Top Foods' Great New Prescription Program

I am always on the lookout for those pharmacy deals where you get a free gift card if you fill or transfer a prescription to a particular pharmacy. A few years ago these were offered all the time, then they became more of an offer only if you transferred.

For a while Target was the only place offering a gift card with a new prescription and it was only $10, a far cry from the $25 that used to be given at many places.

Now even Target isn't offering any incentive for new prescriptions and many of the deals for transferred prescriptions have made automatic refills with that pharmacy a requirement.

That's why I was so excited to see Top Foods' new pharmacy incentive program. It's a longer-term thing, but the payoff is worth it.

First you earn 1 'point' by filling a prescription. When you earn 10 points you are rewarded with $100 to spend at Top Foods.

This is the equivalent of a $10 gift card for each prescription filled, new or transferred, the best deal around these days.

Now it might seem like 10 prescriptions is a lot and those 10 points would take a long time to accumulate. That's where this program is really great. A transferred prescription or a new presciption earn 3 points - the equivalent of $30! A repeated, refilled prescription earns 1 point.

My kiddos' pediatrician is near a Top Foods. In the future, I plan to take all those antibiotics prescriptions to Top Foods for 3 points each.

Katie

Top Foods Trip $19.91

I had a coupon for $5/$25 at Top Foods this week so I headed over for a small trip. We are so desperately low on groceries I was pleased to find reasonable prices on some basics we usually pick up other places.

I mentioned earlier this week that I didn't want to grocery shop until Saturday, but I just couldn't hold out! I had several things to return to Target so I didn't have to 'draw' my grocery allowance early either.

As I checked out my total was $24.91 but I there weren't any candy bars or packs of gum in the aisle I could toss in. The cashier graciously suggested I make a "round up" donation to the charity of the month, Seattle Children's Hospital, which made my total $25 even and with $5 off, just $20. Yahoo!

Here's my haul along with DD#3:

Everything was 20% off with my $5/$25 coupon, so here's what I paid:
Mac & Cheese - $.50 sale price (20%) = $.40/box
Spinach - $1.00 sale price (20%) = $.80/bunch
Celery - $.69/lb sale price (20%) = $.55/lb
Cantaloupe - $.39/lb sale price (20%) = $.31/lb
Plums - $1.49/lb sale price (20%) = $1.19/lb
Olives - $.99 (20%) = $.79 each
Eggs - $1.19 sale price (20%) = $.95 dozen
Organic Milk - $5.49 (20%) = $4.39 gallon
Chicken Drumsticks - $.99/lb (20%) = $.79/lb
Salad Dressing - $.99 sale price (20%) = $.79 each
Bananas - $.69/lb (20%) = $.55/lb

I'm desperate for cheese so I might still head to a grocery store again this week. QFC has 2# if cheddar for $4.99 which is as good as I've seen in a long time.

Katie

Top Foods - $20 Shopping Trip

I went to TOP early this morning to use the $5/25 coupon from Sunday's paper. Amazingly my total was exactly $25! Isn't that weird? After the $5 coupon I paid $20 and was on my way!

Sometimes I get crazy good deals, but most of the time my shopping trips look like this with mostly sale items and maybe a clearance deal. I spend around $20 each at two or three stores usually totalling between $50 and $60 per week.

Price breakdown (20% means the $5/25 coupon):

4.5# Pears - $1/lb sale price (20% $.20/lb) = $.80/lb

3# Bananas - $.59/lb regular price (20% $.12/lb) = $.47/lb

Lemon - $.34 sale price (20% $.07) = $.27

4 bags shredded parmesan - $1.25 sale price (20% $.25) = $1.00 each bag

3# bag gala apples - $2.49 sale price (20% $.50) = $1.99

3 cans olives - $.99 regular price (20% $.20) = $.79 each

Stash tea - $2.46 clearance price (MC $.50 & 20% $.39) = $1.57

100 black tea - $1.99 regular price (20% $.40) = $1.59

6 cans tuna - $.67 sale price (20% $.13) = $.54 each

When I have a coupon like this I'll consider buying things at regular price because the coupon makes an automatic 20% discount and it's like I bought it on sale. Today I bought tea and olives because I needed $5 more to reach $25 - I needed both, but would normally have waited for a sale. I was delighted to find the generic TOP items were really cheap and even cheaper with the 20% coupon.

