I just got home late last night from a quick trip up to Woonsocket Rhode Island, home of CVS corporate. I shared with many of you on the Southern Savers facebook page and on twitter a few snippets of what we were discussing and doing, but thought I would take a minute to summarize everything.
I was with a group of other bloggers invited up to meet the head folks behind the Extra Care, Beauty, Housebrands, and Store Design teams. We talked about things they could do better, things they have planned for the future and lots about what is going on in our local stores right now.
Heading up Wednesday, it couldn’t have been a better day to visit CVS. This was the day of the major Pepsi fail, and they started our time off with a general “we screwed up” apology. It was awesome to see that they were openly saying they learned a lot from it and were going to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to do similar offers better.
The big things you wanted answered:
Can we get a corporate coupon policy?
Yes. Will be posted on CVS.com? I don’t think so right now. We tried very hard to impress upon them that this was needed, they were willing to give a little and will be sending an official policy that we can post for you. They want to still have room for individual stores do make decisions based on their area. Logically this doesn’t make sense, something is either acceptable in coupon land or unacceptable – there are no gray areas – but we’ll keep working them.
Store Supply Issues:
We learned that they are implementing a new way to track each stores past sales and use that to reorder. It is not their intention to not have enough promotional items, they actually create a number weekly called “lost sales” calculating just want they could have sold had there been enough for the demand. They did say that it will take a bit for the new calculations to help in store ordering, but still awesome to hear that they are working on it.
We mentioned that they also needed to start factoring in coupons available into their quantities ordered. They said that right now they only factor in that Sunday’s coupons, the general consensus was that they needed to start considering the last 4 weeks at least.
Folks with multiple cards:
We discussed ways to help them link cards together for the same address, etc. to cut down on one person having 6 cards and buying out the entire store. They sounded as if they never realized people did this, so hopefully that was an eye opener for them!
My big takeaway was their focus on getting people to stop throwing away their extrabucks. They are redesigning the way that they look so that folks will feel like it is money, and a few others things to help motivate people to redeem them. One big thing to help with redemption, you now have the ability on CVS.com to reprint any ECB that you haven’t used and have lost the paper version of!! They are still good for the original length, but it’s awesome to get it back if you lost it.
One fun thing they did… they handed me the next three week of CVS ad’s! So for a future deal print this coupon for a money maker starting 6/26:
-$1 off RepHresh Brilliant Tampons Super or Reg printable
Here’s hoping more stores get this open and cool!
Here is a list of some great freebies for father’s day! Show dad that he taught you how to manage money well by taking him to Ikea for free breakfast, Spaghetti Warehouse for free lunch, and Beef O Brady’s for a B1G1 dinner. Top it all off with free yogurt from TCBY and gifts made by the kids and you have a fun and frugal Father’s Day!
As always, be sure to call your location ahead of time to make sure they are participating!
Presents for Father’s Day
Michael’s Make it Take It Days – June 16th (duct tape wallet), June 17th (card), June 18th (key chain)
Home Depot – Father’s Day Kids Workshop (tool box), June 18th, 9 am-12 pm
Pottery Barn for Kids – DUPLO Jams building event, June 18th
Dining Freebies
Ikea – Free Breakfast and Cup of Coffee before 11 am
TCBY – Free TCBY Frozen Yogurt, cup or cone
Spaghetti Warehouse – Free Lasagna or Spaghetti Entree, no coupon necessary
Beef O Brady’s – Free Meal w/ Entree purchase or equal or greater value (select locations)
Fleming’s – $25 dining card for future use when you take dad there on Father’s Day
First Watch Restaurant – free Nike golf ball with the First Watch logo, dine-in only
Do you know of any other Father’s Day freebies?
There is an awesome deal at CVS where you buy Zyrtec 24 Hour Tablets, 5 ct. for $5.99 and get $5.99 back in Extra Care Bucks. This deal already makes the product Free! But now there is a new coupon!!!
Grab this $5 off Zyrtec printable coupon.
You will only pay 99¢ and you’ll still get the $5.99 Extrabuck, which makes a $5 profit!
(thanks Passion for Saving!)
It’s officially summer and instead of heating up the kitchen we are grilling out this week! You’ll notice that the marinades call for staple pantry items, which by now I’m hoping you’ve stocked up on. If not, a lot of these recipes call for similar items so at least you can buy it once and use it multiple nights.
By the way, if you’ve never grilled a peach before, you don’t know what you’re missing!
