balance rewards - Stuff Parents Need

Walgreens Vaccine #GiveAShot Program Is Awesome!

October 1, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This vaccine shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.

Have you ever had the flu? I had it once when I was 11 or 12 (kept me out of school for a week!), and then I had it once again last year.

IT. IS. HORRIBLE. I have been getting my flu vaccine every year for about 10 years now, including last year. And no, I’m not giving up on flu shots just because I wasn’t protected from the particular strain that came my way last year. I believe that the immunization has kept me well every single year, and that it DID effectively keep me from suffering from other strains of the flu. Even though I had some bad luck last year, I’m totally a believer! Especially now, when there’s absolutely no good time for mom to get sick. Our whole world was turned upside-down for about 3 days last year while I slept day in and day out.

My girls also came down with the flu last year, just 6 days after receiving their vaccines. I got them to the doctor for their vaccines later than I planned, and there ya go…they got exposed to the flu before their shots had a proper chance to protect them. My youngest was just 6 months old when she got the flu.

Can you imagine my guilt level? Pretty darn high!

Convenience

So why did I wait so long (I waited until the very end of November). Honestly, the answer is convenience. Their pediatrician is a 25 minute drive away. My doctor is 20 minutes, and I might well have waited that long to get my own, even though I really believe in them, had it not been for the convenience of Walgreens.

Walgreens offers adult vaccines at many of their stores during pharmacy hours, with no appointment needed. Most health insurance plans are accepted. Additionally, you get 500 points on your Balance Rewards card when you get an immunization. There are many great reasons to head to Walgreens for your immunization needs. And while they most definitely offer the flu vaccine (very important this time of year), they also have the HPC vaccine, HPV, Hepatitis vaccine (and Hepatitis b), shingles vaccine, and travel immunizations.

#GiveAShot

But the most awesome reason I want to highlight has to do with getting two shots for the price of one. No, I’m not suggesting that you get a flu shot in both arms this year. But rather, that you take advantage of the Give A Shot program and Walgreens running now through October 14 in partnership with the United Nation’s Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign. Walgreens is ready to donate up to 3 million vaccines to children in high need areas all over the world, and by getting a vaccine for yourself, you’ll also be giving a life-saving vaccine to a child who needs it!

All you have to do to potentially save the life of someone else is walk into your nearest Walgreens and get an immunization that can help you out in some way, as well. You don’t even have to make an appointment! Make it a point to find yourself in a place like this sometime this week, ok? It’s a life-changing decision!

Walgreens Has Pharmacists Available 24/7 to Answer Questions!

January 20, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 4 Comments

When I was growing up, we never EVER had Advil in our homes. I can’t recall exactly why, but my mother seemed to be terrified of the stuff, especially for children. She drilled into my brain to never take Advil if someone offered it to me when I wasn’t feeling good.

So I always thought that Advil was bad for kids. I was genuinely shocked as an adult to find out that children’s and even infants’ Advil even exist. Isn’t it vile and evil?!

And then I realized that I was making an assumption based off a hazy memory planted by my “freak out about everything under the sun” mother. Perhaps I should look into this more, myself.

I knew that Walgreens Pharmacy offered the ability online to chat with a pharmacist at any time of day or night, absolutely free. Isn’t that awesome? So I went online early in the morning (that’s when most of my computer work happens each day) to see if I could connect with a pharmacist. It was around 6 am when I logged into my Balance Rewards account (you have to be a member…it’s totally free), found the Walgreens 24/7 Pharmacy Chat button, and posed my question. I was chatting with a pharmacist within about 3 seconds of logging on. That was awesome! No having to wait on hold or leave a message for a nurse to call me back.

I found out in just a few minutes’ time that Advil is what you should reach for when a child needs anti-inflammatory properties. An example would be when an injury has been sustained. Perhaps there has been some swelling…that’s a good time to reach for Advil over acetaminophen. Both can be used to treat fever, though.

After better understanding the main benefit of Advil, I thought it would be a good idea to have some on hand. I headed out to my local Walgreens to get some Advil for the girls. If you want to see everything I scored on this trip, check out my Google+ album!

It just so happens that Walgreens had an awesome sale on children’s and infant’s Advil this week. I assumed that I’d need to buy the store brand to save a bit of money, but Advil, itself, was such a great buy!

Advil was on sale for $4.99 (regularly $6.99) and if I bought 2, which I was already planning on doing, I could get an additional 2,000 balance rewards points, which is basically like getting an additional $2 credit to spend in the store. Woo hoo!!!

And let me mention one other awesome thing that happened while I shopped at Walgreens. I decided to switch my prenatal vitamin prescription to the store, because right now they are offering a $25 gift card for transferred prescriptions! What a smokin’ hot deal! My gift card totally paid for the Advil and my other purchases, and I even have a little left over for my next trip! Also, now I can easily request refills of my prescription from my Walgreens mobile app. It couldn’t be easier.

