The holidays are a season of plentiful joys. Find your own plentiful joys this month at CVS with multiple deals. In addition to Extra Care Bucks and weekly sales, grab up a few happy holiday savings while they last.

Here are some options.

Gift Cards:

• For every $25 worth of Gift Card by Email (eGift Card) purchased, the purchaser receives a $5 eGift Card
• Limited time offer
• You will receive one eGift Card based on your total purchase.
• To receive the gift card, you’ll need to make your purchases online at CVS.com
• eGift Card purchase total is limited to $150 per single transaction.

Get Extra Reward Bucks for Spending in Store and Online

• Online you’ll get $10 off a fifty dollar purchase, $15 off a sixty five dollar online purchase or $20 off an eighty dollar purchase.
• In stores, the Extra Care Bucks will reflect when you make a purchase via your register receipt. Save these for the next purchase at CVS. Most stores are giving $5 off a $25 future purchase.

Use Your Green Bag to Gain Bucks

• Every fourth visit, when you bring your CVS Green Bag in for bagging purchases and have your card scanned, you’ll get an extra buck reward.

Save on Photo Gifts

• Take 20% off on every photo gift you buy at CVS. You’ll find a series of gifts that are sure to please, from calendars to posters and photo books and save merrily on each one.

Coupons on Purchases

• Visit CVS online to print out coupons for $3 off Hershey’s chocolate or over 20 other products. Don’t forget, most CVS will let you stack store coupons with manufacturers’ coupons for added savings.

Kohl’s is cornering the market on the early birds this year, with Black Friday sales starting in store at 4 a.m. Boasting over 300 sale items, from toys to housewares to clothing to jewelry, you’ll likely find something for everyone (and yourself) along their aisles.  Due to the economy, many people (including myself) are shopping for necessities during these super sale days. You’ll find a range of items slashed over 50 percent, including coats, sleepwear and every woman’s favorite- shoes.  No dummy to marketing, Kohl’s has Wal-Mart beat by an hour for their opening sales.

If holiday shopping gets you frazzled with bustling crowds, a maze of sale items and burgeoning kiosks, you can make use of Kohl’s online tools for creating a shopping list. Simply go to Kohl’s online and click the tab, “create a shopping list” and scroll through the volumes of pages or search by item. Then select and print! This, by the way will save you money if you stick to that list. Take time if you can, to stop by your local Kohl’s before opening of Black Friday sales. ( I suggest stopping late Wednesday evening, since displays will be in place in most stores then).  See where your items are located in the store and you’ll save even more time hunting these bargains once frenzied shoppers hit the doors at 4 a.m.

In addition, take time on a pre-game shopping excursion to try on items or pick colors. You’ll find this saves you ALOT of time later if you know not only where, but specifics of what you’re going to bag.  Also, ask a sales associate if there are any items that will be moved once the stores are closed Wednesday night. Some store associates have given me hints on location of items and on occassion have informed me of additional discounts or hot buys that I may have missed in circulars.

-Remember, there is no savings for the sleepy or the late shopper- Kohl’s sales end at 1p.m. ( In years past this was promptly on the hour). So get there early to make the most of selection and deals.

Here are a few of the deals to look forward to:

When it comes to coupons, most people make costly mistakes. Avoiding those common pitfalls is easy and you’ll actually double (or even triple) your savings with a little knowledge. I’ve used coupons for nearly twenty years now, and have successfully raised a gaggle of five kids on little more than thrift, resourcefulness and sheer will power.  To me, couponing is a sport worthy of Olympic quality skills and training.  You can’t just clip coupons and expect to maximize savings. Strategy is essential.

Here are the top four coupon pitfalls to avoid:

1. Using coupons without a sale. Some people are content to use coupons at face value. It’s true this does keep save cash, but you’re missing out on the best value when you don’t investigate sales. Like poker, you need to know when to “hold ‘em and when to fold them”.  The only exceptions to this rule are items that aren’t offered for sale routinely or if you are in dire need of a certain purchase.  
2.  Not comparing competitor prices: You should get in the habit of laying out Sunday flyers and comparing deals. You will find, most weeks, similar products offered for sale. It’s very likely to save the most cash you’ll have to go to two or more stores. Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens are in direct competition with each other so check their sites for the best prices.
3. Forgetting to use coupons on buy one, get one free products:  Most, (not all) retailers will let you use one coupon for each item on a buy one get one free deal. This means you usually can use a coupon on the free item also. You will knock that amount off the total price and bring the overall cost down significantly.  Try doing this at CVS, Walgreens, Kroger’s and K-Mart, as these retailers typically allow this process.
4. Not using a rewards card to its capacity: Reward cards, like CVS and Kroger’s, offer added savings, couple those with coupons and you’ll save a bundle. The same goes with using a rewards credit card that pays cash back on your purchases. Some like Discover will give you 5% back on purchases. If you pay off your credit card each month, you are saving by using your card on top of coupon use.

Coupon use is a strategy that takes some initial investment of time. As you improve on knowing when sales are offered, and understanding how to stack these, the time factor will diminish. However, do plan on about an hour a week to compare prices and lay out a shopping game plan.