When it comes to saving money, there are things I am good at doing and things that I should just stay away from. Rebates are one of the things that I am just not good at following up with. And, I had to learn that the hard way after forgetting to turn a few of them in. Oops!
The only Rebate offers I do try to do are the awesome Beer Rebates that pop up during the Summertime. Those usually make me money since I live in one of the 14 states that don’t require a beer purchase to get the rebate!
Rebates can be an amazing way to save your family money- as long as you can remember to get them sent in by the filing date, purchase the right amounts of the right product and are organized with a way to follow up.
Companies will put out “Try Me Free” Rebates all of the time. And all you have to do is purchase the item listed, mail in your proof of purchase and receipt and they will send you a check back for the amount you paid.
For those of you who are awesome at using Rebates, I would love you to share how you organize the whole process and what you have found works for you. That way, other readers can gain from your awesome organization skills!
Penny
I love rebates! My tip is to send them as soon as you get home from the store if possible. Otherwise, I put my form and receipt with my bills, so I don’t forget to send it.
Alison
Question about beer rebates. Do you actually find these in stores or are you buying them online. If so, which sites? I’ve only ever seen one in a store once in the last few years.
Julie Barker
I love rebates! I fill out my rebate right when I get home from the store, cut to UPC/proof of purchase and mail it that same day. That way I dont forget. I also started writing how much I get in rebates a year. Kinda fun to see how much you can save.
Kristy
I have turned in two rebates, larger ones, like $20 ones that I never received, so I’m leery to keep doing them.
KaDee
It’s funny that you posted this because I just had an epic fail with a rebate. I tried to do the “pediasure clear” rebate that walgreens was doing last week but accidentally bought the vanilla instead of the clear. I’m assuming they wouldn’t give me the rebate so I was planning to just take them back to the store and had them on the counter to remind myself. Sadly, our nanny gave my son one of the bottles so now I can’t take them back! Fail… epic fail. $11.00 for a drink that we wouldn’t normally have purchased. I’ve decided that I am going to actually take walgreens out of my shopping rounds because I’ve had a few bad experiences and pretty much every time I go they are always out of the good deals.
Stefani
I won’t do rebates anymore. I faithfully filled out rebate forms and sent them off the day I got them for the longest time. Then six months would go by and I wouldnt get a thing back. So I would spend hours on the phone with companies trying to track down my check only to be told “sorry, there’s nothing else we can do.”. My philosophy is now that if a company really wants me to try their product, they will send me a sample or a high value coupon NOT make me play a bunch of games and waste my time.
Diane
My way to stay organized with rebates is to scan the rebate with all the purchase requirements into my computer in a rebate folder. I name the rebate by the date I mailed it in and then delete it when I receive the check. That way I can follow up if I don’t receive the rebate check in a timely manner. I tend to do a lot of the beer rebates and rarely have to follow up on them.
tiffany
I hate that most of the companies only send to street addresses not po boxes because of people abusing the system and making it hard for the rest of us. We only get mail delivery to a po box and our street addressed mail gets returned to sender therefore I put my po box and street address on the rebate form, they send it to the street address and I never see the money.
amanda h
I keep an excel sheet with all my rebates that year. I have columns for what the rebate is for, the amount, the date I sent it, the expected date for the check/gift card and the date I actually received it. I also like to add up the rebates to show how much I get back at the end of the year. I have also learned to scan and save copies on your computer in case of issues or questions.
Amanda
Yes, I do this as well. I love looking at my spreadsheet to see how much money I’ve gotten! I also keep physical copies of whatever I sent (the rebate form, receipt, UPC, etc).
Kairy
I am still pretty new to all this couponing stuff but I am ALL OVER the rebates! I have gotten lots of money back in the short time I have been doing this, not to mention the M&M Movie money! You get 9.00 a pop and can do four per household! Just using ONE of those rebates at walmart I was able to get three movies for only one dollar out of pocket! And all for the cost of a stamp and a little bit of time! Well worth it I think!
