How to Save at CVS Now That You Can't Stack Coupons (2024)

Most of us have used a coupon at some point, whether you ripped it out of a newspaper insert or accessed it via an app. But advanced couponers know that using one coupon is just the gateway; the real path to savings is by stacking them. By combining manufacturer and store coupons and other offers (such as rebates), you can catapult your savings from modest to the point of almost getting stuff for free.

But stacking up coupon savings is no longer the ultimate hack for saving money at CVS. According to store employees I heard from, cashiers were previously to be able to easily override the register system to accept more coupons—which could dramatically increase your savings. But now, it seems, the company is cracking down on that activity.

How couponing at CVS used to work

If you shop at CVS regularly, you’re not fazed by how comically long your receipts are—because you see them as a source of major savings. Ask a CVS fan how much they save just by using store coupons that print on the bottom of their receipts and they’ll tell you: sometimes $10 to $20. Sometimes more.

Say you approached the register with two coupons.

Coupon 1: $10 off a $35 purchase of a particular item type (these are usually for something expensive, like vitamins)
Coupon 2: $6 off your next purchase of $30

Under the old system, you could usually use both coupons so long as, according to this example, your total was $35 or more. That’s a stack.

But that doubling-up move isn’t possible anymore, because the register system now upholds the fine print that’s been at the bottom of those dollar-off coupons all along: “Limit of one purchase-based coupon, i.e., $4 off $20 purchase, per transaction.”

On Reddit, users in r/CVS recently debated how dollar-off coupons are calculated, and whether the practice had changed. A store manager concluded, “The computer just got smarter and you can’t stack coupons anymore.”

“One day, coupons just stopped stacking,” a shift supervisor in Maryland told me. They said that the company didn’t communicate any changes to coupon rules or the register system, but one day over the summer, “They took the option off the register for us to be able to override coupons,” to force the system to accept them if they don’t ring through automatically.

A CVS spokesperson told Lifehackerthe store’s policy regarding “what coupons are accepted or can be used in combination with one another has not changed recently.” The company did not respond to my question about whether any changes had been made to the point-of-sale system that would impact how coupons can be redeemed.

Maybe frequent shoppers wouldn’t be alarmed by the changes to their ability to redeem coupons at CVS if the store wasn’t so damn expensive. CVS is notorious for its high prices. Profitero, an ecommerce analytics platform, recently released a report comparing prices across the web, indexing online prices for major retailers to Amazon. According to Profitero’s analysis, CVS was 52.3% more expensive than Amazon on 130 beauty products, 60.6% more expensive on 16 household products, and 64.5% more expensive on 183 products in the vitamins and supplements category.

How to save money at CVS now

If you’re truly a fan of this chain, you can still save at CVS with a combination of couponing and common sense.

Accept that drugstores aren’t cheap

The first tactic goes back to that old rule about not shopping when you’re tired or hungry—or in the case of drugstores, desperate for that bottle of cold medicine or box of diapers. Pharmacies tend to have higher prices than big-box stores and grocery stores, so shopping there on a whim for items beyond your prescription drugs can force you into overspending quickly. If you don’t already know the item you need to buy, the price you can expect, and whether you can save money on it (via the store’s sale, coupons, cash-back apps, or rewards savings), it’s best not to even go inside.

Read the fine print on every single coupon

If you’re already in the store, whether due to desire or desperation, take a look at your ExtraCare coupons and their restrictions. (ExtraCare is the store’s free loyalty program, and if you’ve ever shopped at a CVS, you’re probably in it. Ask the cashier to try your phone number if you’re not sure.) You’ll want to make sure that you hit the spending threshold for each and every coupon you have that offers a dollar amount off a purchase of a certain amount (ex: $6 off $30). These are the ones that won’t stack; you can still combine percentage-off, CarePass rewards, and ExtraCare Bucks with each other or with dollar-off coupons.

Learn the rules for CarePass rewards

If you have CarePass, CVS’s paid membership program, you should keep in mind the restrictions for using your member perks.

CarePass members receive a $10 off coupon each month on the day your membership renews. If you don’t use that coupon on a transaction of at least $10, you lose the remainder of the coupon. There are quite a few things you can’t use that coupon (or most CVS) coupons for, so keep these conditions in mind:

May not be redeemed for alcohol, lottery, money orders, prescriptions and co-pays, pseudoephedrine/ephedrine products, postage stamps, prepaid cards, gift cards, newspapers and magazines, milk (where required by law or regulation), bottle deposits, bus passes, hunting and fishing licenses, any imposed governmental fees or items reimbursed by a government health plan.

Also keep in mind that the CarePass standing offer for 20% off CVS Health items (the store’s line of over-the-counter medication and other products) is for health items only. It’s not valid on Beauty 360 items or other store brands. If the CVS Health item you’re buying is already on sale, you won’t get an extra 20% off via CarePass.

Visit the coupon kiosk

One last tip that could make your life a little better: Stop by the kiosk at the front of the store to scan your ExtraCare card. It’ll spit out a long strand of coupons that’ll have your regular coupon-laden store receipts looking puny in comparison. But once those coupons print, scan your card again. There may be more coupons tailored to your purchasing history in there. The kiosk will tell you when you’re (finally) out of coupons for the day. And if you can’t use any of the ones you get, you can always use them as a scarf.