Did anyone around here do any rebating in 2010?
Are you a casual rebater? By that I mean, you do a rebate every now and again....you don't seek out rebates, but if you happen upon one and it makes sense to buy the product and if it's not TOO MUCH trouble(the rebate process the company makes you go through)you take the time to complete it.
Do you keep track of the rebates you send for and keep a copy of the materials you send off? Even casual rebaters should always make a copy of the info.(receipts, forms, UPCs or other qualifiers, etc.)before they send it. It's also a good idea to jot down on your copies what date you mailed off your rebate.
I posted last year about rebating. You can read it HERE. I am a low tech rebater who uses a notebook to keep track of my submissions. For those of you who love technology, you can keep track of your stuff via spreadsheets and graphs on your computer. It's probably less work that way, once you get the software all set up....just enter your data and it automatically calculates, etc. I just love the feel of a pencil in my hand instead......lol
I just went through my 2010 Rebate Information.
My cash refunds amounted to $1,161.46.
$60 of this was from doing Surveys.
$75 of this was for Focus Group work.
$102.35 was Ad Revenue from the blog.
This $237.35...the income from surveys/focus work/ad revenue...is taxable income.
Rebates in general are NOT taxable income. Rebates are considered a discount on the goods you buy, it reduces your cost for the product.
My gift card refunds amounted to $563.99.
$75 of these gift cards were won in giveaways.
So my total cash and gift cards/certificates in 2010 is $1,725.45.
This isn't counting any free items, free item coupons or $ off coupons I received.
This was my first full year of rebating.
Though looking at my paperwork I did take 4 months off from actual mail-in rebating during the spring/summer months. I did do some online rebating but mostly it was Rite-Aid SCRebates, Blog Giveaway wins, Surveys and Facebook type freebies.
My full year of Rebating total was $1.19 LESS than my Rebating total for 2009.
My costs to rebate added up to.....
$17.60 for 40 stamps
$1.00 for a box of envelopes
The copy paper was free as I still have a ton of that Staples reams of paper deal from 2009.
As for the ink cartridge costs.....not sure how to figure that. Estimate how many pages I copied I suppose. I'll call that 1 cartridge(I only use black ink), so $30.
Estimated total for rebate supplies.....
$48.60.
Not a bad return on investment, huh? ;-)
There is something about rebating I don't care for. The fact that some people can be ineligible for certain rebates because they happen to live in a certain state.
If you live in a state where you can do alcoholic beverage/other foodstuffs rebates and that state doesn't require you to purchase the alcohol, you REALLY should do these types of rebates!
Usually you can find these rebates on the alcoholic beverages('wine tags' are what the forms are called).
You will need to purchase something like $20 of meat or $10 of cookout items, etc. and the rebate will be for the whole $20 or $10 cost of the non-alcoholic items you bought. So basically, if you don't have to purchase the alcohol, you are getting $XX worth of food or other items for FREE!
How awesome is that?
Unfortunately for me, the state of PA does NOT allow it's residents to send off for these kind of rebates.....sniff, sniff......
As for 2011.....
Since the types of food items I purchase seems to be evolving, I don't see myself sending off for as many rebates as I did the past 2 years. That's not to say I won't continue to rebate however.
I also don't shop and buy "stuff"(non-food items except toiletries)at the rate of most of Americans, so I don't do many clothing, or other "hardlines" type of rebates. I may qualify for a paint or other hardware store type rebate here or there as an exception to this since we have home related purchases.
When I go looking, I don't see nearly the number of rebates so far this year being offered by the usual suspects(companies)as the last 2 years. That may change as we get further into the year but for now it's looking sparse out there in the rebating field.
I'll continue to rebate in 2011 and I'll be interested to see how this year goes and how my numbers stack up when all is said and done.
If anyone has any rebating questions, feel free to leave a comment.
Sluggy