I also have a $7 off $50 coupon at Albertsons that I'm trying to decide if I should use. I could spend $50 including diapers because they are having a good meat sale this week (chicken breast and pork loin for $1.99), but don't know if I want to start off the month using that much of my grocery budget. I'll keep you posted!

Katie

$5 off $25 purchase at TOP and $1 off coupons

I can't believe I'm posting twice in one day. It's a Christmas Miracle!

I just read yesterday's Sunday paper and there was a full page TOP ad including $1 off departmental coupons (seafood, deli, produce, frozen, & dairy) good through Thursday with a $20 purchase.

The better deal was the coupon for 12/31 or 1/1 $5 off a $25 purchase. That's a 20% discount on your $25 of groceries. It also allows me to wait for the new ad to come in the mail tomorrow so I can see what's on sale Friday and Saturday and plan how to most efficiently spend that $25.

Katie

Top Foods Redmond - 25% off Almost Everything

The Redmond Top Foods store only has 4 days left before closing. Their ad indicates that virtually every department is 25% off. Here's a list:

All Meat
All Wine & Beer
All Produce
All Grocery
All Bakery
All Delicatessen
All Dairy & Self Service Deli
All Frozen
All Candy
All Bulk
All Heath & Beauty Care
All Housewares

I would recommend going to check it out - with high value coupons you could get some screaming deals. I can't make it until the wee hours tomorrow, Thursday, because I don't have a vehicle today, but I'm looking forward to see what kind of bargains I can find!

If you can make it to Top in Redmond this weekend check out some printable coupons here and see if there are any for products you normally buy. 25% off plus the coupon could be a great deal, particularly on diapers, organic food items, vitamins, and other normally expensive items. I am going to check out baby formula because I have some great coupons that might make the Top deals cheaper than Costco.

Katie

Top Foods in Redmond closing

I heard several weeks ago that the Top Foods in Redmond was closing. Today I was shopping there and noticed some sales related to that store's pending closure on July 31 and wanted to pass along some deals.

I am guessing that some stock will be difficult to move to other locations and that many items are unique to the Redmond location - perhaps lingering from it's Larry's Market days - and aren't carried at other Top Foods stores.

The 'big' sales were 25% off various departments incuding all bulk food items, all health and beauty, many specialty housewares, and many items in the International Food aisle.

The bulk foods are all 25% off. This sale is pretty starightforward.

The health and beauty aids are also all 25% off from regular prices. This is a big department including feminine products, makeup, dental, razors, deodorant, hair dye, vitamins, hair products, medicines, & more. 25% off isn't an incredible sale, but if you have coupons and/or use some high end products these could be some great prices.

I wish I could have lingered in the International Food aisle, but needed to get home. I may go back to see what deals I can get with 25% off and coupons. Most of the sauces & vinegars were reduced in the Asian food section, as well as many types of noodle and the Simply Asia meals. Across the aisle, Gia Russa whole wheat pasta was also all 25% off.

The specialty housewares are many and varied. I'm sure most of these are lingering from Larry's days and while these aren't great deals (due to housewares being sold at a grocery store), they could be good deals at 25% off, especially if you have weddings coming up and want a quality gift. Here's a big list: Kitchen gadgets including range pans, utensils, silicone pot holders, plastic or wooden cutting boards, colanders, mixing bowls, and foil baking pans. Le Creuset Stoneware baking dishes, kettles, honeypot, pitchers, butter dishes. Wine glasses by Spiegelau and Riedel and numerous wine accessories. Pyrex baking dishes, measuring cups, & bowls. Good Cook baking pans including bundt and angel food cake pans. A small selection of very expensive castiron cookware. Pizza stone. Hamilton Beach appliances including food processor, regular and single-serve blenders, toaster, toaster oven, 6 or 12 cup coffee maker, coffee grinder, two sizes of slow cooker, and can opener. Proctor Silex waffle iron. Joyce Chen asian items including 5 piece tea set, sake set, chopstick bowls, bamboo placements, bamboo steamer, wok, stovetop ceramic kettle, and many sushi accessories.

There are also some vases on clearance from the floral department ranging in price from $1.99 to $10. Some of these were very tall and unique and if I was any good at decorating I would have considered purchasing one.

Seasonal items are also being cleared out including Coleman adult sleeping bags for $14.99 and table top gas grills for $17.49.

I'm wondering if the 25% off will be increased as July 31 nears so I'll try to keep an eye out this week and keep you readers posted.

Katie

How I Grocery Shop - Put it all Together

Now that the "How I Grocery Shop" series is concluded I wanted to show you an example of all the pieces together including my random, organization thoughts.

