Organized to save money, energy, and time
From February 15 to March 31, 2012, Amazon is offering free one-day shipping for eligible items when you pay using your Discover Card. To qualify for the free shipping, all items must ship within the Continental United States.
Photograph Credit: Amazon.com
While using time wisely to buy items from the comfort of your home, this free one-day shipping option can help in stretching your dollars. Happy savings!
Photograph Credit: Flickr (Staples)
Between my little artists and printing coupons, our household consumes lots of copy paper. At a cost of $5 to $9 per ream, the paper gets expensive, but thanks to Staples Rewards and Easy Rebates, I get copy paper for free, and you can, too.
Though there are other office supply chains, I find the Staples program easy to navigate. Now there are quirky exceptions, but overall, Staples has two great programs: Staples Rewards and Easy Rebates. In part 1, I will focus on the Staples Rewards and next week in part 2 end with the Easy Rebate Program.
The Staples Reward program offers 100% back in Staples store credit through vouchers either mailed or e-mailed to you at the end of each quarter. You will then have 3 months to use or lose your credit. Once expired, Staples will not honor the vouchers.
To receive 100% back in Rewards for the promotional items, you need to know the rules:
TIP: If you buy items that generate a Staples Reward and pay with a reward certificate, you WILL NOT get another reward. These rewards will not roll. However, you can use your Staple Rewards certificate to pay for easy rebate items since you get cash back, not store credit.
TRACY’S TIP: To maximize my coupon use and my Rewards, I choose not to use coupons on 100% back in Rewards. I will save my coupon for another deal since I am already receiving that amount back in Rewards.
Around Christmas, I purchased ear buds and then later two packages of batteries that were all on Staples promotion for 100% back in Rewards. After waiting a few weeks, I received two vouchers: $15 and $21 that expire on March 31, 2012. (My vouchers came separately because I had two transactions. I would have received one voucher had I purchased all the product together.)
When redeeming my rewards, I purchased items using my loyalty card and ended with $.06 remaining in Rewards. Since I used the vouchers, a coupon with my $.06 reward printed at the bottom of my receipt. I still have until March 31, 2012, to redeem my $.06 on another transaction.
The Staples Reward program is another promotional opportunity to stretch your dollars while using time wisely. Understanding this Staples program will save you money, energy, and time. With a well-stocked supply stash, you won’t need to rush to the store, paying full price, to replenish an out-of-stock office need.
Next week, I will continue this short series and share how to use these Staples Rewards with Easy Rebates to get copy paper (and other office supplies) for free. Happy savings!
Question: What office supply product would you like to get free?
Great deals are found at office supply stores like Staples. Knowing the rules of the promotions can result in free paper, labels, pens, and other office supplies.
All the items in the post picture were free. Yes, free using Staples rewards and easy rebates. Last week, I shared the rules for Staples Rewards in Part 1 of this series. Today, I will cover easy rebates and share how to stack these promotions to get free merchandise.
The Staples Easy Rebate program does not require the loyalty card. These promotions allow you to buy the item and then send the information, either electronically or via mail, to receive your PayPal deposit or check. Indicated by easy rebate, these offers are in the weekly sales flyer and need a little of your time. But you will get your reward in cash.
Finding Rebate Items. Less frequent than Staples Rewards, the easy rebate items come around holiday events. During holiday seasons, watch for easy rebate offers.
Checking the limit. When you find items you need, check the limit. Some items have a limit of 1 while others allow 2 or more. If you buy more than the limit, you will not receive the rebate on the exceeded items.
Purchasing the items. The sales flyer will show the price of the items, i.e., copy paper for $1 – purchase price $5.99 with a $4.99 easy rebate. When you purchase this copy paper, the item will ring up at $5.99 at the time of sale. After payment, you will receive the rebate receipt.
Submitting your rebate. At the end of your sale, you will receive the rebate submission forms with your rebate receipts. Staples offers an easy rebate system on-line or via the mail. I use the on-line submission form without experiencing any delays, denials, or complications.
Receiving payment. Upon receiving the rebate, Staples sends a confirmation e-mail. After the rebate processes, I get another e-mail before receiving my check via mail. The entire process takes between 4-6 weeks after Staples receives the rebate submission.
When combining savings strategies, you can get deep savings. In this case, I used the Staples Rewards with Easy Rebates to score free copy paper, labels, pens, and markers. For the pictured transaction, I purchased:
2 – Kleenex facial tissues – 2 pack at $2.99 each (limit 2)
2 – Staples copy paper – $5.49 each (limit 2)
1 – Avery 8160 white address labels – $11.99 each (limit 1)
1 – Staedtler ballpoint pens – $5.99 each (limit 1)
1 – dry-erase markers – $1
After scanning the items, I could have used manufacturer’s coupons.
TIP: If you use manufacturer’s coupons, you will lower your out-of-pocket cost. If you then submit an easy rebate, you will receive the full rebate amount. The rebate will not deduct the amount of the coupon. So, use your coupons with your Staples Rewards and easy rebates.
