Budget Rx

With Reed's recent breathing problems and multiple follow up appointments with our pediatrician, we suddenly found ourselves making frequent trips to the pharmacy. So we took those prescriptions to Rite Aid and received $30 gift cards for each one.

Now with gift cards in hand, I've been using these in two ways. If you are familiar with CVS and Walgreens, then you probably know about Extra Care Bucks and Register Rewards. Well, Rite Aid has a similar rewards program called Single Check Rebate (read Sue Stock's detailed explanation of the Single Check Rebate program here). If you look at Rite Aid's weekly circular, you'll notice some items are listed with the price after rebate and even FREE after rebate. Those are the SCR deals! And for additional savings, you can even use coupons on the rebate items you're purchasing. With the first gift card, I bought a few of the cold medications that were listed as free after rebate that week. So I will receive a rebate check back on those items for nothing out of pocket! And the beauty of the SCR, is that your receipt information can be entered online. Which means I can then use my actual receipt for other mail in manufacturer rebate offers!

In addition to the rebates, I've also been using the gift cards as a supplement to the grocery budget. There were a few items I needed during the past week in which I didn't have any coupons or there just weren't any real good sales to pair my coupons with. So those items I picked up with the gift card. Saving my coupons for later and helping to keep the grocery budget trim!

I've seen prescription gift cards offered at all the major drug stores in our area - CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid. And even big box and grocery stores with pharmacies like Target, K-Mart, Kroger and Harris Teeter. So the next time you find yourself with a new prescription or are in need of getting a new prescription refilled, check out what the drugstores are offering in your area!