I usually grocery shop in the wee hours on Saturday morning, but I was hosting a baby shower this particular Saturday and knew the shopping would be delayed until Sunday sometime. I did, however, need to pick up some balloons for the shower so I dashed down to Fred Meyer and of course, did quick run by the clearance bins. Here's what I found:


Nice 'n Soft TP - clearance $2.49
MD TP - clearance $2.49
Hamburger buns - clearance $.79 (note to self - eat pulled pork from freezer)
Bread - clearance $.79

On Saturday my priority was eating stuff out of the freezer (as ever) so I'd have room to freeze berries before I made jam mid-July. My aunt found me a used canner at a garage sale but I won't see her until the weekend of July 10th so I planned to save berries until then.
So Saturday night DH and I watched a movie and I made my menu plan and grocery list.

Menu Plan Dinners:
Sunday -Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Monday - Beef Fajitas (need to use an old bell pepper)
Tuesday - Ham/Potato soup (freezer meal) & garden salad
Wednesday - Spanish Rice w/Ground Beef (freezer meal) & garden salad
Thursday - Garlic Chicken in White Wine Sauce (freezer meal), macaronda, & salad
Friday - Pork Chops, Cheesy Broccoli Rice, Salad
Saturday - Beefy Enchilada Casserole, spanish rice (leftover?), & salad
Sunday - July 4th BBQ
Monday - Russian Chicken, rice, salad
Tuesday - Beef Stir Fry

Grocery List

Must Buy: Whipping Cream for promised Strawberry Shortcake

Should Buy/Getting Low:
Cooking spray
Vegetable oil
Potatoes
Milk - both whole & nonfat
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Bananas
Other fruit -whatever's on sale
Cream cheese
Toilet paper - Got this one!!!
AA Batteries
Olives - both green and black
Pork loin

It's always nice when there is so little on the "must buy" list as I'm planning so many freezer meals and we have been getting such great lettuce from the garden. Basically I get to just shop the good deals! So I made a list for each of the ads (including Fred Meyer's new ad) and had short lists (4-7 items each) for Fred Meyer, QFC, Top, and Safeway. I prioritized like this: QFC (whipping cream on sale), Safeway (waiting for cream cheese at $1 for 3 weeks!), Top (great 77Cent sale this week), and Fred Meyer. Albertson's just wasn't anything spectacular and unless they had double coupons I didn't plan to go.
Sunday I had sick kiddo and didn't make it to church. DH picked up some bread for us. Usually we select one or two items. I don't know how DH ended up with all this, but here's a picture and the list: A double pack of ciabatta long loaves, 2 loaves of wheat bread, a package of bagels, a dozen croissants and 36, yes 36, white dinner rolls. Hmm.



I saw all of this bread in the car as I was getting ready to leave for grocery shopping. I did a quick evaluation and figured we'd be eating bagels, croissants, and french toast for breakfast. Thank goodness cream cheese was on sale! We'd also have lots of sandwiches for lunch on the rolls. Again, yay for lunch meat in the freezer! The loaves of bread would keep in the freezer - good bye berry freezing plans.
Now it was time to shop! I decided to go to Albertson's after all when I saw their double coupon in the Sunday paper. I can always a good deal with those. I also went to Safeway, QFC, and even stopped at Walgreen's for a couple items. I was exhausted by the time I got home and didn't even want to think about Top or Fred Meyer. That's what usually happens and why I prioritize where I need to go. Overall I shopped about 2 hours and spent $42.52. $21.33 of that was on gift cards so I only spent $21.19 out of pocket. And I also have a mail-in rebate to send for $3 and a $3 Walgreen's Reward to spend in the next couple of weeks.


Here are the details - grocery sales are still on through Tuesday night.

Albertson's:
2 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch -sale $2.49 ($4.00/4 store deal)($1.00/2 MC doubled) = $.49 each
2 boxes of Cheerios - sale $2.49 ($4.00/4 store deal)($1.00/2 MC doubled) = $.49 each
S'Mores Deal - Hershey's, marshmallows & graham crackers on sale totalling $6.49 ($2.00/all store deal) ($1.00/all 3 MC in-store) = $3.49 for all 3
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce - sale $1.00 ($1.00/2 MC doubled) = FREE
Vegetable Oil 1 gallon - sale $6.79 (much cheaper than the $10 at cash'n'carry!)
Turkey & Ham lunchmeat - clearance $0.99 each
Bananas $.59/lb
Gillette Hairspray - clearance $1.00 ($1.00 MC) = FREE
I have a gift card for Albertson's so I decided to get the bananas here as well as go ahead and splurge on the bulk purchase of vegetable oil. I bought the last gallon sometime last summer so I figure this jug will last another year or so. Also the clearance lunch meat and free hairspray made me really glad I came.

