Starbuck's and Domino's Rewards and Gift Cards

My financial problems (in terms of cash flow) are beginning to look more like that of a lower middle class person. I am a little cash strapped this week, but everything turned out fine in part because I got a sandwich from Starbuck's last night using a $5 gift card from Bing Rewards. I have started getting Starbuck's gift cards because they discontinued their Chipotle cards and I learned at Christmas that Starbuck's offers hot sandwiches all day, not just at breakfast.

I learned recently (at my previous visit) that Starbuck's has a rewards program. I asked at that time and I was told I needed a Starbuck's gift card and to register online. I checked out their program online between my two most recent visits and made plans to get a Starbuck's card yesterday. So, yesterday, I showed up with my $5 (paper) gift card (printed at the library for 10 cents) from Bing and I asked if I can just get a card or do I need to put money on it. They told me I had to put money on it. I asked what was the minimum and was told I needed to put at least $5 on it.

So, I bought a plastic Starbuck's gift card using my paper Bing Rewards $5 gift card. I then used that new card to pay for my bacon-egg-gouda sandwich for $3.75, leaving $1.25 on my new card. Today, I registered that card with the Starbuck's Reward Program.

That was actually a bit of a hassle and they did require a physical address (here is how to get one if you don't have one) before I could complete it. But, I have noticed previously that my Bing Rewards gift cards always offer me the option to send it to my Starbuck's Rewards account/card. So, I will no longer need to pay 10 cents to print these. (I was paying 20 cents for print jobs when I was still in San Diego County.) They will go on my Starbuck's card.

The other reason we are okay is because I get email notifications from Domino's and they have offered half price pizza all week for ordering online. Thus, we have gotten Domino's pizza every day this week, starting Monday. I always order online because they now have a Reward Program as well. It offers you 10 points if you order online and spend more than $10 (once per day only). After you hit 60 points, you get a free medium pizza.

So, lunch today was a free medium pizza from Domino's because I was nearly broke but had wracked up rewards points all week, enough to get a free pizza, on top of getting half price pizza all week. I had $4.56 in my bank account when I woke up and some change in my pocket. I went and got a coupon: $1 off if you buy four 2-liter sodas. I went to the CVS Pharmacy where 2-liter coke products are currently 4 for $5.

This ended up being an adventure. They only had one on the shelf. So I asked if they had some in back or were expecting a delivery. As we were tracking that info down, the delivery truck showed up. They only delivered three 2-liter diet cokes. So, I retrieved the one remaining on the shelf to pair with that and, after the coupon was taken off, got the sodas I needed for the day for under $5.

I have a penny in my bank account and I still have change in my pocket. I have a decent paycheck for this week. If my pay hits my bank account tomorrow, I should be good until next Friday.

This is the kind of thing I used to do all the time as a middle class homemaker. Things are still dicey, but it's different. Things are slowly looking up, in part because I continue to look for middle class solutions to my problems, not charity. Rewards programs for loyal customers is a typical way that middle class people stretch their budget.

I will note also that I participate in Coke Rewards because, due to my medical condition, I drink diet coke like it is going out of style. One of the rewards they offer is a $5 Dominos gift card. They also have Walmart cards and I think Bing also has Burger King cards. We have gotten those in the past, but our current situation means that, here lately, we are mostly getting Starbuck's cards from Bing and Domino's cards from Coke Rewards.

I spend the $5 Domino's gift cards online when I order online, which means I don't even need to print them. With joining Starbuck's rewards, I expect to stop routinely printing things at the library. I look forward to this change of habit, both because it saves me a little money and because it means I can start cleaning out my change regularly instead of holding onto some of it for printing needs.

Today has been a good day.