I've got another great timeshare story! A friend of ours has a timeshare at Disney and received a mailing from them letting her know that if she could get her friends to spend a 1/2 hour on the phone with them talking about their latest offerings, she would receive a $25 Disney gift card (which is only good at the Disney properties) and so would her friend.
So, my husband and I each called Disney. My friend received two $25 gift cards. My husband and I each received a $25 gift card which my friend bought from us. So, she made $50 and we made $50!
Not a bad deal...and in the end, the marketing folks at Disney hadn't prepared all the materials they needed for this promotion, so it literally took 5 minutes on the phone with the Disney people to get this!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Another Way to Save on Prescriptions
It would appear that my cholesterol is not as good as I'd like it to be. I've been on cholesterol meds for a while now and although it's better, it's not good enough. The doctor explained something about particle sizes and drew little things on the tissue on his exam table...while all the while I worried what this next problem was going to cost me!
He wanted me to take a new medication in addition to the cholesterol meds I'm already on, so my first question was "is there a generic for it?", my second question was "is it on the Walmart $4 list?". Unfortunately the answer to both questions was "no". But, my doctor gave me a brochure about the drug and in it was a card that allowed me to get this new prescription for $5/month for the first year instead of the $60 it would normally cost. All I had to do was call the number on the card to active the membership, and answer a few questions about my medical conditions, which they said would remain confidential. Then I took the card to the pharmacy and sure enough...$5!
So, this is a savings of $55/month or a total of $660 for the year.
It definitely pays to talk to your doctor and explore all of your options!
He wanted me to take a new medication in addition to the cholesterol meds I'm already on, so my first question was "is there a generic for it?", my second question was "is it on the Walmart $4 list?". Unfortunately the answer to both questions was "no". But, my doctor gave me a brochure about the drug and in it was a card that allowed me to get this new prescription for $5/month for the first year instead of the $60 it would normally cost. All I had to do was call the number on the card to active the membership, and answer a few questions about my medical conditions, which they said would remain confidential. Then I took the card to the pharmacy and sure enough...$5!
So, this is a savings of $55/month or a total of $660 for the year.
It definitely pays to talk to your doctor and explore all of your options!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Take a look around the house...I bet you have things you're not using too!
My husband and I are both pack-rats! Which has worked out to be a good thing for us in the end. I'm also an organization freak, so every once in a while when I can't take the clutter anymore, we go through the house and clean out. I've been in "organize" mode for a while now, so we've been finding things that we bought for projects and never used. Still in the original packaging, still with the price tags on them, still in the original bag. Just never used.
Most stores will take these things back, regardless of how long ago you purchased them, but won't give you cash. They'll give you a store credit. Well, I guess that's better than having the un-needed item cluttering up your house, but it still doesn't give me any extra cash.
Then came the brainwave...just because I don't need the credit in that particular store, doesn't mean that someone I know can't use it. My most recent example: we returned fertilizer and grass seed to Home Depot and had a $72.00 credit. We have no home improvement projects on the horizon, but my friend Donna is re-doing her bathroom and her husband is constantly at Home Depot. I gave the credit to Donna, she gave me $72 cash and I was a happy camper!
It definitely pays to think "outside the box"!
Most stores will take these things back, regardless of how long ago you purchased them, but won't give you cash. They'll give you a store credit. Well, I guess that's better than having the un-needed item cluttering up your house, but it still doesn't give me any extra cash.
Then came the brainwave...just because I don't need the credit in that particular store, doesn't mean that someone I know can't use it. My most recent example: we returned fertilizer and grass seed to Home Depot and had a $72.00 credit. We have no home improvement projects on the horizon, but my friend Donna is re-doing her bathroom and her husband is constantly at Home Depot. I gave the credit to Donna, she gave me $72 cash and I was a happy camper!
It definitely pays to think "outside the box"!
Monday, November 9, 2009
A&P Policy
Last week my husband went to A&P to buy some ground beef for a recipe he was making. The circular said it was on sale for $1.99 per pound, but when he got to the register, it rang up as $2.99 per pound. Confused, he spoke to the cashier who called over the manager. Apparently the circular price was correct but someone in the store had neglected to mark the new price on the product. The best part? They gave it to him for free!
The next day, he realized that he needed more ground beef, so he went back and had the same experience a second time. When the manager came over he asked about the procedures, and found out that A&P has a policy that states that they'll give you any product marked incorrectly, for free, if it's under $10.00.
So...we got $19.o0 of ground beef for free!!! Love those little-known store policies!
The next day, he realized that he needed more ground beef, so he went back and had the same experience a second time. When the manager came over he asked about the procedures, and found out that A&P has a policy that states that they'll give you any product marked incorrectly, for free, if it's under $10.00.
So...we got $19.o0 of ground beef for free!!! Love those little-known store policies!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Locks for Love
I have a couple of friends who have done this, and I think it's such a wonderful cause! You can donate human hair, longer than 10" to this wonderful organization and they make wigs for children with cancer from the hair.