Safeway:
Caesar dressing - sale price $1.49 (1.00 MC) = $.49
Cream Cheese - sale price $.99
Grapes - $.99/lb
Cucumbers - $0.50 each
Coffeemate powder tubes - $1.29 (50% off clearance)($.50 MC) = $.14
Walgreens:
Finesse conditioner - $3.99 (BOGO Sale)($1.00 MC)($3.00 MIR) = Both for price of stamp $.44
Blistex 3 pack - $2.99 ($3.00 coupon for next Walgreen's trip) = FREE
2 pears - $.50 each (weird to find pears at Walgreens, but pears haven't been on sale for awhile and I thought $.50 would be close to $1/lb.)

QFC:
Cottage Cheese - sale price $1.00
Whipping Cream - sale price $1.00
Dozen Eggs - sale price $1.00
Fresh Mozarella - clearance price $2.69 ($1.00 MC) = $1.69 (this is a total yummy treat for me)
Tomatoes - sale price $1.00/lb (cheaper at Top, but I wanted a couple to go with the mozzarella)

Top:
Top is really having an excellent sale this week, especially with the $1.00 off deparment coupons inside the ad. I will probably try to make it over there still for the $.77/lb tomatoes and 3/$1 kiwi with the $1 produce coupon. I will also try to use the $1 grocery coupon with the $3.77 block of cheese and possibly Zararin's rice.

Fred Meyer:
I will probably skip FM entirely. They have a great deal on Ben & Jerry's and I have an MC, but it's an extra and pregnancy + ice cream is not good for me. I seriously ate two whole 1.5 quart cartons by myself in about 5 days last week. So we can skip the Ben & Jerry's. I got BBQ sauce at Albertson's and enough other fruit that I don't need the $.88 peaches.

So that's about it - my week in shopping. Oh - it turns out DD's won't eat mini-sandwiches on the white dinner rolls so I'm thinking I'll give them a try as french toast next (thanks for the idea, Ruth!).

Katie

How I Grocery Shop - Grocery Ads & This Week's Shopping

Once I have made my menu plan and the corresponding "must buy" and "should buy soon" shopping lists I have a look at the weekly grocery ads. The ads arrive in Tuesday's mail for the new sales starting Wednesday. The exception is the Fred Meyer ad which comes in the free Friday paper and the Sunday Times.

I go through the weekly ad for each store, looking specifically for the items on my shopping list and also for any really low prices on other items. It takes some time to learn what a "good price" is if you aren't already paying attention.

Keep in mind that just because an item is in the weekly ad doesn't mean it's a good price or even that it's on sale. Also keep in mind that a 10 for $10 sale doesn't mean you have to buy 10 items - you can just buy one for $1. Sometimes stores have a "Buy 10 and save $5" promotion. Typically you don't have to buy 10 of the same items for these either, but you will have to buy any 10 of the participating items to get the $5 off.

This week I made a short list for 4 stores, though it is unusual for me to visit more than 2 each week. Usually I just pick the 2 stores with the best sales and choose to miss out on the other stores' deals. This week I visited 3 stores because of Joanna's birthday party and the quantity of items I must buy immediately.

Generally I have very few "must buy" items and lots of "should buy soon" items. I can take several weeks sometimes to find a price low enough to buy on a "should buy soon" item so I try to give myself plenty of time to find the best price. I want to get the good prices on those "must buy" items this week, so I made time to visit an extra store.

My short lists were for QFC, Safeway, Top and Albertson's. I elected to skip Safeway because while Coffeemate was at a low enough sale price, none of the items on the list for that store were on the "must buy" and only two, the Coffeemate and non-sugar cereal were on the "should buy soon" list. QFC and Albertson's had "must buy" items at low prices and Top had a few produce prices I didn't want to miss. So those were the three for this week's shopping.

