Free Money from CVS!

I know you've heard the tales of people going into CVS and coming out with $153.97 worth of stuff for $1.09 (or something similar...you get the picture, basically free stuff). I know you're wondering how on earth they do it...and is it really legal? If you read my On a Mission: Using Couponing to Make the Budget Work post, then you know about the couponing seminar I attended and that I received some very practical and do-able instruction on how to "play the grocery game." And if you have attended one of Jill's Coupon Seminars, you know it is definitely possible and definitely legal when properly executed.

The title of this post and introductory paragraph are a tad bit misleading, since I haven't actually "done the CVS thing" yet, at least not in full force. I'm still putting my strategy together. But I was very blessed today:

I took my middle stepson to the doctor (a doctor's office copay was not necessarily in the budget...wonderful) today and she wrote two prescriptions (great...prescriptions weren't in the budget either.) BUT then I remembered that I had just received in the mail in the last week or so a mailing form CVS that included two free $25 gift card coupons for new or transferred prescriptions. I had two scripts, so that's $50 free from CVS!  Of course, you couldn't use the gift card to pay for the prescription, and I could only use one coupon that day, so I'll have to take the other prescription in tomorrow to get the gift card (and use the gift card I got today to pay for it!).

The doctor instructed my stepson to eat candy, specifically sour candy, like Sour Patch Kids, which happens to be his favorite candy in all the whole wide world. I looked through the CVS sale paper while waiting for the prescription and wouldn't you know it, the big bags of Sour Patch Kids candy was on sale for Buy 1 Get one for 1 cent. Only problem was, there was only one bag. So I got a raincheck for the deal, plus another raincheck for a bag of Sour Patch Kids candy for a penny. A sour situation turned sweet...how ironic, that's just what the candy does! (There's a good reason for the doctor telling him to eat sour stuff...to flush out his saliva gland, which is either blocked or infected. He was quite happy with that prescription!).

I was internally lamenting just last night that I just didn't have much to spend at CVS and it seemed like I would never "get this CVS thing going" and then today, I get $50 free from CVS. I'd say that's a good start! I'm so glad I didn't throw those out, which I almost did because we hardly ever have to get prescriptions.  I won't actually have $50 to get the CVS ball rolling as I spent $8 today of the first $25 gift card, and will need to spend $15 tomorrow for the second prescription, leaving about $2. But going in to CVS with $25 and a plan to procure as much free or ridiculously inexpensive stuff as I can sounds very, very workable!