I'm posting a link to Walgreens 101 that explains both the rebate program and the deal on Register Rewards. Tonya requested it but even if you feel like you are experienced at WAGS like I feel like I am, you might learn something from Money Saving Mom's post, I know I did.
One of my big complaints about Walgreens has been the way they tax, which seems to be on your pre-coupon amount. In the link she explains how hopefully to avoid that by giving the cashier your coupons in a particular order. Its worth a try!
The important things to remember about Register Rewards are:
1. you cannot use a RR from the cough medicine deal to do another cough medicine deal, the computer will NOT print out RR for you. But you can (like I did today) use your cough med RR to do a cleaners(Windex, pledge, scrubbing bubbles) deal. I will use my cleaner RR to do another cough med deal before the week is over.
2. A Register Reward counts as a coupon. You cannot have more manufacturers coupons than you have items. So if you have 7 items and you have a coupon for each one of them PLUS you are paying with a RR, one of the coupons will not take. You must buy one more item. It works well if you have a coupon that is, for example, $1 off of 2 items. That will count as one coupon but you now have an extra items to be "paired" with your RR.
I hope that helps, Tonya, now go make some money at Walgreens!!!!
Walgreens Tuturial
Underground Protection
I honestly thought that you had to be a cherry tomato to survive my garden this year. My regular tomatoes either didn't turn, was ate by a bunny or split before I had a chance to pick them. The bunnies also ate every leaf off of both the pepper and the bean plants (we got 2 hot peppers and one green bean). My radishes went to seed and the squash bugs got the zuchinni after a couple short weeks of happy zuchinni harvest. The watermelon are still smaller than an orange and don't appear to be getting any bigger. And my cucumbers, they are just plain funny looking. They are small and round instead of long and skinny. Apparently they want to be a cherry tomato.
As I was out picking 50 or so cherry tomatoes I decided to pull the carrots. The tops were long but close together. I saw no orange veggie at the base and figured they, like their neighbor the radish, either didn't like the soil or didn't get thinned enough and therefore decided not to produce edible fruit this year. I was surprised to pull up carrot after carrot! Some were small but they are good! And they kept hidden from the bunnies all summer long. Good job, carrots!
Money Making Cough Medicine
I saw this deal on Money Making Mom, went to Walgreens and did it, and just have to share!
We all, unfortunately will probably have to buy some sort of cough medicine this winter for either ourselves or our kiddos, so this is a great deal. And if you're in an area like mine, there is a Walgreens on most corners!
PREP (most of the time saving money involves a little bit of planning):
Print coupons for $3 off of 1 of Robitussin and/or $2 off of 1 of Dimetapp.
You need 3 coupons total, any combo will do. Actually, if you can only get one coupon to print, you will still get a good deal! You should be able to print one coupon per computer per e-mail address, but don't hold me to that. Sometimes coupon printers do unexplainable, terribly frustrating things...
Cut out your large coupons and head to your nearest Walgreens.
If you got the paper last Sunday (with the Proctor and Gamble coupon insert) cut out the 75 cent off coupon for Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash, bring it with you.
At Walgreens: Buy 3 Robitussin or Dimetapp 4 oz products for 3.99 each (mix or match, depending on the coupons that you printed out)(there were tags at my WAGS explaining which ones were included in the deal).
If you want, pick up a bottle of mouthwash.
DEAL:
Cough Meds: 3.99 x 3= 11.97
- 3 3/1 coupons= 9 (or whatever combo you have)
-------------
2.97 OOP (Out of pocket)
Get back a $1o Register Reward.
$7 in Free Money at Walgreens! You can blow your free $ on anything you like or use it to generate even more free money buy doing some of the September Rebate Easy Saver Deals.
If you wanted to sweeten your Walgreens deals (because you're on a roll) buy the mothwash too.
This is what I did:
2 Robitussin @3.99
1 Dimetapp @3.99
1 Pro Health Mouth Wash @ 4.49
- 2 3/1 Robitussin
- 1 2/1 Dimetapp
- .75 Pro Health
------------
7.51 OOP
Got back 10 RR and 4.49 RR for a profit of $6.98!
(Register Rewards are WAGS coupons that can by used in-store and expire in 2 weeks).
Now I think I'm going to break open one of the bottles because my allergies are driving my crazy!
Is it safe?
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.- Mark Twain
I just found the above quote from Mark Twain as I was thinking about recent conversations that I have had from concerned friends and family members. As we consider "what's next" in regards to having another child we get many mixed responses from people. Most are just worried about us and ask the question, "Is it safe to try again?" or "wouldn't adoption just be easier with a guaranteed better outcome?"
Well, sure its safe to try again, my health is not at risk and my body has healed fine. Could things end up just as they did this spring? Sure (maybe that is what they mean by safe). And I've never heard of adoption being easy or without heartaches of its own.