*These prices are based off of averages and are subject to change weekly
Grilled T-Bone Steak with Easy Barbecue Sauce – Recipe
Beef T-Bone Steaks $3.77 lb (HEB)
Brown Sugar, Ketchup, Worcestershire Sauce & Mustard (stockpile)
(7 Points Plus)
Grilled Summer Veggies – Recipe
Yellow Squash or Zucchini, 99¢ $1.49 lb (Food City, Lowes, Harveys)
Red or Yellow Peppers, $1.50 (Ingles)
Vidalia Onions, 39-79¢ lb (Harveys, Winn Dixie, Publix)
Cooking Spray (stockpile)
(1 Points Plus)
Spicy Grilled Chicken with Salsa Vinaigrette – Recipe
Chicken Breast, $2.19-2.47 lb (Bi-Lo, Winn Dixie, Harris Teeter)
Pace Salsa, $2 (Harris Teeter)
Grilling Seasoning, 2.75-3.4 oz, 99¢ (Bi-Lo or mix your own)
Red or Yellow Peppers, $1.50 (Ingles)
Limes 14¢ (HEB)
Small Avocado, 65¢ (HEB)
Vidalia Onions, 39-79¢ lb (Harveys, Winn Dixie, Publix)
Balsamic Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, Olive Oil (stockpile)
Fresh Express Salad Mix, 6-12 oz, 99¢ (Food City)
Tomatoes, $1.28-$1.69 lb (Ingles, Publix)
(6 Points Plus)
Slow-Grilled Country-Style Brisket – Recipe
Beef Brisket $1.88 lb (HEB)
Brown Sugar, Vinegar, Worchestershire Sauce & Canola oil (stockpile)
(5 Points Plus)
Garlic Herb Grilled Corn – Recipe
Georgia Sweet Corn, 25¢ (Winn Dixie)
(4 Points Plus)
Caribbean Grilled Drumsticks – Recipe
Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks, 99¢ lb (Harveys)
or Chicken Leg Quarters, 2 lb, 89¢ (Winn Dixie)
Lemons 20¢ ea. (HEB)
Brown Sugar, Jerk Seasoning (stockpile or mix your own)
(8 Points Plus)
Grilled Cinnamon Peaches – Recipe
Peaches 50¢-$1.69 lb (Lowes, HEB, Harveys, Food City)
(2 Points Plus)
If you are visiting Southern Savers for the first time after hearing about us this morning, then welcome!
I hope you’ll take a few minutes, and figure out just how easy it is to save a ton of money. Couponing is fun and easy, but also is something that we should all be doing today. Why pay full price when you can always get a deal??
To get started, head over to the learn to coupon section first. This will walk you through step by step the quick methods to be able to save 50-70% off all of your household and grocery purchases.
After that, there are tons of videos you can watch that will also help you learn tips and strategies to save even more!
Lastly, I know you are on a site that is “Southern”. If you don’t live in the south that’s okay we’ll still love you!! There are a number of stores I cover (Walmart, Target and the drugstores) that are actually national lists, whether you live in the South or live in Nebraska you can still use them. You can also use all the printable coupons we have and our coupon database to find coupons on anything you need!
Stick around long enough though and you might find that you love sweet tea and regularly use the word y’all.
Oh, and did I mention that all this is free?
(Thanks to everyone that sent a note that you saw it, you guys are awesome!!)
Here’s the clip if you want to see it again (around 2:15):
You just thought Oprah was gone… nope! Now she’s giving out free oral care products. Head over to her new site to see if you qualify for a Crest Complete Sampler Pack.
Heads up if you tell them you are Male, you won’t qualify. It’s also a good 5 minute survey so be ready to answer a few questions.
Update: Stephanie said on the Southern Savers Facebook page that these are B2G1, so get 3 for free with the 2 coupons!
While you are picking up your 99¢ Pepsi and the other weekly deals at CVS, grab two Free Hershey’s Air Delights with this printable coupon! (Remember to hit the back button for both coupons.)
Can they do a coupon for a free gym membership next?
If you are one of the first 500 to visit Tropical Smoothie Cafe on Friday June 17th with flip flops on you will receive a free smoothie!
This deal is in celebration of National Flip Flop Day! It’s really a big fundraiser that Tropical Smoothie does annually to raise money for Camp Sunshine. So while it’s free I encourage you to donate a little bit to help support an amazing place for kids and families dealing with life-threatening illness.
We have gone for the last 4 years to our local Tropical Smoothie and it’s a lot of fun!
What better way to celebrate dad on a hot summer day than with FREE TCBY Yogurt?!?
Dads will be able to get a free cup of frozen yogurt at participating locations this Sunday, June 19th!
As always, call your store ahead of time to make sure they are participating!