Here's what I got at QFC for $13.00 (used a gift card):



10 Yogurt Cups - $.6o BOGO = $.30 each
2 bags Egg Noodles - sale price $1.39 each
32 oz. yogurt - markdown $1.51
Cream Cheese - $1.69
6# bananas - $.59/lb

Here's what I got at Top & Albertson's for $26.81:


5- 2 liter generic sodas - $.69 each sale price (for Joanna's party)
2 cans Black Olives - $1.00 each sale price (for Joanna's party)
1 jar Pimento Olives - $2.29 sale price (for Joanna's party)
2- 2# bricks of cheese - $3.99 each
2 - Oscar Mayer lunch meat - $3.49 regular, markdown to $.99, ($1.00/2) MC = $.49 each
2 - Lunchable Deli Creations - $.299 regular, markdown to $.99, ($1.00/1) twice MC = FREE plus $.01 overage
Bell Peppers - $.69 each sale price (for Joanna's party)
Cucumber - $.79 (for Joanna's party)
Celery - $.89 (for Joanna's party)
Carrots - $.79 (for Joanna's party)
Grapes - $1.38/lb
Kiwi, lemon, limes - $3/1.00
Tomatoes - $.79/lb

There are still a few more things on my "must buy" list for these two weeks of menu plan and Joanna's party. I'll have a look at the ads for the new week to see what kinds of deals I can find.

Katie

Next up: What's a "good price?"

Weekend Shopping

Here is a picture of my weekend shopping - I also bought garlic, tuna, cheese, and two cans of tomatoes at Fred Meyer that aren't pictured.

I found some unexpected great deals at TOP this week. I stopped in just for:

• oranges at $0.38/lb
• 5# bag of carrots for $2
• cucumbers were $0.69
• 3# bag of clementines for $3 since Joanna loves them

I normally don't find any markdowns at top, but decided to check for meat markdowns and found bone-in chicken breast on sale for only $0.99/lb. I decided to buy the smallest package I could find (over 3#) and use the chicken in a couple of meals. Then I noticed the organic milk (near the meat) was on sale for only $4.11/gallon. How did I miss this? Top's Full Circle organic line is all on sale for 25% off this week.

Additionally I saw many markdown stickers on products nearing their pull date. I have seen this very rarely at Top, so I was surprised and delighted. Normally Top will put up a shelf tag with a slightly lower price to clear out products close to their date, but not often with the neon stickers. And they were all over the place at the Redmond Top, including my organic milk. It had a $1 off sticker with a 'sell by' date 4 days out. Usually milk is good for about a week past the pulled date so I was really excited to get a gallon of organic milk for only $3.11. Markdown deals included:

• Gallon organic milk on sale for $4.11 (1.00 sticker markdown) = $3.11
• 1 lb lunchmeat ham usually 4.99, but shelf markdown to 2.49 (.55) = $1.96
• 2 Go-gurt usually $2.99, but shelf markdown to $1.99 (1.00 sticker markdown) ($.75/2) = $.62 each
• Oscar Meyer Chicken/Mozzarella Lunchable Sandwich sale price $1.25 ($.50 sticker markdown) ($1.00/1) = FREE + $.25 overage

There were also sticker markdowns on orange juice, biscuits, yoplait delights, Fiber One yogurt and other items, too. I am hoping this trend continues and I'll be sure to check out Top on a Saturday morning again to see if that's the best time to go. Fred Meyer does a ton of sticker markdowns on Saturday morning - I usually go around 9 so the bread guy has time to finish.

Speaking of Fred Meyer, the Seventh Generation and Mrs. Meyers cleaning products are still 30% and 40% off, respecively for another week. I bought a 32 oz bottle of Mrs. Meyers all purpose concentrated cleaner in lemon scent for $5.39. The directions indicate 1/4 cup to a gallon of water which works out to only 1 Tablespoon per quart/32 oz. I think this concentrated cleaner will last a long time and be well worth the $5.

Katie

Prescription Coupons

DH & I are blessed with great prescription drug insurance. We don't have a co-pay or deductible so we benefit greatly from prescription coupon/gift card offers.

Usually I run across coupons for a free gift card with the transfer of a prescription. This makes sense because pharmacies want you to move your prescription and then try to retain your business. Rite Aid has these at least once a month in their insert, sometimes they'll have a blitz of weeks and weeks in succession.

Harder to come by are the gift card offers for a new prescription. Target usually has one of these about once a month, but they are only for $10.

I use the Target coupons the most often because we don't have many recurring prescriptions that would warrant a transfer for a refill. Usually it's some antibiotic for one of the kids and I just count myself lucky if it happens to be a week when Target runs their coupon.

