Photograph Credit: Flickr (ideas4Christmas2010)
The idea for this series began after the purchase of my husband’s waffle iron. After sharing how I stacked my savings and learned a new technique along the way, I hope you can increase your savings while stretching your dollars through on-line shopping.
If you have missed any of the money saving strategies in this series, you can catch up here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. In this last post of this series, I will be stacking my savings from the purchase of the waffle iron by submitting a rebate.
#5: Submit a Rebate
Some manufacturers offer rebates for items purchase through a single retailer. Around Thanksgiving, you will find a number of rebates offered on sale items on Black Friday. Before Paul and I had children, we used to camp out at Best Buy early on Friday morning waiting to gather our savings when the doors opened. Our waiting paid off since we would gain hundreds of dollars of merchandise at a huge discount after the rebates.
The waffle iron I purchased for Paul had a $10 rebate offer attached which added to our savings. We started the deal with a retail price of $59.99 which was on sale for $29.99. Then we added in the FREE SHIP TO STORE option and a $10 off promotional code which brought the cost down to $19.99. With tax, I paid $21.19. After receiving the merchandise, I submitted the $10 rebate which will be processed within the next 6-8 weeks.
To review, I paid $21.19, but will get back a check for $10 and a credit of $1.79 in my Shopathome.com account for a future disbursement. If I wanted to subtract these future savings from this order, then I got the $60 waffle iron for $9.40 by stacking my savings.
Yes, working through these five steps takes some time. But when I see these types of savings, I know I am using time wisely. Whether you use one or more strategies when shopping on-line, you can stack your savings while stretching your dollars. Keep your eyes peeled for some great deals and use your money-saving strategies to snag some inexpensive gifts on Black Friday, this upcoming Christmas season, and throughout the year. Happy savings!
Question: How often do you submit rebates for items with rebates? Curious to see your answer.
Disclosure: Affiliate links to Using Time Wisely are included within this post.