't shop at either CVS or Wags because I thought they were too expensive. However, after figuring out coupons and ECB/RR, I shop exclusively at CVS and Wags for almost everything except groceries.

When you buy a qualifying item, an ECB or RR will print out. You are able to turn right back around and hand it back to the cashier to buy something else. Stacey and I almost always have more than one transaction at each store, and sometimes we've had 5 or 6 transactions in a row! This is because we "roll" our ECB/RR, by which I mean we keep using the ECB/RR to buy other things that also give us an ECB/RR. By doing this, we spend very low out of pocket (by low, I mean we only pay tax). This is the main way we score all of our free products. And if you're worried about holding up the line, go to cosmetics. Cashiers will happily do multiple transactions there b/c they are required to do a certain number of sales in those departments every month. Plus, as a way to say "thank you", every once in a while Stacey and I ask what item they can earn commission on (usually a candy bar) and we buy that to earn them some money.

**For example, CVS and Wags run Buy 1 Get 1 Free sales on Gillette and Old Spice Bodywash about every 6 months. (all sales run in cycles, either 3 weeks, 6 weeks, or 6 months typically). There's also usually a coupon for Buy 1 Get 1 Free for these products in the P&G inserts  Pair the B1G1 coupon with the B1G1 sale and you get 2 bodywashes for free! When these sales come around, Stacey and I stock up on bodywash for our husbands. We buy 10-12 bottles of bodywash during the sale week so that we have enough to last them until the sale comes around again.  I personally have 15 bottles of bodywash for my husband from such a sale. I know that sounds absurd, and I thought it was too, but think about it! Bodywash doesn't expire for years and we will definitely use it by the time the expiration date rolls around. It saves so much to stockpile personal care items. I haven't had to buy bodywash in probably 5 months, so that's saving me $3-$4 every two weeks at the grocery...that's $30-$40 just on bodywash!

Now, there are some restrictions on ECB and RR:

- ECB deals are typically limited to one deal per CVS card. However, my husband and I both have cards, so I do the deals twice no problem. It will tell you at the bottom of your receipt if you have reached your "deal limit" or if you can do it again on that card.

-RR deals have to be rung up in different transactions to keep earning the RR, Also, you can't use a RR from an item to get a discount on the same item in your 2nd transaction. For example, if I buy 1 Dove soap and get $3 RR, I can't do a 2nd transaction for a 2nd Dove soap and use my previous transaction's RR. I can't use Dove RR's to get more Dove RR's. Thus, when we buy our 10-12 bodywashes and they have RR's attached, we do 10-12 transactions.

Here's another example:

Wags has Old Spice bodywash on sale where you pay $3 for it, but get $3 RR. I would do 10 separate transactions and buy 10 Old Spice bodywashes. I would pay $30 out of pocket (oop), but I would get $30 RR to use on anything else in the store! This is one of  the main ways any couponer gets their stockpile and saves the most.

**I tried to explain this the best I could, but please, if you're confused or have any other questions, let me or Stacey know and we'll be happy to explain it further! It took me a couple months and A LOT of explaining from Stacey to get down the ECB/RR!