In the past few years, there’s been more companies offering discount programs than anyone can possibly keep up with. Just try to and your keychain will be full of those little plastic tags with barcodes on them. But don’t completely pass these programs up or you may be missing on valuable savings.
One of the best ways to keep your number of savings cards down is to only sign up for stores that you frequent. Personally, I have CVS ExtraCare, Best Buy Reward Zone and the Stop & Shop Savings Card, to name a few. Any that I don’t use regularly, I keep in the back of my wallet or, if I’m running out of space, in my desk.
The best thing about these rewards programs is they’re free. With all I’ve listed above you can get instant savings at the register or coupons for later purchases, often for free or heavily discounted items. CVS’ program is really great (and somewhat creepy) because it keeps track of what you’ve purchased and gives you coupons for similar items.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is, more than likely, you’ll have to give these companies private information like your phone number or email address. I try and keep it a habit to not give this information out because I don’t know if they sell it to third parties or what. Your best bet, just draw a line through the field. Not once have I had an employee not finish enrolling me in a rewards program because I didn’t give an email address.
Stay tuned for more out out of The Black Lagoon…
- dave
