Since the mid-1990s, parents have been clipping small rectangular “Box Top” symbols from the tops of our Cheerios, Lucky Charms and Ziplock boxes. We stash them away in our junk drawers, largely unforgotten, until 1. we feel like we finally have enough to bundle up and send in to our kid’s school or 2. we clean out the drawer years later and throw away a bunch of expired cardboard.
Until now. General Mills, which runs the Box Tops for Education program, has mercifully unveiled its new app, which allows parents to scan receipts with qualifying products and automatically apply it to their school’s account.
I had my doubts that this app could properly scan my local grocery store’s notoriously faded and mile-long receipts, but it did, and my son’s school is now 10 cents richer for my efforts. And—and—I don’t have to clip (or rip, as I’m more apt to do) that damn box.
The app is easy to navigate. You enter your zip code to pull up a list of schools in your area, then select your school. You can then see how much your school has earned over time and how much you have contributed. You can also see special deals on selected products that will earn you bonus box tops, if you want to go all-in. You do have to create an account with an email address, so be prepared to hand over a bit of your personal information.
If you’ve got extra-long receipts like me, you may have to take multiple photos and “stitch” them together, but it’s a fairly intuitive process. If you order your groceries online, you can forward your receipt (from qualifying retailers) to [email protected] with the same email address you used to sign up for your BTFE account; your earnings should be credited to your account within 10 business days.
You can still clip—for now
If you prefer to keep clipping and bundling, you can, at least until the brands have moved over from the old clips to the new labels and the old clips have expired. That will probably happen toward the end of this year. Once they look like the label on the right, you can’t clip anymore; you’ll have to scan the receipt:
Pro tip: Until this move is complete, you could scan your receipt and send in the box top before it has expired for a little double-dip action. It’s ethical ‘cause it’s for the kids.
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