Have you noticed it yet? Have you been to Walgreens to pick up a prescription only to discover that your Express Script benefits no longer work there? The reason is failed negotiation. Express Scripts basically “wrote off” their relationship with Walgreens, and the existing contract officially retired on December 31, 2011. According to some reports, Express Scripts was demanding too much from Walgreens while pocketing a huge profit from pharmaceutical sales. If there was ever a time to eliminate the middle man, it is now. I am seeing many, many companies end their expensive contracts and going it solo. Kudos to them, because I don’t care for the pricey middle man, either.

Sadly, the prescription benefits for the military are involved in this mess with Express Scripts. According to a press release, Walgreens attempted to negotiate a “meet or beat” deal with prescriptions to continue their contract with Express Scripts military client, but looks like that fell through.

So guess what Walgreens is going to do? They are offering their OWN prescription benefit plan. Currently, it’s at a discounted price. Until January 31, 2012, you can become a member in the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club for only $5 per individual or $10 for the immediate family (including pets!). After that, the prices go up to $20 and $35, respectively.

I like Walgreens. I think they are very customer-friendly and I will continue to support them. How about you? If you are wondering if your prescription plan with Walgreens and Express Script is affected, check out the links for more information, and check out Walgreens on Twitter and Walgreens on Facebook.

Hello, it was 11 IN THE MORNING on Thanksgiving Day!!!

I’ve done the “Black Friday” thing. I got up at 4am to stand in line for 2 hours in the freezing cold. Even though there was a loooong line ahead of me, I still waited. The doors opened at 6am and BANG people rushed to the doors. By the time I got inside, everything was gone. Never doing that again. What a waste.

But still, let’s say you have tons of time on your hands and, say, you REALLY REALLY need a new 50-inch plasma TV. I mean, the necessities of life, right?! Hey, if I REALLY REALLY needed a plasma TV, I guess I would wait in line, too. But I’ve never needed one, nor do I foresee EVER needing one.

Anyway, I was pretty surprised to see folks lining up in front of stores already. Wow. These folks have got a long wait, and in here in New York State, it can get pretty cold outside, after dark.

I don’t have anything against Black Friday, per se. It’s good to save money, and if it is worth your time to wait in line– hey, that’s cool. But I do not like Thanksgiving Day being marginalized. It’s supposed to be a holy day, a day when we publicly and personally give God thanks for the amazing blessings He’s given to us. No, Thanksgiving Day is not the day we give thanks for the Indians saving the Pilgrims’ skins, as nice as that was. It’s God’s day. He deserves it.

So as much as I think it’s great to save money, I greatly dislike the commercialization of yet another holiday. Marketers have already wrecked Christmas, blown Halloween WAY out of proportion, and now they want to scarf up my Thanksgiving holiday?! Must the money lovers encroach on our holiest national holiday of the year?! :hmph:

Anyway, YOU can. I know some of you guys are interested in learning more about hosting your own blog, especially after hearing about JB Bean‘s horror story– her entire Blogger blog, Gmail account and checkout profile were deleted by Google. Google deleted the site because it thought JB Bean’s blog was a spam site, spewing malicious attacks. Yikes! You can imagine that a whole lot of people ditched their Blogger blogs.

I like Blogger, I have been with them for over a decade. But I moved all my important blogs to my own web hosting space on Hostgator. When I found out that Google essentially owns the content and can erase your work with one swipe, I changed over. I have never looked back, even though it does cost me about $120 a year. I can’t praise Hostgator enough. My blogs are up almost 100% of the time (I use Pingdom to track downtime), and the customer service is superior to all.

Anyway, if you have been wanting to get your own blog pad, here’s your chance. The sale will begin just after midnight, Friday, November 25th CST. I am an affiliate of Hostgator, so I get a commission if you click this Hostgator link or the Hostgator graphic below and buy something. It costs you nothing but means everything to me! I also offer basic tech help when setting up your blog, so if you have questions, leave a comment here and I’ll send you an email response.

I’ll have more details coming up about the Black Friday sale. So far, Hostgator has not released any details but last year, the price of annual hosting was slashed in half! That’s an amazing deal!

