I’m a stay at home Mom who in 30 minutes today I got a wad of things for free! When I first started this blog lots of my friends weren’t convinced. The most popular complaint was that the only way to save money is by sending in for mail in rebates. I mean who has time to do all that? Well, today I wanna show you how to successfully get rebates for things you need.
Here’s what I got:
- Dean’s Milk (free from coupon in paper)
- 2 bottles of Physician’s Formula (free at CVS after rebate)
- Accu-Check (free after MIR in box)
- Sargento salad finishers (free from coupon in paper)
- Money back from Caregiver’s Marketplace for Huggies diapers
It took me 1/2 an hour and I got $45 worth of FREE products. In fact, on 2 of them I made money. That’s a pretty good hourly wage! Here are some tricks on how to do mail in rebates or MIRs.
- First, bring your products home and check the requirements. Some require you to cut off UPCs and some don’t, they will all specify a time frame. All of them want you to mail a) an original receipt and b) your address. Make sure you send them exactly what’s specified or you won’t get your money back.
- When addressing the form, use address labels (we get sent tons for free) that will save time.
- I tend to do these in batches so I just ensure that I don’t have to send in for it too quickly and then I take a minute, fill them all in and put all the pieces together in an addressed envelope.
- You must make a copy of all your documents. This is CRUCIAL! The amount of times that a company has written to say I didn’t qualify and I’ve just sent the documents back and got my rebate is a lot. So, make sure you copy everything including UPCs.
- Then you have two choices to organize these – a) I make a copy of all the documents. While I’m waiting for them to copy I put the ones that have already been copied into envelopes and put them in a pile. The ones that have been copied I fold and write the rebate on them for easier identification later. b) The other way to do it to save paper is simply to scan all the documents in and then once your rebate comes back you can get rid of the scan. It’s easier to make copies on our machine so I just do that.
- Finally, I put the envelopes in the mail and the copies in a slot I have. When the rebate check comes I get rid of the rebate request.
- One final word of caution – Don’t open or use the product until you get your rebate back. Just to ensure that you don’t need to mail them anything else.
The finished product – the ones on the top are all rebates I haven’t received yet.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I love to do MIR because when I get the check in the mail, it goes right into our savings account. I started 22 years ago when I got married. Back then there were so many forms available. Now it seems they are hard to find. I was wondering where you find most of your forms.
Thanks!
Jackie – Check the newspapers, that’s where most of mine have come from. If I spot one online I’ll let you know! Clair
If I purchase a few items for on one receipt, but it contains multiple MIR’s, can I just send in a copy of the receipt?
Thanks for the tips and encouragment. I often over look MIR because I don’t want to take the time and then to have to keep track of the paperwork. I like your system.
Thank you!
I just got a produce today with a rebate to get the item for free. I haven’t sent in rebates for a long time as I haven’t been shopping much for a long while.
I never thought of copying the information! Thank you very much!
Brandy
She Loves the Game – Nope, unfortunately not. You’ve got to buy seperately to have seperate receipts. Most places won’t take copies.
Thanks Clair. I tend to shy away from rebates, but will incorporate a system. I like the scanning idea~ saves paper/ink.
Have you gotten your Physician's Formula rebate check yet? I sent mine 13 weeks ago and still nothing. Of course, I didn't make a copy… I will do that from now on.
Hi Clair!
I agree – MIR's can be very lucrative and I take advantage of them all the time! But, being organized is crucial! These are great tips.
We don't have a scanner or copier, so I take a picture of whatever I'm submitting (form, receipt, UPC, envelope) with my digital camera – sometimes I include the item in the picture so it's easier to recognize at a glance. When I upload it to my computer I put it in a file labeled "Offers – mailed". Then when I get the money/item in the mail I move the picture to "Offers – received". I thought about deleting them, but decided to keep the received ones to see the growing total of cheap/free/profit items! =)
~ Mara @ Super Savings
For the Accu Check, do you need a prescription? I guess you have to open the box to get the mail-in rebate form? Can you donate the product when it is opened? They are free after MIR at Walgreeens this week and I have $10 coupon, so a good moneymaker. But hesitate because I am not diabetic.
Thank you for all the helpful info, incl. this post!
I'm wondering: Wat are some good sourcesfor truly free address labels? We see them only from charities we're not interested in supporting. Are there any (truly) free sources?
Thank you for your time.
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