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{Review} Walgreens Balance Rewards Program

September 24, 2012 by · 5 Comments

If you follow my blog, you know I’ve been shopping Walgreens for years. I’m such a dork, because I know all this trivia information about them–which is why I’m pretty loyal to them. I have a child with special needs and am very active in that community. Well, there was a gentleman by the name of Justin Dart. He got polio at the age of 18 and lost the use of his legs. He went on to become the son-in-law of Charles Walgreen, and was very instrumental in the growth of the company. He actually ended up divorcing Ms. Walgreen and went on to marry again. He was quite a colorful figure. Among his accomplishments, he is pretty much known as the father of the ADA act that was signed into law in 1992 I believe. When the first President Bush signed it, Justin Dart got the first pen–which is pretty significant. So now people with disabilities everywhere can thank Justin Dart whenever they now have access to a facility they couldn’t access before. And, Walgreens has a significant history of working with and hiring people with disabilities in the company. Needless to say, as a mom to a special needs child, it tugs at my heartstrings and that is why I like Walgreens.

So when Collective Bias put out invitations to do this shop for the Walgreens Balance Rewards program, I begged to be considered! Even before I signed on to do this, I had been promoting the program because I thought it looked interesting.

Walgreens rewards, balance rewards program

Getting ready to go!

My first step was to sign up for the Balance Rewards program. I had already done that, but I had to install the app on my tablet. It comes in Android or Apple apps. Ok, done! Next, I checked my ad to prepare for my shop. The program is pretty simple. When you purchase items that are giving points, you get points. 1000 points translates to $1. When you reach a $5 threshold, you can cash out and spend them, in the store. You do not have to spend them, you can bank them. I love this concept because it means that I don’t have to track paper things anymore. Paper things that get lost at the bottom of my purse only to expire. Right?

walgreens rewards, balance rewards

I looked at the ad and found a few things I needed. I was excited to see the trash bag deal because trash bag deals are hard to find and we were on our last few. They were on sale for $5.99 with 1000 points back, so I grabbed two. Next, I found a toilet paper offer and got that. There was lots of Halloween stuff on sale and I was thrilled to find the little trick or treat playdough things for $0.96! Both of my kids go to ‘nut free’ schools so it’s really hard to find treats sometimes. This fits the bill and one pack will cover both of their classes. My little guy talked me into buying the Sponge Bob Halloween window clings, but he was being good, so I was ok with it.

walgreens, balance rewards

Ready to check out.

Took everything up to the register to check out. And #FAIL. This part was my fault though–my tablet wouldn’t load the app while I was in the store for some reason. My 3 year old loves to use our tablet, but he loads it up with tons of junk. He knows how to install apps, but he doesn’t know how to read. So we end up with a bunch of junk sometimes that clogs up the unit and we have to go in and delete a bunch of stuff. I think that’s what happened, because I couldn’t get anything to come up, not just the #BalanceRewards app. Luckily, if you don’t have a smartphone or you can’t get the app for some reason, it works on your phone number too. I punched that in and voila! It worked.

I ended up with some good deals and 2000 points on my account. I was able to use both Walgreens coupons from their monthly booklet and some manufacturers’ coupons. Overall, I really like the program and definitely see us using it a lot. Since it will take my phone number, I think I can probably even get my husband to use it. I encourage you to sign up if you haven’t already done so, and check it out!

To see more of my photos, visit my Google+ album. You can also find Walgreens on Facebook and Twitter. On my special needs parenting site, I have more on Walgreens and their commitment to helping the disabled community, as well as some photos of my boys and me with a Justin Dart statue (told you I was a dork!) at Disability Pride Philadelphia Day.

2000 points to start

I am a member of the Collective Bias Social Fabric Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Sponsored, Walgreens sales, deals, clearance finds and coupons Tagged With: , ,

On Facebook? Here are 4 free or cheap Facebook apps you should have.

September 17, 2012 by · 1 Comment

 

I love Facebook. Sure, it can be a giant time suck and a pain sometimes, but I love reconnecting and keeping in touch with old friends and family. I love seeing pictures of other people’s kids and seeing how they are growing. I love following my favorite local businesses and charities and other groups–it’s like my whole world is just in one place. Here are some apps that I use to make my Facebook life easier and less time consuming. I also use them for the safety factor–like last week I was on vacation, but prescheduled a bunch of stuff and no one can tell if I’m home or not! It also allows you to take days off, if you do social media for a job.

1. Post Planner–Post Planner has a free app and several paid versions. I use the paid version with custom branding. You may have seen it on my Facebook page, where it says “via Smart Spending Spot.” That’s my custom branding to the app. I like Post Planner for several reasons. I joined it for the ability to pre-schedule posts. Yes, Facebook now allows this as an option to Facebook, but you can’t do repeat like you can on Post Planner. So, for instance, near the end of every week, I post a reminder for you all to check the Sunday Coupon Preview, to see what’s coming in this week’s paper. Facebook would only allow me to do that one time, with Post Planner I can set it to repeat weekly which helps. Also, some bloggers occasionally get temporarily locked out of Facebook, because the bots think you’re spamming the place even when you’re not. With Post Planner, I can still get on and post, even if Facebook has locked me out. I can also pre-schedule something to post to several pages at once, which is great if you manage multiple Facebook pages like I do. Again, the Facebook option only allows for you to do it one time on one page or profile. With Post Planner you can do groups and everything. You can also add other authors and page admins on to one app.

