Day 6: Take Advantage of Rebates
Rebates can be a great way to save money for your family and no one does it better than the office supplies stores and drugstores. Unfortunately, four out of ten people never even apply for their entitled rebate. Maybe this is why these companies offer them?
Consumer Reports offers the following tips to better your chance of successfully completing a rebate and getting your money back:
Rebate Tips- Read and understand rebate requirements, including deadlines, before making a purchase.
- Make copies of all rebate materials and put everything in a file folder, in case the company rejects your rebate claim or loses your submission. A paper trail is critical if anything goes wrong. Write down on the cover of the folder in big letters the date when the refund is due.
- Act quickly. If the rebate form is available online, be sure to print it out immediately after you buy the product. While you may have a few weeks to submit the claim, the official form may be removed from the Web site after the promotional period ends.
- Submit rebate requests promptly. Don’t wait until the filing deadline. If the company informs you that something’s missing, the extra time will be necessary to gather the requested documentation before the clock runs out. It may sound silly, but also remember to put enough stamps on the envelope, in case the enveloped is oversized.
- Keep a careful eye out for your rebate check, as it sometimes resembles junk mail.
- If the rebate doesn’t arrive when promised or at all, contact the company and jot down the name of anyone you speak with. If the matter isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, file a complaint with the state’s Attorney General where the company is based or the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or 877-382-4357.
I used to take advantage of rebates more regularly, but have fallen off the bandwagon this summer. I checked my paper on Sunday though and the rebates were too good to pass up. I clipped my coupons, grabbed the rebates flier in the store and came armed with that week's advertisement.
CVS was running a great rebates deal this week. Buy $20 worth of Post & Kraft company products, get $20 back in refunds. They also are offering their Aquafresh toothpaste for $2.99 with a $2.99 rebate (limit of three).
I hit the store, when we got home from church, and was able to get the following:
10 boxes of Post cereal
3 boxes Kotex pads
3 Aquafresh toothpastes
1 Colgate Total
2 Colgate Advanced (with bonus free toothbrushes)
1 box Revlon Hair Color
1 Schick Silk Effects Razor
Grand Total Before Savings: $60.28Coupon Savings: $8.75
Rebate Savings: $35.97
Total Savings: $44.72
Final Total: $15.56Walgreens also offers a similar rebates program and they run some pretty stellar deals themselves. You can check their
EasySaver catalog online or pick a copy up when you get to the store. From what I understand, these rebates do have to be mailed in and take up to three weeks to clear.
CVS offers instant rebates that print out on your receipt. Bring in your
Extra Care Bucks and they will scan them to put these savings towards your purchases. You also do receive 2% back on all of your purchases in the store or online.
Sound Off: Do you utilize rebate programs? How do you stay on top of getting your rebates in on time? What is the best rebate you have received?
Labels: Budget, Frugal, Month of Savings, Organizing, Shopping
12Comments:
thehomespunheart
"Every Monday morning, I call my Freebie morning. I have scoured the ads on Sunday, collected my coupons and searched for the best deals. With my list and coupons in hand and the two little girls we are off to see how much we can get for how little!
I try to send in my rebates that same day or in the next day or so. I do not let myself move the receipts off the counter until it has been mailed in (exception: Walgreens - I keep these in an envelope ready to mail and add the receipts throughout the month) then, if the receipts on the counter start to bug me - I must send the rebates in to move them!
I also keep an Excel spreadsheet to track when/where each rebate was sent, then I can check it off when I receive it!
Best rebate ever? Probably just the collective accumulation of all of them. I love it that I have not paid more than 50 cents for a toothbrush, toothpaste or deodorant for several years!"
Nico
"I love using the Walgreens EasySaver rebate program. I like to receive my rebates on a gift card. Walgreens gives you and extra 10% if you choose the gift card instead of a check. Over the past five months I have earned over $40.00 in Walgreens rebates alone.
I'm also starting to use the Dollar General rebate program. Another great way to shop and save."
Mary Ann
"I've been using rebate programs for a year now. I can't believe how much I used to spend on personal care and household items before this! Now I spend almost nothing for almost all of our personal care items and have a back-up supply as well.
I copy all receipts and forms and keep them in my finance notebook. I get rid of them when I receive the rebate. I send all the little one time offers in as soon as I buy the product. The once a month Wal-greens one I keep in my purse and know to get it ready when paying monthly bills around the 1st of the month. I like that you can do the Staples rebates online.