I've often spent far too much money on cuts, color, highlights, low-lights etc. on my hair. But, in the past year I've been just touching up the roots myself at home (or, more accurately, my husband has been doing it for me). I FINALLY had enough hair to donate it, so I went to an adorable salon in South Amboy NJ called Belle Allure. Claudia Malik cut my hair for me. They wash it first, then put it in a pony tail and cut it wet. Then she cut the short hair that was left into a cute style!
The best part is two-fold...First I did something good for kids with cancer. Second, I got a free haircut! Yup, that's right! A lot of salons will donate their time for this very worthy cause. I gave Claudia the tip I normally would have given her, but the $45 haircut was absolutely free!
I feel like a whole new person, and I totally recommend Claudia, Belle Allure (www.belleallure.net), and the Locks of Love (www.locksoflove.org) program.
I've often spent far too much money on cuts, color, highlights, low-lights etc. on my hair. But, in the past year I've been just touching up the roots myself at home (or, more accurately, my husband has been doing it for me). I FINALLY had enough hair to donate it, so I went to an adorable salon in South Amboy NJ called Belle Allure. Claudia Malik cut my hair for me. They wash it first, then put it in a pony tail and cut it wet. Then she cut the short hair that was left into a cute style!
The best part is two-fold...First I did something good for kids with cancer. Second, I got a free haircut! Yup, that's right! A lot of salons will donate their time for this very worthy cause. I gave Claudia the tip I normally would have given her, but the $45 haircut was absolutely free!
I feel like a whole new person, and I totally recommend Claudia, Belle Allure (www.belleallure.net), and the Locks of Love (www.locksoflove.org) program.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Enjoying Wine With Our Dinner
My husband and I usually enjoy a glass of wine with our dinner, and found a pretty good local wine for $9.99 a bottle for "every day". We usually save the good stuff for company and special occasions and drink the "cheap" local stuff when it's just the two of us.
BUT...we just discovered Oak Leaf Vineyards wines. Apparently we were the last to know! When we mentioned it to our neighbors, they said "oh...everyone knows about that"! So, since we didn't know about it, I'm figuring there may be other people like us who've never heard about this either.
For $2.97 a bottle this stuff is really drinkable! I'm certainly no wine connoisseur, but we've also spent a fair amount of time in Napa and Sonoma as well as Tuscany sampling wines and I like to think I know something drinkable from something disgusting! This stuff is a real surprise! So much so, that we just went back and bought a case of it. So, for 12 bottles that's $35.64, which saved us $84.24.
I'm thinking that's a pretty good bang for the buck!
BUT...we just discovered Oak Leaf Vineyards wines. Apparently we were the last to know! When we mentioned it to our neighbors, they said "oh...everyone knows about that"! So, since we didn't know about it, I'm figuring there may be other people like us who've never heard about this either.
For $2.97 a bottle this stuff is really drinkable! I'm certainly no wine connoisseur, but we've also spent a fair amount of time in Napa and Sonoma as well as Tuscany sampling wines and I like to think I know something drinkable from something disgusting! This stuff is a real surprise! So much so, that we just went back and bought a case of it. So, for 12 bottles that's $35.64, which saved us $84.24.
I'm thinking that's a pretty good bang for the buck!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A very calm dog!
Cocker spaniels are notoriously high-strung dogs, but poor Wyeth is particularly crazy! He's the sweetest, smartest, most loving little dog in the world, but he is nervous, pants all the time from stress, and continuously runs around the house until he finally falls asleep. We kept thinking he'd grow out of it, but he's 6 1/2 now and it seemed to be getting worse, so we finally talked to the vet about it.
Poor little Wyeth is now on Prozac twice a day. It's definitely made a difference in his quality of life, and my sanity! He still gets nervous in the car and when it thunders, but mostly he's a normal dog these days!
The problem, was that the vet was charging $54/month for Reconcile™ which is the brand name for the generic drug fluoxetine. For people it's called Prozac®. It's exactly the same drug! So, I had my vet write a prescription for Wyeth, and I took it to walmart. For $6 I can get the generic fluoxetine that will last Wyeth one month, for a savings of $48 every month.
Walmart pharmacy is a great source of savings for us. Both my husband and I have switched all of our prescriptions to the generics that are on their list. Our doctors were very helpful in suggesting alternatives in a few cases when our prescriptions were not part of their plan. So, even though we have a prescription plan through our medical insurance, we no longer use it very often because this is so much less expensive!
Check it out: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=546834&fromPageCatId=14503
Poor little Wyeth is now on Prozac twice a day. It's definitely made a difference in his quality of life, and my sanity! He still gets nervous in the car and when it thunders, but mostly he's a normal dog these days!
The problem, was that the vet was charging $54/month for Reconcile™ which is the brand name for the generic drug fluoxetine. For people it's called Prozac®. It's exactly the same drug! So, I had my vet write a prescription for Wyeth, and I took it to walmart. For $6 I can get the generic fluoxetine that will last Wyeth one month, for a savings of $48 every month.
Walmart pharmacy is a great source of savings for us. Both my husband and I have switched all of our prescriptions to the generics that are on their list. Our doctors were very helpful in suggesting alternatives in a few cases when our prescriptions were not part of their plan. So, even though we have a prescription plan through our medical insurance, we no longer use it very often because this is so much less expensive!
Check it out: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=546834&fromPageCatId=14503
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
