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Archives for 2012

Publix: Free Medications Program

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Daniel Oines)

My Publix not only supplies food for my family, but they also provide certain medications for free.

When my recent cough lasted over two weeks, I decided to see my doctor. She examined me and ruled out an ear infection. However, my congestion needed a fast-acting medication since Mucinex was not working.

Since I get ear infections easily and the congestion sometimes results in an ear infection, my doctor prescribed a decongestant and a 10-day supply of Amoxicillin.

On my way home, the girls and I stopped by our local Publix (for a cookie and) to fill the antibiotic. My pharmacist accepted my Amoxicillin prescription and filled it at no cost to me.

This scenario occurs at least once a year in my household. I have filled many antibiotic prescriptions for my family members at Publix pharmacy. All at no cost to me.

In stretching your dollars, the Publix Pharmacy Free Medications Program may help. Besides certain antibiotics, this program also offers free Lisinopril! (usually for high blood pressure) and Metformin (usually for diabetes). For more information on this fantastic program, visit Publix’s Free Medications Page.

As I care for my entire family’s health, Publix helps me in stretching our dollars while getting the medications to keep us healthy. In using time wisely, you can benefit as well. Just drop off a participating prescription at your Publix with no forms, no limits, and no cost. Happy savings!

McDonald’s: McCafé Frozen Strawberry Lemonade for a Quarter

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Photograph Credit: McDonald's

On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, McDonald’s is offering their small McCafé Frozen Strawberry Lemonade for $.25 from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Having heard about this promotion via a television advertisement, I looked on McDonald’s web site and Facebook page for an announcement and found none.

Before heading out, I recommend calling your McDonald’s to verify this promotion, which might be regional.

My children are going to love this after-school treat, especially when they get to make a trade with Mommy’s quarter. 🙂

Enjoy!

2012: Spring Break Activities

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Tata)

The time of constant hand washing, nose blowing, watery eyes, and bottles of Benadryl are upon us. Allergy season has sprung. With the cool temperatures and sunny days, my kids enjoy playing outsides, but we pay for it later with sleepless nights.

In keeping a balance between fun activities and not aggravating my family’s allergies, I enjoyed planning our spring break. Since our school’s calendar parallels a college schedule more than grade school schedules, we have an early spring break. During that week, our family had a blast without breaking the bank.

Monday: Dinner Party

To recover from our weekend, we remained home to finish laundry, tidy the house, and prepare for our evening visitors. My children spent the day playing, relaxing, and helping.

My son enjoyed writing the names of our dinner guests on the name cards while my daughter helped pick up the toys and match the newly laundered socks.

By the time our guests arrived, we had a clean home, the table set, and dinner ready. Our family enjoyed the special time spent with my son’s teacher and her husband. What a great start to our fun spring break.

Tuesday: Play Date

With a clean house, we invited our friends over to play. During this time, my children practiced sharing their toys and teaching their friends our family rules. All six kids played well together which ended with naps for my girls in the afternoon.

Wednesday: Bounce House Day

Back in September, I purchased two LivingSocial deals for a total of $18. The offer was a 4-visit punch card to a local bounce house for $9 each. As each admission is regularly $6 per child, I saved 63% by purchasing this deal. In fact, the deal was so good, I purchased two of them. Since our family had not visited this establishment, we went not knowing what to expect.

Wow! Impressive! Since most children were in school, we had the entire room to ourselves. I used our LivingSocial voucher and received two punch cards. After using three of the 8 punches on this visit, we get to return again.

My children enjoyed running, sliding, jumping, riding the toys, and bouncing the rubber balls really high. I enjoyed the enclosed space behind a solid door and carpeted floors. Though I would prefer better lighting, we had a great time and will return again for another fun visit.

Thursday: Another Bounce House Day

We visited our favorite bounce house next. I used a voucher purchased in October from LivingSocial for $7 which included admission for two. This deal was a 50% savings. Yeah! For our third admission, I used a free pass saved from our summer reading reward.

Though I would have liked to space out our bounce house trips, we worked around the plans of our friends and the events at the bounce houses. Our spring break occurred during St. Patrick’s Day week, so some of the bounce houses had special events on Thursday and Friday.

In choosing days that were less busy, we enjoyed having the bounce house to ourselves. Though a few families came and went during our stay, we mainly had the place to ourselves.

After a few hours of indoor play, we went outside to climb and swing on the new playground equipment. With others on the equipment, my children had playmates for part of their adventures. 😉

A little too sunny for pictures 🙂

Friday: Visiting Grandparents’ House

After a full week of fun, my children opted to forgo visiting a new indoor playground establishment. (I purchased a daily deal for admission which we will try at another time.)

Tired out, my children chose to have lunch with Daddy and relax at home. So, we packed our lunches, drove to Daddy’s office, and enjoyed an outdoor picnic before visiting some of his co-workers.

