Debbie Halpin attended the last three women’s retreats for free. She also extended a scholarship for her daughter to attend as well. And, if she wanted to, she could have paid for any number of North Coast University classes like Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace or Love & Logic, for free! 

You might be asking, "How can she do that?" 

"It is pretty simple," she said. "I had money in my Scrip account. We buy gift cards through Scrip and a percentage goes into my account. It builds up every time I purchase, then when I need to pay for things church-related, I have funds available. It’s been a blessing." 

More than the blessing of having essentially free money in her Scrip account, Halpin also finds it beneficial to help her budget monthly expenses. "We budget using Scrip. One of our Growth Group members first suggested it," she said. "We get our Scrip the first weekend of the month, for the entire month's expenses. We’ve used it for our Christmas budget as well. We ask our family members which gift cards they want and then get them at Scrip."

Gift cards can be used for gas, groceries, retail stores and entertainment.  If $800 is used as an average monthly budget in gift cards, the savings would be nearly $30 a month or $360 a year! Halpin said, "It really makes you stop and think of what you have to spend and how much. When the gift cards run out, that’s all you have for the month."

Are you using Scrip and have a story you’d like to share?  Please send a comment to info(at)northcoastchurch.com and put "Scrip Story" in the subject line.