2. Treat-This is new, today is the first day I’ve used it and I LOVE it! Just go to the Shutterfly Homepage and scroll down to where it says “Treat.” Treat is a division of Shutterfly. You link it to your Facebook page and it will use all that information and photos. Then you can make birthday greetings and birthday cards! How cool is that? You can even sit down and do a bunch at one time, and schedule them to post when it’s the person’s birthday or special occasion.

fb apps

3. IFTTT-IFTTT stands for “If this, then that.” Again, you can link a bunch of your social media accounts to each other. One option that I have used it that if IFTTT sees that I did a Facebook, status update, it automatically published it to Twitter. You can choose from over a dozen different networks.

4. BirthdayFB-Link this to your Facebook account and it grabs all your friends’ birthdays, at a week at a time. You can then preschedule messages to them. Never miss a birthday, and again, it’s another safety thing because it will make it look like you’re home even when you’re not.

5. Are you Smarterer-Ok, this one is just for fun. But I love little trivia quizzes like this, and Smarterer has a ton of them. There’s regular trivia, Disney, Pinterest and more.

 

Ok, well, that’s 5, not 4. Consider it a bonus, because now I don’t want to change the graphic I made. Have fun with it, and hopefully you’ll be saving some time on Facebook.

Filed Under: Random Tagged With: ,

Support “No Kid Hungry” and get a $5 coupon to Macaroni Grill (Joe’s Crab Shack deals added too)

September 6, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
no kid hungry

Click logo to see what you can do to help.

This month is Hunger Action Month, to help end hunger in America. If you read the studies–the numbers of children that are going hungry in this country is astounding.

Here’s what more than 1,000 K-8 public school teachers have to say about childhood hunger in our schools:

  • 3 out of 5 teachers say they have children in their classrooms who regularly come to school hungry.
  • 4 out of 5 of those teachers say these children come to school hungry at least once a week.
  • A majority of teachers who see hunger as a problem believe the problem is growing.

If you click that logo above, you’ll see many different options for helping. But there’s also something fun and easy you can do too.  Just visit any Macaroni Grill and donate $2 towards Share our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger. In return, you’ll get a $5 coupon. How easy is that?

ETA: Another blogger friend alerted me to the following: Joe’s Crab Shack is doing something like this too. Donate $1 get a free slice of pie for dessert, donate $5 get a free nacho appetizer, donate $10 get a free steam pot. You can redeem the gift cards between October 1st & December 31st.

Filed Under: Random Tagged With: ,

Giveaway: The Oogieloves In the BIG Balloon Adventure

August 25, 2012 by · 26 Comments

Last week I had the opportunity to take my kids to a pre-screening of The Oogieloves In the BIG Balloon Adventure. We also had a chance to meet and chat with the creator, Kenn Viselman (you may know his name from Eloise, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Teletubbies) and writer, Scott Stabile.

While we moms chatted with them, the kids had their own adventure, Oogieloves Camp. They learned songs from the movie, decorated re-useable lunch boxes, and had an all around good time.

I loved getting a chance to hear the vision behind  The Oogieloves and what drives them in their pursuit of creating movies that are good for the whole family. I can tell you that as a very picky mom, I have zero issue with my kids watching the Oogieloves. They go beyond the requirements for G rated movies, even petitioning the MPAA to allow there to be a special new rating for a movie that is 100% kid friendly.

Instead of needing to have good and evil or adult humor, they keep it fun, keep it happy and full of love. With big animation, fun bright colors, and lots of interactive opportunities, this is one of the first time your kids can go to a theater and just be a kid. It’s meant to be fun and noisy and bouncy. Let your kids have fun with the Oogies coming to theaters Oogust 29. Even better, know you can take them without worrying about what they are going to walk around saying or waking up to their nightmares. Before you go, check out the Parent Guide at www.oogieloves.com. I especially loved the cameos of different artists – Toni Braxton, Jaime Pressly, Christopher Lloyd, Cloris Leachman (hysterical),  Chazz Palminteri and Cary Elwes.

Thanks to the Oogies, we get to give one of YOU, our readers, the awesome prize package pictured below. oogieloves

 

Tent
Mobile
Glitter Tattoos (2)
Stickers (2)
Beach Balls (2)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received the opportunity to review this movie, along with my children in order to give you my honest opinion. As always, all thought and opinions are my own and reflect my personal views.

Filed Under: Contests & Giveaways, Kids & Families, Random Tagged With: , ,
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