As we welcomed 2011 with open arms, some of us may have wanted to shut the door on new FSA account guidelines. This is not a political post, but what could be a solution.
On New Years Eve I was online, as a mom of four where else would I be, and I noticed a friends status. He had $200 left in his FSA account, it was 9pm and he was on his way to Walgreens. I kind of giggled and quickly commented on his status, because Day-Quil was the RR for the week, to do separate transactions in order to carry that money over to the new year.
There were several other responses posted, but I do not think that anyone knew what I meant. Well let me explain now so that you, my readers, will not find yourself in this bind.
As many of you know, Walgreens offers what we call RR or Register Rewards. These are manufacturer coupons issued at the end of a qualifying purchase. If Day-Quil is on sale 2/$10 and the RR is $5 on a $10 purchase. (We of course know that you would use a coupon on the purchase, and still meet your $10 threshhole in order to get the RR.) You would want to pay with your FSA account Visa or MasterCard, or whatever payment method you may use. Whether your account manager will view the purchase as $10 or the after coupon total, your concern would be the RR that can then be used on most anything in the store.
The purpose of the comment, if the friend had used the $200 in his account to purchase OTC's that offered a RR, he could have easily made that a profitable night. Not only would he have taken home enough medicines to stock his medicine cabinet, but at least $100 in RR's to use on other things or to finance future trips to Walgreens.
If you did this every time that you needed an OTC medicine, think of the possibilities. You could use the RR to fund Christmas. (Just remember that you always need one more item than manufacturer coupon so the register doesn't beep)
Another option, some local grocery stores or super centers that accept competitors coupons will accept the RR's. Think of how those pretax dollars could not only buy your medicines, but fund your grocery trips too.
Thinking outside the cereal box-lol
Thanks for the post buddy. I did get Nyquil and I earned all of these money coupons. I was didn't notice until I checked my pockets the next day. I was like WOW...free money :) DaDa
ReplyDeleteYep, and you can roll those RR's!! Rolling is using those to make other qualifying purchases (from a different manufacturer) and receiving more products and RR's. Ultimately, you could maximize your contribution, buy the OTC's and qualifying FSA items, donate them, and receive full retail value as a tax write off. You would then have RR's probably in the same amount of money that you spent, to use on non FSA items, or to "roll" and make your contribution a profitable thing. Tax free contribution, leading to tax write off, the products you need, and the products you want. Great concept!! I love couponing!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post...Interesting!!
ReplyDeleteNo problem!! I posted about Wags, because that was where DaDa was going that night. This can be done at CVS, Rite Aid or any drugstore that offers rewards. I like Wags best because there is no limit, you just do seperate transactions. At CVS, there is generally a limit, Rite Aid has limits also. The (1) per household limit for ECB's
ReplyDeleteToo bad in 2011 we can't use FSAs to buy over the counter :(
ReplyDeletehttp://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=227301,00.html
You can, just with a prescription, I personally thing this new law will keep P.A.'s very busy. All those visits to the doctor, and you are told oh its a virus take some nyquil and rest....those will come with a discharge slip and a prescription.
ReplyDelete