Saving Money 101

I don’t know about you, but I’m all about saving money on a product I know is great, and for finding a great bargain. It’s like a treasure hunt!

Did you know we have the most reasonable MOPS dues in the area? Reasonable fees and we have a terrific program for you and your children: safe and fun childcare for your little ones and a fun Bible/preschool curr-iculum for the older ones, as well as great speakers and projects for us moms.

How do we have a wonderful program and keep our costs down? We do it by being wise stewards of our resources—resources that include partner-ships with several retailers who give us money back for making purchases!
We currently have arrangements with Marsh, Kroger, Meijer, and Kohl’s. MOPS purchases debit-style gift cards from three of these vendors that we ask you to purchase on a regular basis (after all, every one of us has to eat, get dressed and/or replace something in our homes regularly). You may also use your Kohl’s card to pay off your Kohl’s charge card balance.
All cards give you the face value of the card at the time of payment: in other words, if you purchase $100-worth of cards from MOPS, you get to spend $100 at the retailer. Behind the scenes, these companies give money back to MOPS based on their own payback plans, which are outlined here. You don’t have to do anything except purchase the cards from me at meetings or other MOPS events and then use them like gift cards at the retailer.
And, ladies, these programs are not just open to MOPS moms! We have some faithful family members, friends, church members, etc., who support our group.


Here are the payback plans for each of the retailers:
(More detailed information is listed in your MOPS Handbook. I am extremely happy to provide you with any help and answers to questions.)


MOPS will receive 1% of all eligible purchases made with the Meijer credit card, 0.5% of all purchases made with cash and 0.5% of all purchases made with a debit card. You will need to go online and re-enroll for MOPS under the new program so that your purchases are linked to our ‘kitty’. If you prefer to shop with a debit card from your own bank, you just need to get a MOPS CRP card to go on your key-chain and you’ll be all set.


Through the Kohl’s Cares for Kids Program, MOPS receives a 3% discount on debit card purchases of $500-$999 and 5% on debit card purchases of $1000 or more.


For every $5000 that is spent on a MOPS reloadable Kroger debit card, MOPS receives a check for $250.
You may purchase one $25 Kroger debit card at the beginning of the year and keep adding money to it as needed.

Like Kohl’s, Marsh gives us a discount on our debit card purchases. At Marsh, it’s a flat 5%--no matter the value of cards we buy. This is a great deal for us!


Who buys the cards? WE DO! Who benefits from using the cards: WE DO! Who loses because MOPS buys the cards? NO One. The stores gain loyal customers for their outreach to the comm-unity and MOPS gains additional financial resources. It’s a win-win situation, espec-ially if you shop at these stores anyway!
I will be outlining these programs at the September 7 meeting, but if you have questions at any time, please contact me at 816-2542 or by e-mail at ktmcgeath@sbcglobal.net.