Angie
I have done the small rebates and have received the money for them. The larger ones like the $30 rebate for the phillips shaver I didn’t get back.
Mandi
I haven’t done a ton of rebates, but I’ve had very good luck with the ones I have. The trick for me is to complete the form and send it off as soon as I get home from the store. Otherwise, I will space it. Thanks to a rebate (and a 30% off Kohls coupon), I got an awesome deal on a new set of kitchen knives for my MIL for Christmas! Without the rebate and the coupon, something like that would have never been in our holiday budget.
Rachel
Like a lot of other people said, it’s best to mail the rebate the same day so you don’t forget. But if there’s some reason I can’t do it that day, I actually have a section right at the front of my coupon binder where I put the forms, receipts, and upc’s so that I see them every time I open my binder and it reminds me to send them in.
Ashley
I’m with everyone on filling it out right away! I also us a website called rebatetracker.com to keep track of all my rebates. It works great! Also, I always stop to think, “would this be a good deal even without the rebate?” If it isn’t I usually don’t do the rebate. That way, if I receive the rebate it makes a good deal a great deal. Icing on the cake! I live in Utah and do alot of the beer rebates and have had 100% success with them, and it’s usually things I buy anyway. There’s even been a few times i’ve done rebates after the fact, so i’ve learned to hang on to my receipts for a few months incase a rebate pops up for something i’ve already bought. example: I bought a pack of bottled water a few weeks ago to go camping. Then I ran across a beer rebate for $2. off a 24 pack of bottled water. So I got my water for a few cents! I’ve only had about 2 or 3 rebates that failed in the past 3 years and at least one of them was my fault (forgot the upc). So I think it’s a good enough success rate to give it a try. Just treat rebates like couponing: Don’t buy it just because it’s a good deal if you don’t need it. Then if you forget the rebate or mess up, it’s not that big of a deal, because you would have bought it anyway.
Sarah
I have had great experiences with mail-in rebates! I just started doing them this year and have gotten my money back for all of them (I’ve sent in around 20). I use a rebate tracking website (https://www.rebate-tracker.com) to keep track of all of the rebates I’ve sent in. It’s super helpful for organizing! I also either scan or take a picture of the materials I send in (receipt, rebate form, etc.), just in case something goes wrong. Be sure to check and see if there’s a website listed on the rebate form that lets you track the status of your rebate. There was only once that I didn’t get my rebate back in a reasonable amount of time, so I checked the website and found that they had attempted to send it, but it ended up getting sent back to them. I was able to send them an e-mail about it, they re-sent it, and I got my check 🙂
If you’re worried about the mailing process of mail-in rebates, look for stores that offer on-line rebate forms. I’ve done on-line rebates with Staples (https://www.stapleseasyrebates.com) quite a few times. The process is simple, you can instantly know that they got the information, and you don’t have to worry about things getting lost in the mail. I’ve done on-line rebates with Rite Aid and Walgreens, too, which were just as easy and worry-free.
Shelise Lowe
My tricks for rebates are as follows:
1. Read the fine print, all of it.
2. Fill out form and gather everything right away, put in the mail right away.
3. Make copies of everything, file them in my desk.
4. Make a note of the calendar of when I should receive the rebate by.
I’ve only had 1-2 rebates that I never got and it was because I didn’t read the fine print well enough. If you do have to call on a rebate, they are a ton more helpful if you have copies of everything.
I LOVE REBATES!
kt
There is one out right now: Pyramid Ales (I found it on slickdeals website)
I haven’t read it (b/c I don’t live in one of the awesome 14) – but it’s $10.
There are excluding states, so watch for that. I am going to post the link as a reply on this message.
kt
The link: https://www.pyramidbrew.com/sites/default/files/symon/PYR_Symon_Website_MIR_Form.pdf