Three Small Ways to Go Green and Save Some Change

Saving the environment and saving your wallet have many things in common, one of them being that others might frequently remind you that the only way to really make a dent is to completely overhaul current behaviors.  But while that may be true, that doesn’t mean that small changes aren’t a step in the right [...]

This Week’s Five Loyalty Deals

Loyalty programs are already set up to reward customers for their frequent patronage by offering points, miles, or exclusive discounts.  But sometimes there are periodic promotion periods in which the reward system is ramped up either to pick up sales during a down time or simply to encourage continued customer loyalty.  Either way, there are [...]

Soon, No More Free Trips for Eating Your Veggies

Travel is not the only source of frequent flier miles.  With proper planning, you can often score miles through online shopping, credit cards, and evening dining out.  But another source of miles – grocery shopping – is soon to dry up.  Safeway recently announced that, as of February 28, 2010, it will no longer award [...]

Double-Dipping: Making the Most Out of Your FSA

If the deadline for using your 2009 FSA contributions is March 15, 2010, here is a great way to use them up and earn extra money. CVS is currently running a Double Bucks Program from now until March 15, 2010.  This means you can earn 4% on CVS brand items (versus 2%) and $2 for every [...]

Start the New Year with a Bang – for Your Buck

We are back from the Holidays with some tips to help you tackle your financial resolutions for 2010.  Let’s start with three simple things to do during this short work week: Sign up for free loyalty programs and emails from your favorite stores, including the local pharmacy you frequently visit. As covered in previous posts, [...]

Best Buy Makes Changes to Its Loyalty Program, and You May be Out

In July, we wrote about Best Buy’s Reward Zone loyalty program, showing how it fit into our strategies for double/triple dipping on points and bonuses when shopping.  As of the end of this week, however, the Reward Zone program may no longer be that great of a deal. On October 31, 2009, Reward Zone rules [...]

Get Rewarded for Recycling

Printer ink cartridges can take up to 1000 years to decompose.  To encourage recycling (and cut costs by reusing), many ink companies include postage-free return envelopes with their ink cartridges.  But if you want a bigger nudge for helping the environment, try Staples’ ink recycling program.  Staples gives $3 in store credit for each ink [...]

Get a Gift for Transferring Your Drugs: a battle between pharmacies

Rite Aid and CVS are both giving $25 gift cards for each prescription transferred to their respective stores, as part of their efforts to draw in customers from each other.  Take advantage of that battle. To get the deal, you should bring your empty prescription bottles/ boxes and present the coupon for a $25 gift [...]

Get the Coupons, Get the Groceries, Skip the Clipping

If you, like most people, don’t like grocery coupons because of the hassle of clipping, filing, and sorting through them, there is an online solution for you.  We all know about getting coupon codes or printing coupons online through manufacturer, supermarket, and independent sites, but a Procter & Gamble and an AOL website offer something [...]

A Note of Encouragement

I am a firm believer in loyalty programs, but I know that with some of them it almost feels pointless to give your number/card since it looks like it could take years to reach a reward level.  But these past two weeks were great for me on that front, and I want to offer you [...]