No Debt Plan

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(Photo by ToastyKen)

I got my first Walgreens EasySaver gift card in the mail last week. I decided to try the EasySaver plan a try after reading about the program at BeingFrugal.

My first purchase was a 6 oz. tube of Aquafresh toothpaste. The transaction ended up where my toothpaste paid me 17 cents to buy it even after tax. Not bad, right?

The giftcard with the 10% bonus came in the mail, full of $3.84 worth of spending goodness. The new month kicked in with a new list of items that you can get for free after rebate. Most of them were not of any interest to me, but there was an Oral-B toothbrush for free after rebate at a cost of $4.49.

Here’s how the transaction will play out:

• Toothbrush cost: $4.49
• Tax (5%): $0.22
• Total: $4.71
• Use Gift Card ($3.84): $0.87 paid with AMEX card
• Rebate w/10% bonus to gift card: $4.49 x 1.10 = $4.94
• Rebate minus cost: $4.94 - 4.71 = $0.23

Again, it doesn’t seem like much and I did have to invest an additional 87 cents to get the toothbrush. This brings my total investment to the cost of the toothpaste and toothbrush, or $3.66 plus 0.87. Total investment thus far is $4.53, and for that money I’ve gotten a toothbrush and toothpaste. On top of that, I’ll end up with $4.94 in money to spend at Walgreens on the next item.

It’s only one item a month that I am currently buying. Next month there may be nothing of interest to me to buy, and that’s fine. As I mentioned last time, this isn’t going to make me rich. But the mentality to go out and find a deal on simple every day items will add up over time.