Direct Deposit Works for Rebate Deals
Posted on April 29th, 2008 – 2:32 PMBy Kara McGuire
Hello. I’m back from sunny California, the land of heavenly weather, wonderful scenery, heavy traffic, $3.93 gas and $5.99 almonds (they were only $3.99 back home on the tundra).
Apologies to those of you whose comments were stuck in moderation all weekend. And stuck in the rain/snow.
Many thanks to brilliant budget bride Aimee for holding down the fort.
I didn’t pay much attention to the money news when down in the valley. It was a vacation, after all. But I did notice a few stories about retailers offering deals to shoppers who use their stimulus checks to stimulate their earnings– and the economy.
As my colleague Jackie Crosby reported today, Lands’ End, Kmart, Sears, Roundy’s (Rainbow), and Cub are offering discounts to those of us who spend our rebate with them.
What if your rebate will be directly deposited into your bank account? Cub spokeswoman Haley Meyer said that Cub “will work with shoppers” who “show us proof” that the rebate was deposited. The proof needed is a copy of your bank statement or print-out of your online bank account. My guess is other retailers will also accommodate e-deposited funds.
I don’t know about you, but I’m planning to milk the “spend $300, we’ll give you $30 deal” that Cub announced and Rainbow matched.
Here’s my reasoning: I spend about $100 in groceries each week. Yes, that’s a lot of money tied up in grocery gift cards if I throw in the entire $1,800 my family expects. Yes, it will take me almost five months to use up those gift cards, but that’s a free $180–almost two weeks of groceries.
Tell me this: Where else can you get a risk free rate of return of 10 percent on your money in five months? Certainly not in an online savings account with the Fed expected to lower rates once again. Not in a CD. Not under my mattress. Not in short-term bonds. This is about the best short-term investment around. And if they’ll let me use my credit card that earns me 6 percent back on groceries to buy the gift cards, I’ll earn another $108.
Milk it? You bet.
11 Responses to "Direct Deposit Works for Rebate Deals"
That is a compelling argument for the Cub gift-card plan, and as a result I might think about doing that with one or two gift cards. But as far as I’m concerned, the $600 we’re getting for the two kids is theirs, and I intend to put it in their mutual funds. They certainly won’t get 10 percent back in 5 months, but I hope it’ll turn into a good return 10-15 years from now.
And I’m always wary of having a bunch of cash tied up in a deal like that. Even if it’s “safe” and there’s no expiration date, I still FEEL like it’s money that has to be “used up” and know we’d end up spending more there than we usually would as a result.
I’m with you on this one Kara as 10% free money is too good to pass up as we’re going to spend it at Cub eventially. It makes the decision easier by not having any other debt to pay off.
Off course my neightbor who is always pressed for money and behind on bills couldn’t wait to buy a new big screen TV so they bought it on one of those no interest for 15 month deals and plan to use thier check to pay it off. I’d say it’s about an even money bet that they blow the check on something else once it arrives and then scramble to pay off the TV once the no interest deal comes due.
I’m with you on the grochery gift cards. I’m oinly going to purchase $600 worth of the gift cards, but that’s still $60 in free money.
Milk it. Good one.
That’s a lot of free bread.
Add on top of the 10% gain the fact that you should also be getting the X cents off a gallon of gas coupon that comes with every purchase. thanks to our new expense of a canister of formula and package of diapers on every shopping trip, we never make it out with less than $150 grocery bill, but that means 15 cents off every gallon of gas.
I thought I read that there is a $1200 per family limit. I might be wrong.
It’s $1200 per couple. But kids under age 17 net you $300 more per child.
Like I said I might be wrong. But I thought Cub would limit you to $1200 in gift cards, regardless if you have kids or not.
I am considering this, as well. 10% rate of return is a little different for me since I’m single and do part of my shopping at Cub and part of it at the co-op down the street. I am considering putting the equivalent amount in my long-term savings, though (the place this rebate will go otherwise), either all at once up front or in the same increments in which I use the Cub cards as I use them. This would meet both goals: get some free groceries *and* bulk up my long-term savings which I recently spent down to pay my unexpectedly large tax bill. The interest on that savings account is OK, but not the reason I park money there. It’s for my vacation, and January bulk payments to my Roth IRA. And the cents off purchases at holiday don’t hurt, either.
The only hesitation is one I share with Mike D above, and that’s whether I trust my discipline to only buy things I would have purchased anyway, at the rate I would have purchased them. I have proven myself to be pretty trustworthy the last year or so as I’ve focussed on this part of my life, but this would still be a big test. A big chunk of Cub-only cash like that, though, gives me more flexibility in really stocking up on non-perishables when there’s a really good sale.
I think I just might…
There’s a site called The Grocery Game (www.thegrocerygame.com) which tracks local grocery sale trends and coupons and gives you essentially a Buy rating on how to combine coupons and sales to get the best deal. Then you can stock up knowing you’re getting the very best price. In the Twin Cities, they track Cub, so with that guidance plus the 10% gift card deal, I’m looking to make out like a bandit! (no affiliation with The Grocery Game, by the way, just a user with a good experience)
It’s my understanding also that Cub limits the program to $1200.