I love it when a business honors certain folks in the community who have served society in some way. Take Dollar General, for instance. This company routinely honors military families and veterans. That’s so great. This year, on Veteran’s Day on November 11, the company is sponsoring the Dollar General’s Veteran’s Day discount. The company realizes that veterans and military families don’t have it easy by any stretch of the imagination. Not only are the service men and women away from home for long stretches of time, the family at home must cope with the absence of the family member and, in some cases, reduced income.

Starting Saturday, November 11 (11/11/11!), any veteran, anyone in the active military or a member of their family gets an automatic 10% off all purchases made at Dollar General! No coupons are needed. The discount applies to online purchases, as well– use the coupon code VETERANSDAY at the online checkout for the 10% off.

Also, if you want to support the troops with care packages, Dollar General will ship the care packages free of charge right to the troops! The care packages are perfect for service men and women abroad, and include such necessaries as toothbrush, shampoo, eyedrops, and candy! ;) Definitely check out these great deals. Dollar General prices are already low, anyway, so you can save quite a bit of money– and that’s good for everyone!

See more about the Dollar General company and view some wonderful “thank you” videos from troops on their Facebook page. Have your hankies ready!

Do you have any idea how expensive vitamins and nutritional supplements are?! Yeah, you do– I know you do. I was in the store several days ago, browing the shelves for probiotics and those effervescent “immune booster” tablets. My jaw clunked to the floor when I saw the stickers. You think gasoline is expensive?! Some corporations think we are just made of money, don’t they?

Well, thank God for “generic” brands, like Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products. Instead of the super-pricey Airborne tablets, I can get Walborn tablets for a fraction of the price (and they are even cheaper online). And the Walgreens brand is just like the Airborne brand, except a lot less expensive.      

I’ve always preferred generic or store-brand stuff, anyway. In most cases, there is no difference between pricey name-brand and store brand. Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products are Walgreens pharmacist recommended, many contain the same active ingredients as other national brands, and the Walgreens stuff has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Not too shabby.

If you’d like to save even a little more on Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products, check out this page for information on giveaways for Walgreens gift cards. You can save a bundle more! And of course there’s the Walgreens Way to Well Fund™ to provide free preventive health tests as well as other health and wellness services and education to local communities. Check it out!

Plus, it’s Meet Me on Monday day! Here are this week’s questions and answers.

Questions:

1. What is was the last piece of candy that you ate?
Hmm. Maybe a peppermint. I don’t eat much candy anymore. As a kid, oh how I craved it. Whenever we found a nickel (or, hearts a-flutter, a DIME!), my brother and I raced to the Penny Store to see what we could buy. We had a large family and my dad was always in between work it seemed, so candy was rare. Now that I am older, I don’t eat much candy. I prefer brussels sprouts, can you believe it?! Things sure have changed.

2. Do you “read” in the bathroom?
Yep. I can’t think of a time when I’m not doing at least two things at once, lol. Even when I am falling asleep or waking up, I am thinking of what I have to do, or pondering things. I haven’t read for leisure in a long time, though. I stick to mostly non-fiction (history and Bible studies), but lately I’ve been reading a few fiction books, to relax my always-busy mind. I just finished Dickens’ “David Copperfield” and Crichton’s “Timeline.” I’m reading “Reason for God” by Timothy Keller, next. And I just ordered a book by Frederick Artz called “The Mind of the Middle Ages: An Historical Survey.” Those are non-fiction, but look SO SO interesting that it will be like fiction to me. I was once a voracious reader as a young person, but having a bunch of kids and working a job cooled my interest. Now, I am back into it and it feels so good.

3. I can’t stand when someone _________?
Tailgates. I greatly dislike it when drivers tailgate me (or anyone). It is more than rude, these creeps are putting themselves and other people in danger because they are in a blasted hurry. :rollpin:

4. Do you do daily, weekly or monthly grocery shopping?
Well, probably something between weekly and monthly. I don’t like shopping AT ALL. I avoid it at all costs. (See Question #3 as to why). Here in Central New York, we have “residential” areas and “shopping complexes” and both are far distances from each other. I do not like the setup. You have to drive several miles to the supermarket, fighting intense traffic all the way. It’s very stressful, and then because it’s the “complex,” there are always zillions of people shopping at the same time. So when I go to the store, I cram as much as I can into that cart and get outta there til the family begs me to go again!