I was please to notice the QFC ad has coupons this week for new or transferred prescriptions. The pharmacy there will credit your QFC card with $20 each for up to 2 prescriptions. We've done this before and it's like a gift card right on your shopper card. I think the store does this so you can't give the gift card away; they want you to come back into the store to shop.

I also found a $30 coupon with prescription transfer at the Safeway pharmacy in the Safeway ad this week. I love when these coupons are for grocery stores!

I was kicking myself when I saw these coupons because on Tuesday (the day before the coupons were valid) I went and filled two prescriptions at the Top pharmacy. I had heard that Top pharmacy gave away prenatal vitamins with a filled prescription (and they had a sign up advertising it), but as it turns out they need a prescription from your doctor which would have been free for me anyway. Ack! Yes, seriously kicking myself. On a positive note, Top pharmacy was giving away free Mr. Yuck stickers so I was happy to get my hands on those so I can label some scary stuff for the kids.

So here's my new plan for these coupons: I am pregnant with #4 and usually the OB prescribes super-strenth iron for me. Our insurance lets us fill a prescription & refill twice before having to use their mail order service. I will ask the OB today at my appointment for the prescription and get it filled at QFC for the $20 store credit (coupon good through 4/30). Then I'll get it refilled later this month at Safeway for a $30 gift card (coupon good through 4/27). I will be able to transfer once more so I'll probably go with Rite-Aid which is usually good for a $20 gift card, at least, or another offer if I find a better one by the time I need that refill. Let's hope my OB gives me the rx today or my plan will be foiled.

Katie

Speaking of prescriptions...

New Menu Plan

I haven't figured out how to blog and keep my house clean. With the sun shining and the dirt showing, the blog isn't getting much attention.

I did manage my menu plan yesterday though while I flipped through the grocery ads.

Dinners:
Wed - Pasta with meatballs - Freezer Meal
Thurs - Fettucini Carbonara w/asparagus - OLD organic fettucini from back of freezer.
Fri - Macaroni & Cheese Pie w/salad
Sat - Applebee's - A free treat
Sun - Macaronada w/salad - big thanks to Jen T. who picked up feta at Costco for me
Mon - Beef & Broccoli - need to use a can of vegetable broth and old frozen broccoli
Tue - Lentil Stew - Freezer Meal

Lunches:
lunch out with cousin
chicken nuggets
pb & j
leftover Mac & Cheese Pie
tuna melts
Ravioli
nachos

This week I'm going to Top & Safeway for groceries.

Top is having a great Tillamook sale & I'm out of cheddar, butter, and yogurt. Several varieties of Tillamook are on sale and the deal is if you spend $10, $3 will be taken off your bill. So I can buy two 2 pound bricks of Tillamook for $5 each, and then $3 is taken off making them only $3.50 each! I can also buy two pounds of butter at $2.50 each and 10 yogurt cups at $.50 each for a total of $10, then $3 will be taken off the bill making the butter only $1.77/lb and the yogurt only $.33 per cup.

Safeway has a buy 5/save $5 deal this week for salad-ish stuff. Eating Right bagged salad & veggies, Fresh Express salad, Marie's dressing, POM tea, and packaged sliced mushrooms are priced at $1.99. If you buy 5, $5 will be taken off the bill. I'm happy to pay $.99 for a bag of salad so I'll go pick up 5 bags and maybe an avocado since they're only $.50 this week.

Have a great week! I'll try to better at posting this week than I was last week!

Katie

FREE $25 in Top Food coupons

I received a mailing this week from Top Food & Drug. It includes a $5/$25 coupon for each of the four weeks in January starting January 6th. It also includes an additional coupon for a free $5 in your Top Connection account when you spend $25. In total these coupons are worth $25 over the course of January and I will give them away to the first person who comments as a thank you for visiting the site and commenting!

I am not a Top Connection member - mostly because membersip is not required to get the sale prices. My understanding of how it works, though, is that all your purchases are recorded in your account and if Top puts any of those items on sale within 30 days of your purchase, they will refund the difference in cost to your account. Additionally, if you find a product is unsatisfactory, you can log on from your home to 'return' the item and receive a refund.*

Is anyone out there a Top Connections member? What do you think of it?

*I am sure that Top Foods has had to deal with gross abuse of this system due to people's dishonesty. I feel strongly that 'getting a deal' by lying or cheating the system somehow is never ok. Not only is it dishonest, but it makes the companies getting abused unable to continue offering great deals into the future. Just resist the temptation!