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Rite Aid picked Greensboro and three other test markets across the country to unveil its "wellness+ customer rewards program."

The free program is similar to other discount card programs offered by retailers and grocery store chains.

The Rite Aid program has an added focus on the pharmacy and wellness.

Members earn points, which they can use toward free health screenings and a 20-percent off year-long shopping pass.

You earn 25 points for every prescription filled at Rite Aid and one point for every dollar spent on non-prescription purchases.

You can get the new card at any of the 44 Rite Aid stores in the greater Greensboro area, online at www.riteaid.com/wellness or by calling 1-800-RITEAID.
 

You'll soon be able to rent or buy movies from Best Buy on the Web.

Best Buy is setting up a digital delivery service with CinemaNow, according to the Associated Press.

That means you'll be able to shop CinemaNow's video library, which will be included on all the Web-connected gizmos at Best Buys stores.

So if you buy flat-panel TVs, Blu-ray players, PCs, and mobile phones at Best Buy, you can get downloads of videos the same day they are released on DVDs.

The AP story notes this marks the latest step away from the DVD format.

"Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and DVD-by-mail pioneer Netflix Inc. all have been winning over consumers with their own digital delivery systems," according to the article. "Blockbuster Inc. also has a deal with CinemaNow that lets people rent movies over the Internet."

I know for me, I've debated whether to get a Blu-ray player, even though prices have dropped to around $100.

That's because I prefer the convenience of digitally downloading or streaming shows and music versus buying DVDs or CDs.

Looking for something to do after work this Friday?

You might want to head to downtown Greensboro to enjoy First Friday, which showcases downtown's art galleries, studios, museums, retail shops, restaurants and alternative art venues.

Check out some sales, browse artwork, enjoy a cup of hot cider or paint your own holiday gourd.

It's from 6 to 9 p.m.

Learn more in my Savvy Shopper column, which runs Sundays in the News & Record and features retail happenings in the Triad.

PC Magazine offers tips on scoring the best buys on gadgets on Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving

Black Friday Web sites mentioned by PC Magazine are also listed on the right-hand side of my blog under the "Links of Interest" section.

Buy items with a short phrase and an ID instead of having to fill out your name, address and credit card info.

That's what Amazon.com plans to introduce today. It's called Amazon PayPhrase.

Here's how it works, according to the AP:

"If you store a credit card number and shipping address with Amazon, you can elect to have that information represented by a short phrase and ID number. Then you can enter that phrase and PIN instead of giving a credit card and address to buy things on Amazon and other Web sites that accept this PayPhrase system."

An article about 59 ways to "make the most of your money while having the best time of your life" is featured in the November issue of Men's Health magazine. (Didn't see a link to an online version of the article.)

Tips include going out on cheaper but more imaginative dates, 12 things that don't cost a cent and good-tasting hooch that won't break the bank that was based on a blind taste test.

"They hold their own against the stuff you're storing under lock and key," the magazine says.

Lowe's has a free online application that let's you organize your plantings and print out your results.

You must register at lowes.com. Then go to the top of Lowe's home page, select How-to, then Interactive Design Tools from the drop-down menu.

Under Outdoors, choose Lowe's Garden Planner and launch it.

A tutorial breaks down how to use the application's tools, choosing the right plants and other stuff.

Some sweet deals at the grocery store this week in time for Halloween.

Deals expire Tuesday except those at Aldi, which expire Monday:

* Buy one package of six cupcakes, get one free at Food Lion and Lowes Foods.

* Lowes foods is also doubling manufacturers' coupons up to 99 cents.

* Brach's candy is 99 cents at Compare Foods.

* Party goods including pumpkin lights and Halloween paper are $2 at Harris Teeter, which is also doubling manufacturers' coupons up to 99 cents.

* Buy two Hershey's bags of candy, get one free at Food Lion.

* 12-ounce bags of semi-sweet chocolate baking chips are $1.49 at Aldi.

* Hershey's snakc-size candy is $2.99 at Compare Foods.

* Trick or Treat buckets are 99 cents at Food Lion.

* A "scary cat" cake is $6.99 at Harris Teeter.

Google's giving you a chance to send calls from your cell phones to a free voice mail service.

Google has also figured out a way to tie current mobile phone numbers to its voice mail service. Takes a few steps that are outlined here.

According to the AP, people sticking with their own phone numbers can't use all of Google Voice's features including directing calls to a home or office number.

"But the voice mail option will provide more bells and whistles than what most major mobile phone carriers offer in their standard packages," according to the AP.

The service automatically transcribes messages and lets users customize greetings for frequent callers.

If you own a PlayStation 3, you'll soon be able to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix.

Sony Corp. and the DVD rental company announced this Monday. They plan to launch it next month.

Best part? If you have a Netflix subscription, streaming content to your PS3 won't cost you anything more. Netflix subscriptions start at $9 a month (that lets you rent one DVD at a time).

For us Xbox 360 owners, Netflix streaming is available to "Gold" members, where we pay $50 a year to play games online with or against others from around the globe.

There's lots to choose from regarding what's available via Netflix streaming, although I've found that newer, more popular movies and TV shows are hard to come by.

This is the latest piece of good news for PS3 fans. In August, Sony announced it's cutting the price tag of its 80-gigabyte console by $100 to $299.