My husband really is starting to like the fact that I will go shopping and bring home bags of needed items nearly free! Rebates are a great way for me to stretch his paycheck.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that went wild with the Post cereal! I got 8 boxes as well as 2 boxes of saltines as I needed those. I had coupons for the cereal so that made the deal even sweeter!"
Michele@Philoxenos
"I am totally into rebates! I just moved to the States so am able to take advantage of them, but I've been reading about them for months. Yesterday I went to Walgreens, RiteAid and Longs and saved at least 50% on the actual price by using coupons and sales and rebates and in one instance got $2 just to take a new razor out of the store, because of the rebate and a coupon. Love it!"
"So the CVS rebate program earns shoppers Extra Care Bucks rather than cash? Do you receive those "bucks" immediately upon purchasing the participating items?"
Amy
"Kim- The CVS Extra Bucks are basically like receiving a store credit. They are immediate "coupons" that are printed on the tail end of your receipt. You just bring the coupons back in when you shop there again.
Walgreens offers a rebate check, but it will take up to three weeks to process. Or you can just get a gift card for the store and use it like the Extra Care Bucks. This is a little bit quicker, but the CVS is instant store bucks.
I hope that explains it!!"
mama k
"I have had trouble with the CVS program in that it always prints off coupons for your next purchase. They expire pretty quickly and are usually something like $2 your next $20 purchase. So I suppose if you shop there frequently it's worth it. But for me I usually loose the coupon (since it's on the reciept) or it expires before I get a chance to use it. I've done better with shopping at Drugstore.com when I can load up on sale prices and get free shipping with a minimum purchase.
I am going to start looking into the rebates more now though!"
Amy
"Hmmm...that is interesting! I just checked my rebates and they are good for one month. The only fine print that I see on them is..
"Extracare card must be presented to get these savings. Excludes prescriptions. Other exclusions apply no cash-back. Tax charged on pre-coupon price where required. Please limit one per customer."
I guess the only bad part would be that you can't stack them?"
"Just FYI - the CVS coupons (usually $2 off $10 purchase or $4 off $20 - something like that) are DIFFERENT than ExtraBucks. ExtraBucks will say "Extra Bucks" on them and how much they're worth. I'm pretty sure that the number of Extra Bucks you can use on a purchase is unlimited - they're supposed to be like cash - but the coupons, you can only use a couple (I think if you have a $20 purchase, for example, it'll let you use one of the $4/20s and one of the $2/10s - sometimes. I always figure, it doesn't hurt to try.) I always try to combine with manufacturer coupons for even more savings. Recently, though, I seem to get a lot of these $10 off $50 coupons and those are harder for me to use.
I don't do the Walgreens rebates because it's just too much to keep track of for me and I would rather get the 2% back on ALL purchases from CVS. Now if Walgreens had something similar to the ExtraCare card and kept track of the rebates for you... :)"
"I have been using the CVS ECB program for a few months. I don't think I've spent more than $10 ever there for bags and bags of stuff. Do some searches on the web about CVS and the ECB program and you'll find lots of sites where you can learn to make your money work for you. Today I got $56 worth of stuff for $1.45! Plus I earned $33 ECB for next week!"
Mary Ann
"Some CVS stores allow you to use more than one ECB coupon per purchase like cash, others don't. I have started asking when I go to a different store and I tend to frequent the ones that allow it-like yesterday when I handed the cashier about 7 ECB coupons to pay!"
"Just wanted to let everyone know about a pretty good rebate that I found in last Sunday's paper. It was buy $20 worth of Kelloggs products get 10 back in the mail. This includes Keebler cookies and cradckers, sunshine products, Nutri Grain bars, and a few others. I am assuming on their website there might also be info (I have not checked it)."
Rebates can be a great way to save money for your family and no one does it better than the office supplies stores and drugstores. Unfortunately, four out of ten people never even apply for their entitled rebate. Maybe this is why these companies offer them?
I try to send in my rebates that same day or in the next day or so. I do not let myself move the receipts off the counter until it has been mailed in (exception: Walgreens - I keep these in an envelope ready to mail and add the receipts throughout the month) then, if the receipts on the counter start to bug me - I must send the rebates in to move them!
I also keep an Excel spreadsheet to track when/where each rebate was sent, then I can check it off when I receive it!
Best rebate ever? Probably just the collective accumulation of all of them. I love it that I have not paid more than 50 cents for a toothbrush, toothpaste or deodorant for several years!"