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I know I’ve shared some of my favorite Walgreens shopping trip savings with you, in past posts, and have never made a secret about how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their Register Rewards program. So, I’m pretty excited to let you know about TWO new Walgreens programs/features that will simplify your shopping and provide even [...]
I know I’ve shared some of my favorite Walgreens shopping trip savings with you, in past posts, and have never made a secret about how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their Register Rewards program. So, I’m pretty excited to let you know about TWO new Walgreens programs/features that will simplify your shopping and provide even more great savings. Since saving money out of the budget, to grow your family’s savings is as important to you, as it is to me, I knew you would want to know about both of them. (And just as a reminder, and for a little motivation, since I haven’t mentioned it in awhile; all it takes to save $1000 in a year, is to set aside $19.24 each week. Without even adding income, if you simply trim that $19.24 from your existing budget, you will have $1000 in your savings account in one year’s time.) You can definitely do that! And these exciting new programs from Walgreens, may give you a great place to start, in doing it.
The Walgreens home page at www.walgreens.com. The banner at the top made it super simple to go right where I needed to get started for signing up for Balance Rewards.
First of all, you need to get signed up for the Walgreens’ Balance Rewards Card. It’s simple to do and once you have it the benefits are great! Whether you’re shopping in the store or online, once you have a Balance Rewards Card, you’ll be earning points and receiving exclusive, member-only pricing on many of the items you already purchase every day. Plus, you’ll be earning loyalty points for the money that you spend. Then those points are redeemable for products, as you shop! Gotta love saving money!
I already have a Walgreens account so I signed in, but you can get a Walgreens account from this screen, if you don't have one.
Once I signed in, my username and email address were pre-populated, so I only had to choose a password.
Woohoo! How simple is that? I'm official, now!
After I secured my Balance Rewards membership, I noticed that Download App button (see picture, above) in the bottom left corner. I was on my way to adding the Walgreens App to my smart phone. It works whether you have an iPhone or an Android. This is probably the coolest shopping app, ever! Coupons EXCLUSIVE for users – you can’t get them anywhere else AND you don’t have to print them. The cashier can just scan them right off your phone! The app allows you to see the entire weekly ad, right on your phone, as well as the in-store savings book, full of coupons. You can also use the app to refill your prescriptions or order photos. You can place an online order and have it shipped to your home. You can find the closest Walgreens or transfer prescriptions. Basically, you can handle many day-to-day activities and errands from your phone – while you’re sitting at the park, waiting at a traffic light, on your lunch break at work — wherever you happen to be with your phone in hand. Convenience AND saving money! I am SO excited about that! Honestly, there isn’t much I’d change about this app, at all. The two things that did stand out were: 1) I wish I could earn and use my Register Rewards and coupons through the app and 2) the Main menu page needs some sort of obvious navigational directions, to let users know that it’s a two page menu. I actually spent a little over an hour trying to figure out how to shop with the app, before discovering there is a second page to the menu and figuring out how to get there. I would have felt pretty silly about it, except that I also contacted their customer service department who told me it wasn’t possible, at first, and then discovered for the first time for themselves, that it was.
Getting the app on my phone was super simple. Once I clicked the icon to download the app, I chose my platform, Android, and was taken to the Google Play store, where they automatically determined that the app was compatible with my phone and provided a button to click, in order to install it.
The Walgreens App is right on my phones home screen. Easy to find and use!
Page 1 of the Walgreens App. Can you believe all the options!?!
This is page 2 of the app, where you can actually enter the online store and shop. It took awhile to find it, but now that I have, I love the convenience of being able to take advantage of a sale, no matter where I am. And remember, with an order of at least $25, shipping is FREE!
I was able to take advantage of some great sale prices on shampoo, conditioner, body wash and hand soap -- right through my phone! Using a coupon code when I checked out, made the prices even cheaper!
I entered the coupon code BUY4, during checkout, to receive an additional $5 off an order of $30 or more. Because the total was still $25.99, I received FREE shipping. No drive time or gas money wasted -- instead of driving 30 miles to my nearest Walgreens, I saved time and money and had the products delivered right to my door! They arrived in only 3 days! Nine items for only $27.63!
Checking the ads before I shop, helps me plan exactly what to buy and how best to save.
I can even check out the in-store coupon book, before going to the store!
I can order photos or design a custom greeting card!
I can transfer a prescription or refill it. I can simply scan the UPC with the scanner built into the app!
I can even check my brand new Reward Card Balance!
These two new programs are another example of why I love Walgreens for saving me money and even time! Get a complete picture of my download and shopping experience by visiting my Google+ album. You can also check out more details about both of them on the Walgreens website, and be sure to follow Walgreens on Twitter and Facebook, so you stay up to date about specials, promotions and who wins the ONE MILLION points for pre-registering for the Walgreens Balance Rewards Card. Maybe it will be you!
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I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Walgreens #CBias #SocialFabric
This page will grow over time. It’s going to be a place for excellent ideas and tidbits that don’t really merit their own full blog, but are too good not to share. #1 Green Onion Tops for Free! I saw this tip on the Food Network (my secret obsession). They were having a competition to [...]
This page will grow over time. It’s going to be a place for excellent ideas and tidbits that don’t really merit their own full blog, but are too good not to share.
#1 Green Onion Tops for Free!
I saw this tip on the Food Network (my secret obsession). They were having a competition to find the next Food Network Star and the woman who won in the end, Melissa D’Arabian, shared this most amazing tip. It was blowing my mind that this might actually be possible, so before I proclaimed it as gospel to all of you, I tested it in my own kitchen. It absolutely works!
Cut the tops from your green onions and use them for cooking, but place the root ends in a glass of water in your kitchen. In a couple days, the roots will generate brand new green tops. I’m not sure how long this can go on, but I am on my second “sprouting” and having good success. Change the water every day or two, so it doesn’t get cloudy and enjoy fresh green onion tops to season all your favorite dishes.
#2 Bulk Cooking Rice in Your Crockpot and Freezing Successfully
I love fresh rice, but I don’t always remember to start it early enough to be done with the rest of the meal. I could buy the “minute” varieties, but they are SO much more expensive. You can make fluffy, delicious rice (white or brown) in your crockpot and large quanties of it are only pennies. The average 2 cup bag of rice is around 50¢ and will yield about 5-6 cups! Cooking it ahead and freezing in recipe portion sizes, means you will always have time to add rice to a “quick-fix” meal.
Start by rubbing a tablespoon of butter over the complete inside surface of your crockpot. This will help to prevent sticking and add a slight bit of flavor. Add 8 cups of water, a teaspoon of salt and 4 cups of the rice of your choice. Cover crockpot and set on high. Your rice will take 1½ to 2½ hours to cook as crockpots can vary somewhat. After the first 1½ hours, check at 30 minute intervals to see if it is done. Mine almost always takes the full 2½ and it will seem like it isn’t cooking at all until the last half hour or so.
When all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, immediately dump it into a large strainer and rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking. This step is critical if you plan to freeze it for future use. Forgetting to rinse it cool, now, will result in sticky rice, later.
Drain the rice thoroughly. Divide into zip-top freezer bags, pressing them flat as you seal them, so your bags store neatly in a small amount of space.
I freeze rice in quart-size bags. To use the frozen rice, I put the zip-top bag in the microwave for about 5 minutes. The bag puffs up as the steam builds and the rice reheats, perfect and ready to serve. If you don’t want to use the bag for reheating, any microwaveable dish with a tight-fitting lid should work great.
