A CVS triumph!

So now that I've been playing The Drugstore Game for two months, I've finally come to understand that the real pros make it work by combining things they need with things they don't need that give them ECBs. I still don't get how they do all the calculations so that they're only spending a couple of bucks each week, but I am apparently getting better at it.

I felt so triumphant when I left CVS today. I walked out with a package of Bounty Basic paper towels, which were on sale for $4.99 for 8 rolls, a Venus Embrace razor, and a tube of Aquafresh toothpaste, which was free after ECBs. I used a $3 off $15 purchase coupon, a 25-cent coupon for the paper towels, a $4 coupon for the razor, and a $1.50 coupon for the toothpaste. I also forked over $7.98 in ECBs and paid $1.81 out of pocket. I got $5 in ECBs for the razor and $2.99 in ECBs for the toothpaste. So for once, I got things I actually needed, paid only $1.81 out of pocket, and still have the same amount of ECBs as when I started.

I walked out of CVS a little stunned and more than a little pleased that I had actually managed to play the game at the highest level, so to speak. (Well, the second highest level, anyway. A true expert wouldn't have spent more than a dollar.)

I only wish this transaction had been accompanied by a magical epiphany enabling me to calculate all deals in a similar fashion from now on. Alas, the deepest secrets of playing the Drugstore Game at CVS still elude me ...