I’ve heard that some online stores may be offering groceries AND grocery delivery. Oh, I would definitely go for that!

So how is your Monday? :D

This year, I’m going to squeeze every red cent that I can on everything I buy. Garden plants and tools are SO SO expensive. I’m going to order some stuff online. Did you know you can order plants and bulbs and seeds online? I have ordered from quite a few companies, and I have found that you get what you pay for. That is, if you buy plants from a cheapo, discount nursery, you’re going to get cheapo plants. So I tend to choose varieties from more reputable companies. And I always go to http://www.savings.com to look for deals, too. Savings.com has tons and tons of coupons, notices about sales and discounts, and they even have a question-and-answer type of service where you can ask when or where to get something you need at a discount, and a member will try to help you! Pretty neat.

Got any projects this spring and summer? You may find a great deal online with coupons and Savings.com. Check them out!

Did you know that there’s a better way? Yep, you can get inexpensive prescription eyeglasses or even sunglasses at Zenni Optical. They’re in the news all the time, because Zenni offers glasses at prices so low it gets media attention. That, an bloggers have been mentioning them so much that the media HAS to listen. :D Score another for the pajamahadeen.

Anyway, Zenni was reviewed by another columnist (this time, at the Journal News). Zenni cuts out the middle man, high shipping charges and other costs. This enables Zenni to offer eyeglasses very inexpensively. In order to get glasses from Zenni, you will need the details of your prescription, available from your eye doctor.

If you’ve been wondering about how to save some money, Zenni has some answers. Inexpensive answers! :D

But gee, I bought myself some new sneakers last week, and it felt great! (Just so you know, I haven’t lost my frugal edge– I NEEDED new sneakers because I destroyed FOUR pairs of them last year when we renovated the house!).

And then I saw some very pretty fashions– marc by marc jacobs. You have GOT to check out the marc jacobs handbags, aren’t they dreamy?! Very feminine but also very tough and durable.

How about you? Are you inspired by the change of season to cast off all abandon and replenish your entire wardrobe?! Do you usually buy new things when spring comes?

I had to go to the local drugstore to look for some birthday cards for my moms. (I have two moms, a *real* mom and a step mom). My sons begged and begged to go, but they had some schoolwork to finish up, and honestly, I just knew they’d only drag me over to the toys section where I’d have to endure their drooling over the latest Lego or action figure toy…. so I said no. I’d only be a minute.

I am SO glad I said no! Yikes! I was appalled by what I saw. Greeting cards are getting worse and worse. It seems there is no limit to the disgusting things some folks will send to each other?! These are some of the MILD ones. I couldn’t bear to take photos of the cards that had nudity and other things.

This is supposed to be funny?! I thought this kind of "humor" ended by about Second Grade.

This is a "greeting" card? More like a "repelling" card. Disgusting!

I spy at least 3 disgusting cards here... I was too afraid to open any of them for fear of "surprises" inside. Yuk.

Totally inappropriate. Will stores now need to keep certain greeting cards behind the counter like certain other magazines? These cards are the milder ones.

The cards are so offensive. Most of them contained sexual innuendoes, swearing, or “bathroom” “humor,” that wasn’t funny AT ALL. I saw half a dozen cards with bare buttocks on the cover. Others had obscene half-clothed people or cartoons with obscene gestures. Others joked about bathroom activities, and still others were “donkey” themed, if you know what I mean. Still others joked about getting drunk or unmentionable sordid things.

What they heck happened to civility?! I would be ashamed to send my mom one of these perverse birthday cards. I would have been very upset if my poor sons had to tolerate this junk.

Wow.

Call me old-fashioned, call me a prude. Whatever. But is it any wonder that our society is more brutish and cruel, with this kind of crap a reflection of society? All very sad.

Rant over. Thank you very much.