Transfer Rx = get $

Nothing fills me with more glee than getting gift certificates from transferring prescriptions from one pharmacy to another (or dropping off new ones). The fiance and I have amassed a collection of around $300 worth of gift certificates in the past 6 months. Due to the economy and my current lack of employment, this fills our minds at ease. If need be, even if both of us were unemployed (which thankfully isn't the case) we could eat and have enough basics for 3 months without worry). I usually keep one or two gift cards in my purse for low balances, especially for drugstore purchases.

However, there are some rules for doing this. Some states don't even allow gift cards to be given with prescriptions, thankfully, Maryland isn't one of them. But some of the other general rules are:

1. Limits for using them:

• Rite Aid used to only let you use 1 coupon every 6 months - to my knowledge they have since changed their policy.
• Safeway only allows you to use 1 coupon every 3 months - though I think maybe our pharmacy just made this up since it isn't on the coupons - check your local pharmacy.
• Giant won't let you use a coupon if they recognize you from another time. Basically, there's no policy but the Giants I've frequented don't like giving you free money. Thankfully, there are several Giants close to our apartment so we just alternate.

2. What they can be used for:

• Most drugstores won't let you use their giftcards to pay for more medication (although I've seen some people go into Giant and use giftcards at the pharmacy - double check before you go).
• Most drugstore and supermarkets will not let you use their gift cards to purchase more gift cards (especially ones for other stores).
  
• There may be other stipulations, when in doubt, check the coupon or ask customer service.

3. Limit on transfers: In this situation I only know of 1 stipulation - though I'm not sure if it's only with this one particular pharmacy or not. The last time I was at Rite Aid, the pharmacist said that controlled substances could only be transferred 1 time. I haven't done the necessary research to conclude whether this was true or not but just wanted to forewarn others.

Otherwise, transferring or filling something you are definitely going to use to get you some free grocery money is certainly helpful and frugal!

Hooray!

I went to another Giant today to try to find $15 gift certificates and I lucked out! I'm not counting the $25 I spent out of pocket today to buy these gift cards, since gifts are not a part of my "grocery" budget, but I spent $25 and got the following, even the cashier was excited!

$15 Itunes (for my brother)
$15 Itunes (for my dad)
$15 Starbucks
$15 Starbucks
$15 Starbucks

= $75 worth of gift cards

So it turned out not to be "too good to be true" after all. I'm fairly relieved.

It was absolutely disgusting today but I might go out before the evening is over to Shopper's to get some stuff for the double/triple coupon promotion, although, really, we are rather stocked over here so I'll only be buying free after coupon or very very cheap after coupon items.

Giant & CVS

Thanks to Money Making Mom for revealing the sweet deal I got at Giant today (and I'm going to go back to finish it shortly). In this week's circular there is a deal where you buy 3 of a P&G product and you get a $10 voucher for a gift card (which excludes Giant and a couple others). Crest toothpaste is on sale for $2.99 (plus there are coupons in the most recent P&G coupon insert. Old Spice deodorant is also part of this deal and is 2/$5 (making it $7.50 total even without coupons for a free $10 voucher). I'm about to see if there are any Old Spice coupons to use, but I did 2 rounds of the deal with Old Spice and 1 round with Crest (only 1 per transaction). There is also a coupon from the Sunday Washington Post on page A19 for a free dozen eggs with a $20 or more purchase. I also had a 5% off coupon for filling 3 prescriptions at the Giant pharmacy.

I also stopped at CVS, first of course due to perishables, and am going to redeem the $15 giftcard for buying 2 of Olay in a little bit. There were $5 off coupons in the latest P&G coupon insert (sensing a trend?) and the moisturizer was on sale for $17.99. Doing the deal makes the Olay products $5.49 each (or nothing if you have lots of Extrabucks to burn through from Black Friday like I do). Not the best deal, but great for gifts.

Anyway, on to the purchases:

|CVS|
$17.99 Olay Regenerist moisturizer
$17.99 Olay Regenerist moisturizer
$2.99 Colgate Advanced
$8.99 Complete 12oz contact solution (December EB deal, free after EB - limit 2)
$8.99 Complete 12oz contact solution (December EB deal, free after EB - limit 2)

- $1.50/1 Colgate
- $2.00/1 Complete
- $2.00/1 Complete
- $5.00/1 Olay
- $5.00/1 Olay
- $2.99 Extrabucks
- $6.00 Extrabucks
- $6.99 Extrabucks
- $6.99 Extrabucks
- $6.98 Extrabucks

= $12.05
- $.63 CVS money card (from returns or price adjustments)
- $.02 CVS money card (from returns or price adjustments)
- $10.01 Amex rewards (leftover from fiance)
= $1.39 Oop

