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Here’s a great idea that is definitely underused at our school, shared by Brenda Tebbets. Brenda is a Track B mom of Tristan (Intermediate) and Jacob (LMS), as well as our Bookstore Associate, and the Assistant to the Development Director. Thank you Brenda, for sharing this fantastic explanation and bringing this to our attention!
Have you heard of Scrip? If you have, are you using it? Did you know that it can help pay your tuition? Want to know more?
Scrip is a company that sells gift cards for fundraising purposes. They are purchased at face value and a rebate is kicked back to SLOCA. Each participating retailer sets the percentage that they are kicking back. There is a wide variety ranging from 1% to 20%.
How does this help pay for your tuition? SLOCA gives 75% of the rebate you earn as a credit towards your Smart Tuition bill. The remaining 25% is used to pay for the software to run the program and for the shipping fees.
I won’t lie, it does take some work to make it successful in putting a dent in your bill. It takes budgeting and planning in advance. My family has been using it for a few years now. Last year, my rebate that went towards our family tuition was $242.28. For me, it is worth the extra work.
How does it work? You need to sign up at www.shopwithscrip.com. You need to register under SLOCA using this code: 9AAA727419779
Once you have created an account, you can start ordering gift cards. You must pay for the cards you order by writing a check to SLOCA, or you can sign up for Presto Pay that links your bank account with Scrip. Sorry, you cannot use a credit card to pay for your order. You need to place your orders online and have your payment received in the office (if you are writing a check) by Thursday afternoon. Your gift cards will be ready to pick up the following Thursday in the bookstore.
Some of the retailers offer ScripNow, which means that if you are signed up with Presto Pay, you can print your gift card usually within minutes of placing your order. Do you shop on Amazon? They offer ScripNow. I load up my shopping cart on Amazon, get a rough estimate of my expense, then log into Scrip and order a ScripNow gift card for Amazon. I can use it within minutes to pay for my transaction.
Some companies also offer to Reload your gift card. You must buy your first card through the Scrip program. Once you have it, as long as the company offers a Reload option, you can keep using the same gift card and just keep adding money to that card. You keep earning a rebate as long as you are Reloading the card through the Scrip program. Arco, Exxon, Starbucks, and Target are just a few of the retailers that participate in this program.
If you use the program, be sure to log in a few times a month. Retailers at times offer a higher rebate for a short period of time. This is a great time to stock up on some gift cards and get a better rebate. Old Navy gives a 14% rebate, but sometimes has promotions when they give 16%.
Gift cards are great for the holidays. Sees Candy has a rebate of 20% but I have seen it go as high as 25% near the holiday season. You can usually think of at least one person to give a box of chocolates to, right?
So, what are you waiting for? Give it a try. For some, this will be a hassle. For those of us who stretch our pennies as far as they can go, well, you now have a tool to make it stretch a little farther.
I would love to hear from some of those that use the system. How do you make it work best for you? Do you feel it has made enough of an impact on your tuition bill to keep using it? Leave a comment below and share your experience with Scrip.
If you have any questions please feel free send an email to [email protected] or come and talk to Susanne or Brenda in the bookstore. We are happy to help!
SLO Classical Academy is not affiliated with any of the above mentioned websites or businesses.
