[Amberelise]

I am insured through work by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. At a health fair a couple of years ago, I learned about Blue Points. If you are a BCBS member you should look into it.

For me, I Google BCBS of Illinois. Then I click Log in. Then choose "I am a member." Log in. In the middle of the page is "Personal Health Manager." Use the Personal Health manager to track your food, read articles, get recipes, and do lifestyle challenges. I have to tell you, the food tracker is pretty worthless compared to other websites out there. And, the lifestyle challenges are a little stupid, too. But, the articles are quality and the recipes are AMAZING! I have gotten some really, really fantastic and healthy recipes from here. You can earn up to 600 points a week. Plus, you earn 2,500 points right off the bat by taking a health quiz or something....

I was not 100% about it, but did use it almost daily for about four months. Then, I've logged in and out over the past couple of years from time to time and earned points.

Last week I logged in to see they greatly upped the prizes you can cash your points in. And, the prizes are FANTASTIC. They range from pressure cookers, grills, barbell sets to televisions, blue ray players and hotel stays. And, honestly, they are NOT HARD TO EARN AT ALL. You can get the best prize in two years time and that's by logging in one day a week for about 20 minutes to rate articles.

I cashed in all of my points yesterday for P90X. After shipping, this is a $140 value. And, I spent nothing. Nada. Zilch.

So, if you already have BCBS there really is zero reason not to sign in and rate a few articles every week for the free points. This is not a gimmick. You can actually get quality free stuff for no effort aside from patience. (And, for the absolute lack of effort, I really do think the prizes are very good.)

This time I'm saving up for a barbell set.

Btw, apparently there's a way that your kids can log in and do their own challenges for points as well.

[XLMuffnTop]

I do use this but I think their program to track food is clunky and just irritates me.

I do, however, get a pretty cheap gym membership through BCBS which tracks how often I go and awards be points per visit.