I guess I tend to agree with Twain, that I will have regrets 10 years from now if I don't try now.
But I am scared, really scared.
I'm usually not on a quote kick, but I searched for a few more under "risk". I can relate to this:
There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.- Anias Nin
And here is one that I imagine another pregnancy will feel like:
It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear . . . . It's like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to.- Marilyn Ferguson
One more:
Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is.- H. Jackson Browne
So I think that the real question is, maybe even bigger than all of the information that I've been collecting, is- is it worth the risk, even if it isn't safe?
Gathering Information Part 3
I'm in the middle of processing lots of new information right now that I have obtained via meeting with different professionals. Do we have a decision? No way. Are we close? Maybe. Here is my original list and some of the information I have "gathered":
1. get a 2nd opinion about whether I have an incompetent cervix or not (and in the process find a new OB because I'm not going back to my current one)- Yesterday I met with an OB who sees high risk patients, preformed many cervical cerclages, and is currently doing some work in infertility. She said that my situation is not classic for an incompetent cervix but the x-ray suggests that I do have one. She was missing a sono that would help her further diagnose and we are hoping that she will get a hold of that in the next couple of days. The clinic will help me find an OB here in town when that time comes, for now they will take care of me, even if it means driving an hour away.
2. find out actually what an incompetent cervix is and what it would mean for a future pregnancy (this really concerns me- IF I get pregnant again, will I be confined to breathing, eating and sleeping for 8 months???)- So I still don't know exactly what one is, but this is how it was explained to me: the cervix is too weak and begins to open too soon, causing a rupture of membranes. As far as we know, mine did not open. Again, she says that my case is not classic and therefore is why I "fell through the cracks", all seemed to be fine. A pregnancy would consist of having the cerclage following by limited activity (but fairly normal lifestyle). They would carefully monitor to see if anything is happening through ultrasound. Bedrest can be expected around 20 weeks. A perinatalist would be consulted and make those calls.
3. Weigh our options about how aggressive we want to be with getting pregnant again such as if we want to use meds or do IVF again- Seeing that nothing else worked, we will skip everything and go right to IVF, if we chose to do something. Meds and other procedures can be even more draining than IVF because they can drag on for months while they try to get everything right. And, again, they didn't work before. If we are going to invest time, money and emotions into something it will probably be in what we know worked. Of course, there is always the chance that it won't work this time around.
4. Research different adoptions options. Begin to make a decision on whether we want to proceed with adoption even if we decide to "try again." - This would probably be the step where we have "gathered" the least. We have met with one social worker and were going to attend an info meeting tonight but instead will be going to Jonah's open house (just found out about THAT).
Summary and Conclusions: I lied about the conclusion part, I'm still missing that part. But to summarize: its likely that I have an incompetent cervix, professionals agree that my chances of carrying a baby to term after the cerclage are somewhere between 8 and 9 out of 10. Those are not fabulous odds, but good enough for us to consider it. Adoption is still an option but we are in need of more information. Next week we hope to talk to the nurse prac after she consults with the OB about the sono (the missing info) and to talk to with 2 other local adoption agencies.
Print ME
I have tried to tone down my new coupon-clipping-deal-making addiction, but I can't stand it anymore! I have to share some of my favorite coupon getting avenues. If you are like my husband and just want to glaze over, nod your head, and click "mark all as read" on your Goggle Reader-go for it, my feelings will not be hurt (but your wallet might be!!!).
The newspaper: I finally got the Chicago Tribune delivered to my door! I took a few phone calls, and I'm still not sure who I pay, but I got it! Apparently, the delivery service, not the Trib's circulation department, now collects in my area (but the Trib didn't know that). Lots and lots of great coupons delivered right to my door for only $1 a week (includes Wed-Fri papers as well). To give this deal a try go here.
ALL YOU magazine: I was NOT looking forward to Jonah's first fundraiser but am looking forward to receiving a great deal on ALL YOU magazine. ALL YOU contains lots of interesting and useful articles plus many coupons, most are $1 off. The fundraiser has 24 issues for $20 making it less than half the price as newsstand (1.77-1.97) AND don't forget the free gym bag! Bonus!
Printables: Coupons.com has some great new coupons that they just put up.
Just click on the coupons that you would like to print and then select "print clipped now". I suggest the $1 off coupons for Pillsbury Crescent rolls and Cinnamon rolls and the 50 cents off Betty Crocker Cookie Mix. If you watch the sales or have a store that doubles coupons you might be able to get these items for free or close to free!
Recycling Day Walk: For three weeks now I've been going for a friendly walk around the neighborhood where I just so happen to peak into the recycling bins parked at the curb. Oh the coupons I have scored...