Additionally, if you join or renew your membership to the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club, you can get a $15 bonus! I really appreciate all the ways that I am made to feel part of the Walgreens community. This company seems to care about me as a customer, and offers me multiple ways every single week to save big. They know most of us are on tight budgets, and I appreciate their efforts.

I’m really glad that I’m no longer afraid of Advil. It turns out, there really is a place for it in my medicine cabinet. And more importantly, I have now used and can recommend the pharmacy chat button to anyone. This is an EXCELLENT resource for new parents who might have questions about medicines for their kids or side effects. For example, children under the age of one are very limited in the types of medicine they can take. Before you assume that it is “probably fine” you should ask a pharmacist! And since dosages have recently changed for children’s medicine, it is always a good idea to check with the pharmacist to make sure you are administering over the counter medicines to your children correctly. Walgreens pharmacists are very quick with their responses. Better to take 3 minutes to be sure than to make a mistake. Take advantage of one of of the many Walgreens innovations!

And it doesn’t matter when you have the question. You don’t have to wait and call during business hours. Hop online as soon as you think of your question. Walgreens will be there, ready to help you become #HappyHealthy.

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. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

My Triumphant Return to Walgreens: Who Needs Coupons with Deals Like This?!

September 18, 2012 · by Tiffany Merritt · 5 Comments

I used to rock out with coupons every week. I vividly remember stocking up on diapers for Darah when I was pregnant (this was before I knew about cloth!). I amassed 6 months’ of diapers for her, and paid, on average, about 25% of the retail cost per package. It was pretty awesome.

I stopped couponing for about a year after Darah was born just due to a lack of time. Once I got her into a parents’ day out program and once we found our new rhythm in Chattanooga, I got back into couponing. And once again, I got wonderful deals, largely at drugstores like Walgreens. I routinely saved between 50-75% on stuff I needed, as well as stuff I could save for later.

But as soon as morning sickness with baby#2 set in, I was off the couponing wagon. And I have yet to get back on. I’m just short on time, folks! I’m sure you can relate.

But here’s the weird thing: I’ve noticed that because I don’t use coupons anymore, I feel as though I shouldn’t even visit my favorite drugstores. It’s like I have this mentality that if I don’t know how to maximize the deals for the week and get all those Register Rewards then there’s no point in even trying. So I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been in Walgreens in the past year. And I used to go every single week! I think in some weird way I felt as though I would be a failure if I shopped without all those coupons.

But just this past week, Walgreens unveiled a new program that is SUCH a good thing for people just like me: the ones who love to save money but who also need to save time. They now have the Balance Rewards program, and Layah and I ventured into the store I used to frequent to get signed up and see what all the buzz is about. You can see my full shopping experience (including two diaper changes BEFORE we got out of the house! Sheesh!) in my Google+ story here.

Here are some highlights:

This is my (little) big helper, Layah. I successfully got her in the car, finally! She’s ready for our adventure.

I signed up for Balance Rewards at the front register. The salesperson was very helpful and had me all set up in 3 minutes!

I was THRILLED to see that Walgreens sells milk at a competitive price. This is actually cheaper than what I pay at the grocery store. I’ll be back for milk next week, and the week after, and the week after…

JACKPOT!!!! Walgreens had all their summer toys marked down by 75%, and the selection was great! May I suggest that you make a stop at your nearest Walgreens today to see if you have the same good luck I had? 🙂 I bought several cool gifts for our gift closet (those birthday party invites keep rolling in!).

I learned all about some of the great features of the rewards program, such as the fact that if you can build up your points a little bit more, your payout rate improves ($50 for 40,000 vs. $5 for 5,000 points). And please check out the pharmacy chat option that Walgreens offers its customers!

When looking through the sale flyer, I was really impressed with some of the point earning opportunities. By spending on Zyrtec and/or Children’s Benadryl (which you’ll likely need at some point this fall!) you get 10,000 points, which is basically like getting $10 back!

While I have a dinosaur model of the iPhone, those of you who are slightly more up-to-date will most definitely want to download the free mobile app. You can keep track of your points balance on your phone, shop online (oh heck yes! Free shipping with orders over $25 and under 10 lbs!), and even ask a Walgreen pharmacy professional a question. Gotta love a store that takes the convenience factor to a whole new level.

Walgreens is definitely on the cutting edge of offering a variety of ways for its customers to save time AND money. I’m so very glad I got over my fear and stepped back into the store. What I found waiting for me were great deals galore!

You can keep up with all the latest and greatest Walgreens happening by following them on Facebook or Twitter.

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. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.