Beyond Couponing – Try Rebates!
Rebates can be cash/check, a promotional item or coupons for saving money on an item in the future. They’re a great way for companies to get you to try their product…or buy more of it. Learning how to use rebates can help you save money, often making the payoff worth the added effort it sometimes requires.
It’s amazing how many mail-in rebates, premium offers and manufacturer refunds there are out there once you pay attention.
Mail-In Rebates
A couple of months ago I found two in the newspaper inserts – one was for up to $2.99 cash back on ChapStick True Shimmer (a new product). I had to fill out this tiny form that I clipped from the insert, include the UPC code and original register receipt, copy everything for my records, mail it all and wait 6-8 weeks. Well the ChapStick only cost me $2.49 at Walmart, and by the time I spent 42 cents on postage I suppose I have to wonder if $2.07 was worth my time (and the ChapStick!). Well, I love freebies and I can’t resist any kind of “new” lip protectant out on the market, so for me the answer is “Yes!” On the other hand, you can often save money on items you normally can’t get a coupon for – like liquor! The other offer out of the newspaper insert was a mail-in rebate for Baileys Irish Cream, “Buy one save $2 or buy 2 or more and save $5.” I bought two and they were perfect gifts during the Holidays. You can also find mail-in rebate forms online like these:
- There’s only one week left to purchase items for the P&G Year of Savings Rebate. You must purchase $50 worth of any P&G products between 12/14/08 and 1/31/09 to receive $120 in P&G savings by mail. If you like P&G products, still want to get in on this AND you shop at ShopRite…January 25-31st is your week! They are going to have Pampers, Charmin, Cascade, Dawn, Swiffer, Tide, Downy, Iams dog food and other P&G brands on sale with extra promotions (e.g. If you buy (2) bags of Iams ProActive Dry Dog Food at $18.99 each you will get $9 off your next shopping order. That’s already $37.98 toward the $50 required to qualify for the Year of Savings Rebate. Even better would be if you had a couple of Iams coupons). I might stock up on a few big boxes of Pampers (buy 2 at $19.99 each and get $6 off your next order. I even have a few coupons they sent me by mail that I can use). But I’ll save the rest of the deals for my weekly ShopRite Coupon Match-Up on Sunday night. Can you tell I’m sort of excited? Anyway,
- You can try this rebate for up to $6.99 back for specially marked boxes of Sure MAX deodorant.
- Save 48 proofs of purchase from any Beech-Nut product to get $4 off future purchases. Go here and click on “Save Labels Save More” under Special Offers.
Premium Offers
- Currently Earth’s Best is running a “Celebrate the Firsts” promotion. If you spend a certain amount of money on Earth’s Best products you can earn up to $15 in coupons and Fisher-Price baby rewards.
You have to have an organized approach to doing rebates if you want to keep track of what you’ve sent out and are waiting for. It can take up to 8 weeks to get a rebate check once a company has received your info., and I wouldn’t trust my own memory after waiting for one week.
Items to record for each rebate sent in:
- The item and how much it cost you.
- The date you mailed out the completed information.
- Make a copy of the form if possible (and copies of receipts if you have to send in the originals). If you can’t make a copy be sure to write down the address where you are mailing the rebate.
- Write down what qualifiers you had to send in (e.g. UPC codes, receipt).
- Put a date on your calendar for when you expect to have the rebate check – usually by 8 weeks. I have a free calendar that my town sent me where I record information like this.
Keep your eye out for rebates – you might find some that are worth the work and some that aren’t any work at all!
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