Retailers racing for rebates
Posted
April 26, 2008 at
10:32 pm by
Allison J
As gas prices quickly rise to nearly $4 a gallon ($3.77 in my neighborhood — thankfully I live near an Indian Reservation and can get it for the low-low price of $3.44 a gallon), the government has decided to start sending out the much needed rebate checks on Monday, a week earlier than originally planned.
I have seen countless articles from financial experts on what to do with the money — stick it in your savings account or pay off debt. Seems logical to me. I’m not too concerned with boosting the economy by purchasing a flat screen TV or a new summer wardrobe. I’m more concerned with boosting my credit rating and safety-net. Our rebate check will be nice and safe in the bank. Sorry George.
Retailers hate people like me! Lucky for them they’ve devised some ingenious marketing plans to put all of those rebate bucks in their pockets. It’s going to be a feeding frenzy to snatch up $106 billion dollars.
Sears will be converting tax rebate checks into gift cards at cash registers and online, and adding on another 10 percent. The gift cards have no expiration dates or fees, but shoppers must purchase a gift card equal to the entire amount of their rebate check.
Wal-Mart’s customer service centers will be cashing rebate checks and running special promotions to encourage spending.
Home Depot is planning a campaign to encourage shoppers to use their tax rebates to buy eco-friendly products such as programmable thermostats (and I’m sure a new turbo lawn mower and shiny grill).
You can get all of the details here.
So what’s your plan? Will retailer promotions and incentives sway you?
Tags: credit debt, financial planning, gas prices, News & Politics, rebate check, recession, tax rebate
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12 Responses to “Retailers racing for rebates”
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1. Rita. said:
April 27, 2008 @ 10:14 am | Quote
Actually, we are planning on putting it in the bank. But, there are coincidentally a couple of purchases we need to make anyway, so the timing is going to LOOK like we’re spending our checks on these purchases.
The little one is having her bunk bed put up (she’s still in a crib under the middle one’s loft bed), so we need a mattress and bedding (and that should all add up to a few hundred dollars). But, she needs to move out of the crib. We haven’t been held back by finances. We’re lazy, remember, lol, it’s going to be a big deal to put that thing together.
And both the little one and the big one need new bikes. We’re waiting for it to STOP FUCKING SNOWING to buy those. Maybe next weekend.
So, we’ve got a good chunk of change leaving our wallets soon anyway. Regardless of whether we’d be getting the tax rebate or not. But, the rebate will be kept safe and sound. And it looks like maybe we’ll get a deal on bedding and bikes because of the hoopla around it?
2. Jessica said:
April 27, 2008 @ 11:57 am | Quote
We’re not participating in stimulating the economy either. We’re spending ours on Landscaping, so our tax rebate dollars are going back to Mexico.
3. Erika said:
April 27, 2008 @ 12:27 pm | Quote
This is probably going to make me sound like a Bad American, but our stimulus check will be mainly spent on visas and sundry expenses for our impending move out of the country. Otherwise it would probably be going into the bank. I am completely disgusted with the ‘be a good citizen and buy shit you don’t need,’ nonsense.
4. Rita. said:
April 27, 2008 @ 12:29 pm | Quote
LMAO. And Poland, via the cleaning lady, right?
5. Rita. said:
April 27, 2008 @ 12:30 pm | Quote
Were are you moving, Erika? Somewhere fabulous?
6. Allison J said:
April 27, 2008 @ 12:34 pm | Quote
As am I. It’s not my fault gas prices are skyrocketing. It’s not my fault that a gallon of milk is nearly $4.
Just curious — where are you moving to?
7. Erika said:
April 27, 2008 @ 12:40 pm | Quote
I was accepted to my top choice grad program and we’re moving to northern England (Durham, to be precise) in the fall. (Oh, don’t I sound all casual about this. Like it’s not exciting at all.)
8. Allison J said:
April 27, 2008 @ 12:42 pm | Quote
Congrats Erika!
9. Philly said:
April 27, 2008 @ 5:26 pm | Quote
Hmm, I will prob have to put mine in a hospital bed for my father with Parkinsons since Medicare has turned him down……ya think they are in cohoots with the retailers?
10. Deltasierra said:
April 28, 2008 @ 10:37 am | Quote
My husband wants a gun . . . Not only will he be stimulating the economy, he will also be exercising his second amendment rights!
I expect, though, that it will go toward paying for gas for his seventy-minute commute to his job with the National Guard, and some might go toward moving fees so we can move closer to said job in order to keep from going bankrupt paying for gas. Not sure if that’s what politicians had in mind, but they’ll have to deal.
11. BB said:
April 28, 2008 @ 11:48 am | Quote
We are using our stimulous checks and unexpected rebate to pay off one of our cars (a small convertible that we intend to keep forever). We are also trading in our second car, a BMW 3-series, for a used Ford Escape. That will cut our car payment in half, plus we’ll be able to at least buy the cheaper grade of gas. Our fuel efficiency will be the same, but we’ll have the added functionality as we renovate our house and plan for a family. We’ve also started carpooling to work and cutting down in other areas.
12. Allison G said:
April 28, 2008 @ 3:11 pm | Quote
Both of my girls will be in prescool this coming year, so instead of making 2 payments each month totalling a car payment, I’ll just pay for both girls in one lump sum in September. So our rebate will be going to a local church, instead of ‘the general economy’.
I don’t blame the retailers for wanting to come up with a clever way to get our money. The banks should come up with their own plan, like a higher than usual interest rate on a new savings account or CD.
But I agree, I don’t like the whole “be a good citizen and buy more stuff” crap either.
Actually, I think a significant drop in the gas prices (like a dollar or more) would boost my desire for a road trip this summer, with the resulting gas fill ups, hotel rooms, restaurants, and souveniers for the kids being a bigger ‘economy boost’ from our family.
Mexico, Jessica? Too funny.