I had no coupons, so my total came to $35.94. With the Staples Rewards I earned last quarter, I paid $36 in Staples Rewards. I handed the cashier my two vouchers, and I still had $.06 remaining on my rewards. After processing the payment, I received at the bottom of my receipt a coupon for $.06 – my remaining Staples Rewards with the same expiration date – March 31, 2012.
Upon returning home, I entered my receipt information into the Staples easy rebates on-line form for the following:
2 – Kleenex facial tissues for $2.99 each
2 – Staples copy paper for $5.49 each
1 – Avery 8160 white address labels for $11.99
1 – Staedtler ballpoint pens for $5.99
In about 4-6 weeks, I will receive checks totaling $34.94 making all the merchandise free after rewards and then better than free after rebates.
Though Staples offers other rewards, like ink cartridges (explained by Jenny Martin), I choose to concentrate on Staples Rewards and Easy Rebates. As you learn the rules to the office supply stores, you, too, will see deep discounts while replenishing your supplies. Using Staples Rewards and Easy Rebates will help in stretching your dollars while using time wisely. Happy savings!
Question: How do you save money on your office supplies?
Photograph Credit: Flickr (Tom Magliery)
Saving money on routine services is a great way to stretch your dollars. One such routine service is haircuts. In an effort to save my family money, I learned through researching, watching tutorials, and trial-and-error to cut my family’s hair.
Recently, my husband has entrusted his hair to my care. Yikes! Though I was a bit nervous, the product looked great. Whew! Relieved because I did not want to butcher it. 🙂
If you are not ready to cut your family’s hair or your own but still want to save at the barber/salon, consider these 6 ways to cut the price of a haircut while stretching your dollars:
“Like” your favorite barber/salon establishment to keep up with special offers, discounts, and coupons.
If your favorite business offers an e-mail newsletter, then sign up. You will get first notification of sales, coupons, discounts, and special offers delivered to your inbox.
Some companies like SuperCuts offer coupons on their website. You can print this coupon for $5 off a SuperCut’s haircut, valid through April 10, 2012. The limit is one coupon per customer. Click here to find a SuperCut’s location near you.
If you are not picky about your haircut, then watch for grand openings. Salons and barbers will offer great specials at grand openings. To find these, look for roadside banners, newspaper advertisements, and radio and television spots.
I find coupons in the newspaper, home mailers, on-line, and on the back of grocery store receipts. Since I do not cut my hair, I use Great Clips coupons from the back of my Bi-Lo receipts.
These coupons offer an $11 haircut for $4.99 to $6.99. Thankfully, I found a wonderful hairdresser, who understands my hair, and I call before coming to verify her schedule.
Though it takes more time, getting a haircut or treatment through a cosmetology school significantly cuts the price. To get my hair colored at a salon costs $60, but the cosmetology school costs $25. The saving is fantastic, but I do spend an extra hour at the school versus the salon. When I take the time, the savings are worth it.
By becoming a Facebook fan, signing up for the newsletter, checking the website, looking for grand openings, gathering coupons, and considering cosmetology schools, you can cut your out-of-pocket cost on haircuts while stretching your dollars.
Without a friend or family member to cut your hair, you can still save without paying full price. Keep watch because savings are available with a little effort while you continue using time wisely.
Question: Do you pay full price for your hair needs?
Photograph Credit: Amazon.com
Oh, the value of our $43 personal articles insurance policy! Paul and I have insured my wedding rings and our 2 cameras on this insurance policy. Our cost is $43 per year to fully insure these items and worth every penny.
When the girls and I attended a Valentine’s Day party, I was taking pictures of the exchange of cards. One of the attendees backed into my insured point-and-shoot camera and jammed the lens.
At first, I was upset. Not because of the accident, but because here was a fantastic photo opportunity, and my camera would not work. Realizing that I would need a new camera, I did not panic at the cost because the accident was a covered incident. By using time wisely and insuring our expensive property, we hold a personal articles policy to protect our budget when accidents occur.
Since the camera would not take pictures, I put it away. Later, I called our insurance agent and explained the situation. Our agent looked at our policy and determined that he could reimburse us up to $160 for a replacement camera.
With a $160 budget, my husband went looking and found a great camera, retailing for $249, on sale for $183.98 with a case and memory card. Realizing that this camera was a great product, on sale, and we would receive reimbursement of $160, we purchased the camera.
Upon receipt, we worked with the camera to make sure it worked properly. When it did, we took our broken camera and receipt for the new camera to our insurance agent.
The agent confirmed that the old camera was the insured camera model and wrote us a check for $160 (the retail value of our old, broken camera). He then deleted the old camera from our policy and added our new camera with a replacement value of $249 (listed on the receipt).
Though we paid $183.98 for our new camera, we received a $160 check bringing our camera replacement cost down to $23.98 which included a camera case and memory card. Our personal articles policy covered the accident and allowed us to upgrade to a new model without breaking our budget.
If you have valuable cameras, electronics, jewelry, or collections (i.e., coins, stamps, etc.), you might consider a personal articles policy. A little research and protection now can save you money, energy, and time in the future. In using time wisely, a personal articles policy can help in stretching your dollars. I know, because it saved us $160. Happy savings!
Question: What items do you or would you add to your personal articles policy?