This week for Money Making Monday, I would like to address Rebates.

What are Rebates?
Rebates are a marketing tool used by manufacturers to increase sales, by lowering the cost of a product in the eyes of a customer, without actually dropping the price on the shelf. Rebates are great whether you have coupons for the product or not.

How do I get a Rebate?
Most rebates nowadays are from the retailer’s web site or in the form of a PDF file. Sometimes rebates can be found in packages, given by the store you purchased the item, on your receipt, etc. The bottom line is to always look out for a rebate!

Are they really worth the time and effort?
As a frugal gal, I’m all about making a buck, but sometimes it may not be worth the hassle. If the rebate is for $1.00, the cost of your envelope and stamp isn’t worth it! But sometimes rebates can really be crazy money makers- especially after using coupons on the purchase.

Speaking of coupons & rebates, what amount will I actually get back?
You should be getting the sale price of the item back if it’s a ‘try me free’ rebate. If you have to purchase a specific dollar amount in order to get a set dollar amount rebate back, that is also looking at sale prices only- not what you actually spent. Here’s a few examples:

1. CVS sells shampoo and conditioner called Bioluxe. They have a “try me free” hangtag on the conditioner. There was a store sale for BOGOF and I picked up a shampoo and conditioner @ $9.99 each. After using ECBs to pay, my out of pocket expense was $0.00 for both products. I sent in the rebate and received a $9.99 visa pre-paid card to use anywhere.

2. SC Johnson has a rebate form to get $5 back when you purchase 3 of their products. I purchased 3 Scrubbing bubbles products that ended up being free+ $5 moneymakers are the store after coupons and catalinas. I sent in my rebate form and received another $5 check on top of that.

These are the times when you should use rebates. Just think of it as an early Christmas present from the company to you for having their products in your home!

Sounds great, where do I find rebates like you talked about?
Well on my site, of course! If you ever want to scope out rebates, head over to the sidebar and click the Categories drop down menu. You could also just search for ‘rebate’ in the search bar. If I feel the rebate is easily do-able, I will post it on my site and let you know how to get the most out of it! You can easily bank at least $100 or more every few months (that comes to around $400 a year!) with rebates.

Other tips and side notes:
-Always keep your receipts! You never know when you’ll find a rebate- today is a perfect example. Last night I bought a Schick razor and paid a few cents OOP for it, and this morning I woke up to find a rebate for it! So now I’ll make $8.00!
-Always read the fine print! Every rebate is different so make sure to read every single word on it! You don’t want to send your rebate in wrong.
-Always keep track of what you sent! I have never had a problem with getting my rebates, but I do keep an excel file of what I sent out and the date. (I do it on Excel because I’m always on the computer you could just write these things down and put them in a safe place) Then I know when to expect them, and if it’s been longer than the time stated on the rebate, you can always call to check the status.

Let’s get you started:
Here are a few hot rebates going on right now. If you know of any other ones, let me know and I’ll add them.

- $5 SC Johnson Rebate (You can submit 3 per household!)
- $20 Olay Rebate (Purchase $50 worth of participating facial products)
-Try Me Free Schick Hydro Razor Rebate (purchase with coupons at CVS/Walgreens and score big!)
-$10 Swiffer Refills Rebate (purchase $20 in Swiffer refills)

Have other question regarding rebates? Ask in the comments section below!