Anatomy of a rebate

This particular frugal method is one I never planned to get involved with.  Rebates.  It seems like such a hassle.  You have to send in your receipts, sometimes the UPC from the product itself, wait for weeks and weeks, and in the end you run the risk of the company rejecting the rebate for some stupid reason.  In addition, usually you have to spend the money upfront to get the rebate and keeping my actual cash spent to a minimum is my main goal.

The only exception to this has been Rite Aid's Single Check Rebate program.  All you have to do is enter your receipt info on their website, your eligible purchases are automatically retrieved to your account, and at the end of the month they send you one check for all the eligible items.  Let's say you buy some lip balm that gets a $1 rebate, some hair spray that gets a $4.99 rebate, and some paper towels that get a $5 rebate.  When the month is over, you get a check for $10.99 from Rite Aid without the hassle of stamps, receipts, and hoping you didn't miss some small detail rendering your rebate useless.

Well, I got sucked in to the traditional type of rebate thanks to the Black Friday sales.  Proctor & Gamble is offering a $20 rebate when you spend $50 on certain brands including Olay, Herbal Essence, and Secret.  I was getting those items due to the sale as it was - and not only was I getting the items, I was getting back more in rewards than the product itself cost.  I figured this was the time to give this rebate thing a try.

Walgreens had Herbal Essence shampoo & conditioner on sale for $2.49ea, and you received a $1.50 Register Reward for each one purchased.  In addition, I had coupons for $2 off each bottle.  I paid $.49 per bottle after coupon and received back $1.50 for each.  I had 4 coupons so I did this four times:
4 x $2.49 = $9.96
- $8 in coupons = $1.96
- $6 in RRs received = $4.04 profit

Walgreens also had Olay bodywash for $3.49 with a $2.50 reward back, and Secret body spray for $3.49 with a $3.50 reward back.  I had coupons for $5 off Olay when you buy any Secret.  I bought 5 pairs of these items for $1.98 per pair after coupon and received back $6 in rewards per pair.
10 x $3.49 = $34.90
- $25 in coupons = $9.90
- $30 in RRs received = $20.10 profit

My amount "spent" totals to $44.86 - this is counted after sale but before coupons - and already I've earned back $24 more in rewards than I'd spent after coupon.  I only need to spend another $5.13 pre-coupon to reach the $50 mark.

Giant Eagle has Olay bodywash & lotion on sale for $5ea, and when you buy two you get a $3 OYNO reward back.  I have coupons for buy a body wash, get a lotion free along with a $1.50 bonus eOffer coupon for each item.
2 x $5 = $10
- $8 in coupons ($5 BOGO, $3 eOffers) = $2
- $3 in rewards = $1 profit

My spending is now at $54.86. 
After coupons, I paid just $13.86 (in rewards, of course!) for the products, and I earned back a total of $39 in rewards; I've already profited $25.14 on these items just from the RRs and OYNOs alone.  At this point, there's zero risk for me to send away for this rebate.  I can't lose any money beyond the cost of a stamp if something goes awry and I stand a pretty good chance of getting a $20 check back on top of everything else. 

Let's geek out a little more here.  The items I purchased have a retail price as follows:

Olay body wash $6.99 x 5 = $34.95
Olay lotion $6.99 x 1 = $6.99
Herbal Essence $3.99 x 4 = $15.96
Secret body spray $4.99 x 5 = $24.95

I wound up with $82.85 worth of merchandise.  Proctor & Gamble is paying me $45.14 (between the coupons they issued, the RRs/OYNOs they reimburse the store for, and the rebate they're offering) to take all that stuff and put it in my now-overflowing linen closet.

Being a crazy coupon lady is nothing but a series of math problems.  Being that I'm not very good at math, I'm honestly surprised I can do this - but that also tells me that if I can do this, anyone can.  I use a spreadsheet to help me plan and track and my calculator gets a serious workout, but even so this really isn't too difficult.

Speaking of spreadsheets, today is the last day of the month which means my monthly totals are on the way.  I'm absolutely stunned at where I stand right now.  It's insane.  And I'm pretty sure I'm about to screw up my amazingly low out of pocket total by making trip to Giant Eagle this evening.  In addition to milk and such, I need to get raisins, mini Oreos and Crispix - no Crispix or Oreos coupons and though I have a coupon for raisins I have no idea how much they cost.  We don't really eat raisins, but we're making Christmas candy with my family this weekend and we always do chocolate covered raisins; that's what I've been assigned to bring.  The Crispix is for Puppy Chow and that stuff is so good I don't care if I have a coupon for it or not! 

Besides, I think we can afford a slightly more expensive than usual grocery trip considering how much I've managed to save this month...