During the evening, Paul and I enjoyed a long-overdue date night (using a Groupon, of course 🙂 ) while our kids spent special time with Grandpa and Grandma, who love to spoil them.

Saturday: Planting our Garden

Our spring break came to a close with the start of our garden. Paul built the frame, and then we planted our herbs and vegetables. Stay tuned on Thursday’s food posts for updates and pictures of our garden’s bounty.

  

Though allergy season arrived early, we planned around the outdoor activities and enjoyed our spring break. Planning ahead, using vouchers from daily deal sites, and adjusting to your family’s needs will result in a fantastic spring break.  If need further inspiration for spring break activities, our family participated in these events last year.

In using time wisely, enjoy your spring break while taking a break from your regular routine. Happy planning!

Question: What are you planning for spring break?

Store Policies: Not All Locations Operate in the same League

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Steven Depolo)

With soccer season beginning, I know the rules of the game will be the same, but the regulations for choosing the sideline, seating for spectators, and distribution of snacks differ from league to league.

Knowing the game rules alone does not create confidence in a player in a new league. To gain confidence, the player participates and learns how to substitute, where to put his gear, and how to succeed on and off the field.

Shopping at your grocery store involves the same confidence. Just knowing the sales and the coupon match-ups alone does not create confidence in the shopper. To gain confidence, the shopper must practice and learn her store’s policies.

My Publix Shopping Trip – Unfamiliar Store

While out running errands with my girls on March 6, I stopped by a Publix near our insurance office. With Wednesday to Tuesday sales’ dates, I needed to gather my savings since the new sales began the next day.

The girls and I shopped and then headed to checkout. When the cashier took my coupons, she looked them over. Upon noticing that my Mueller’s pasta coupons expired on February 29 (the first day of the sale), the cashier refused to accept them. Confused, I asked for an explanation. She indicated that this Publix location does not accept expired coupons, even when the coupons expire within the sales’ week.

Since I was not familiar with this store’s policy, I asked the cashier kindly to remove the pasta boxes from my transaction. I paid for the remaining items, took my Mueller’s pasta coupons, and left the store.

My Publix Shopping Trip – Familiar Store

Later in the day, I stopped by my Publix store. I gathered the Mueller’s pasta and salad dressing on my way to the checkout station. Mr. Mike was working, so I chose his lane. After scanning my items, he took my coupons, noticed that the expiration date was within the sales’ week, accepted my coupons, and I paid the difference – $2.03 for 10 boxes of Mueller’s spaghetti and 1 bottle of Wish Bone dressing. Mission accomplished!

 5 Lessons Gained

1. Management dictates the store’s policies.

Though both stores carried the Publix name, the management policies differed. You may find one location with more meat specials while another expands the coupon policy. In this case, the first store has a narrow coupon policy where my favorite Publix offers a broad interpretation of the coupon rules.

2. Location matters.

Armed with your shopping list, store coupons, and manufacturer coupons, you can experience different results depending on where you shop. One store may allow a substitution for an out-of-stock product while another will just write a rain check.

3. Stay firm in your coupon knowledge.

If you know that another location will accept your coupon, then remove the item from your shopping cart. Don’t feel pressured to give-in to their store’s policy. I knew that my store would honor the coupons. Confident in my Publix’s store policy, I refused to pay $5 that I knew I could save at another location. If I had been unable to shop at my familiar store that day, I would have by-passed the sale. For me, I refuse to pay for what I know I can save.

4. Know your store’s policies.

When I enter my Publix store, I immediately head to customer service to get coupons. While waiting for the employee to retrieve them, I ask questions. From these interactions, I have learned that my store honors certain competitor’s coupons, double coupons up to $.60, offers a scholarship program, and accepts coupons that have expired during the current sales’ week.

5. Shop at your familiar store.

In using time wisely, I will plan my errands more carefully to include my Publix. By shopping in my store, I will save money (use my coupons), energy (quick trips after knowing the store’s layout), and time (one stop verses two locations in one day).

If you have a less-than-perfect experience using your coupons, don’t give up. Try another location of the same store. You may find that your favorite location is not the one closest to your home. Just because one store regulates the store policies differently does not mean you need to give up the coupon game. Keep using coupons, just find another league. Take heart; it happens to all of us. Happy savings!

Question: What store policy turned you off to a store or location?

Social Media Platforms: Which ones are your favorites?

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Simmi Behal)

Currently, Using Time Wisely is only available on Facebook. With Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other social media platforms, I would like to branch out of my comfort zone.

However, I’m not sure where to go. Which social media platforms are your favorites?

Other than Facebook, what added social media platforms would you recommend for Using Time Wisely? I’m looking for platforms that you find beneficial. Any tips you have to offer are greatly appreciated!