Carol Craig, FL
I LOVE CVS
I am sure most of you have heard of or shopped in Eckerds at least once in your life.
I used to shop there occasionally. When I found out that our Eckerds stores were being converted to CVS I really started to pay attention to what was being said about them on Chit Chat. Boy, am I glad I did!!! I live a state of no doubles and expensive shopping. You really have to hunt here to find your good deals. Our grocery stores are Publix, Winn-Dixie, and Albertsons. Wal-Mart Super Center just moved into the neighborhood.
CVS came to Florida around the end of 2004, and thanks to everyone on the chat board I learned how to shop there before they opened their doors. I was soooo excited. I have 4 stores that I shop every week. Most of the time I go to each store more than once a week. They have the BEST clearance mark downs. You dont have to wait for months to see how low they will go. Usually within 2 to 3 weeks everything that is clearanced is marked at 75% off or sold out. I have bought literally thousands of dollars worth of merchandise for a few hundred dollars after coupons and most of that was tax.
I try to donate to our local YWCA womens shelter and mens half way house whenever possible. I never thought about using the donations as a tax deduction until I saw it mentioned on Chit Chat. I sure have learned a lot from reading about the experiences of others and getting some wonderful advice.
As you can see in the pictures, my daughter Dawn and I set up at a flea market for a weekend and made $400.00 after rental space fees. Everyone that was a regular shopper at that particular flea market was very surprised at our prices. We priced everything at half of what it sold for in the store. No one asked us to cut our prices. What a difference from selling at a yard sale. One of the most frequently asked questions was When will you be back?
That weekend we decided to make flea market selling a once a month event. We have been stocking up on clearance from CVS and saving our FARs from Walgreens and other rebates. We also watch the mark downs at our local grocery stores. I got a lot of Winnie the Pooh bandages, Dr Scholls foot creams and various brands of shampoos for free after coupons, just to mention a few. I usually buy 6 or 7 newspapers every Sunday. I love the free coupons that occasionally appear.
My daughter seems to find better deals than I do. Most of the time she has been able to find stuff marked down to 25 cents or less. I can only find those deals if I use coupons. We live about 150 miles apart and most of the time our CVS stores have different products marked down or the same products but different prices. One night Dawn was in Walgreens with a friend of hers who had to pick up a prescription. One of the clerks saw them looking at the clearance items. The clerk told them that everything was being marked down to 25 cents, so if they wanted it they better get it now. She purchased a shopping cart full of products for $25.00. A few days ago Dawn went into CVS and right at the front of the store they had some of their trial size items marked down to 90% off. She got lots of stuff for 10 cents or less.
I dont know how I managed to only shop at Walgreens and Kmart before CVS came to town. I just wasnt as excited about using coupons as I am now. Now I cant wait to get off work to shop. Sometimes I even skip eating lunch to shop. That must be another sign that you are a RCer. You read about the deals and just have to go out and get them. And the BEST part about one of the CVS stores is that they have a scanner. That store is the slowest about marking their clearance. Yeah for me. I get to buy it before other people know about it. But I ALWAYS leave some for others. I try to be generous. But if the next week the product is still there
.its mine.
I want to thank everyone on Chit Chat for posting your great buys at CVS. I never get a chance to post any deals myself. I dont have the time to do the scouting, only the shopping. We have a great family on RC chat and I read the posts everyday. I pray for those that need prayers and give a big congrats out load when someone has a great shopping or mail day or wins a great prize. And I ALWAYS laugh at William and his posts. You should have been a comedian, or at least a comedy writer. Thanks Michelle for a GREAT website.
CAROL CRAIG, West Palm Beach, Florida