Received the following in Extrabucks:
$17.98 for the Complete
$2.00 for the Colgate
= $19.98 in Extrabucks!

|Giant|
I did this trip in 3 different transactions and am going back for 2 more (so I have $50 worth of vouchers to get either 1- $50 or 2- $25 giftcards.

transaction #1:
$9.00 6 packages of Healthy Ones turkey breast (on sale for 2/$3)
$8.06 4 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast (on sale $1.99/lb)
$1.13 3.42lbs (at $.33lb) ripe bananas
$2.29 loaf whole wheat bread
$1.23 1.24lb sweet onions
$2.84 2.87lb mcintoch apples
$1.59 200 coffee filters
$1.99 large white eggs
$2.29 unbleached flour
$2.99 Crest toothpaste
$2.99 Crest toothpaste
$2.99 Crest toothpaste

- $1.97 (or 5%)
- $1.99 free large eggs with $20 purchase
- $1/1 Crest
- $1/1 Crest

= $34.02 Oop (recieved $10 giftcard voucher)

transaction #2:
3 Old Spice deodorant

= $7.95 Oop (received $10 giftcard voucher)

transaction #3:
3 Old Spice deodorant

= $7.95 Oop (received $10 giftcard voucher)

As I said, I'm going back to do the deal 2 more times, and I will certainly be over budget this week, but thanks to the giftcard vouchers, it will be worth it. Also, I'll have some things to donate to not only the shelter, my younger brother in college and the fiance (who wears Old Spice), but I'll have $50 worth of giftcards, making the out of pocket expenses minimal.

Total out of pocket will be $65.82 (less if I can find some Old Spice coupons) and I will get $50 in giftcards. Not too shabby considering I also bought groceries that have nothing to do with this deal. If I didn't include the grocery amount, it's $47 out of pocket, for $50 in giftcards.

Safeway and Questions about giftcards & rebates

As I found previously when I asked questions to my readers, or make that reader, well, that about sums it up. It seems not a lot of folks read this, but, where do you count rebate dollars in your budgets? For example, a few weeks ago I bought items to do the Kelloggs deal. I haven't submitted the receipts/UPCs yet (I plan to next week) but which budget do I add the $10 to? The week I receive the money? The week I purchased the items? For CVS bucks it is easy because I get them right away and don't count them during the one shopping trip in my Out of Pocket, because I am still paying the out of pocket amount... however, when I do use them, I subtract them as I would coupons. Rite Aid I haven't had to worry about because I've been using giftcards for all of my purchases. Speaking of giftcards...

I've been trying to limit my giftcards when I buy my weekly grocery items. I know that in a few months if I used the Giant gift cards every week, my budget will look nothing like it does now. I try to alternate places I shop with giftcards and without (I do most of my grocery shopping at Safeway which is a place I have no giftcards for - Giant, we will shortly have $54 worth of giftcards - but I only bought some meat there last week). So what does everyone do? Do you space it out? Do you use them right away and roll over the budgeted money to another week? Do you consider gift card money as spent in your budget and count the money spent but then deduct the savings and put them somewhere (say in a high yield savings account)? What do you do?

We are expecting a pretty awful storm/hurricane this weekend, Hanna here in the northeast so I decided to go food shopping today in case I can't go out over the weekend. I went to Safeway which is starting to be my favorite store to shop (it helps it is right across the street).

What did I buy?

$2.50 Dark Chocolate Chex Mix (this is highly addictive but so good)
$.69 can of corn
$.69 can of peas
$4.99 bottle of extra virgin olive oil
$2.64 3 Powerade
$3.00 3 Gatorade
$2.50 tortilla chips (the boyfriend wanted them after he saw them sitting for the luncheon yesterday)
$2.50 Snyders pretzals
$2.25 3 Yoplait creamy lights
$3.00 YoPlus 4 pack
$2.50 Activia 4 pack
$5.49 Scrubbing Bubbles scrubber (will get full amount back in rebate)
$3.99 Scrubbing Bubbles cleaner
$2.50 Arnold 100% wheat bread
$.50 marked down turkey breast (sell by 9/4)
$.50 marked down turkey breast (sell by 9/4)

- $1/1 Powerade
- $1/1 Powerade
- $1/1 Powerade
- $1/1 Activia
- $1/1 YoPlus
- $.60/3 Yoplait
- $.75/1 Scrubbing bubbles
- $.60/1 Chex Mix

= $33.60 Oop

(Will be mailing in rebate to get $5.49 back)

Running tally for this week: $57.87/$59.22