Sam's Club Members - Ditch Those Discover Cards!

     Some friends of mine run a small business and purchase all of their business related items at Sam's Club. They asked me how they could save more by using my MaxCashBack methods.  I learned that they did have a Discover card, and were using this credit card (the only one accepted by Sam's Club) to make all of their purchases.  They thought that they were getting 2% cash back.
     I did a little research and learned that Discover has one of the least attractive cash back rewards systems of the major cards.  See my post earlier this month on Best Cash Back Rewards cards here.  To make a long story short, one does not even begin to earn 1% cash back on a Discover card until after $6000 in purchase have been made.
     So, what does a loyal Sam's Club member have to do to get the type of savings I routinely find with other merchants?  The light bulb finally went off in my head today.  USE A WALMART GIFT CARD!!  Because Sam's Club is owned by Walmart, all Walmart gift cards are honored by Sam's Club, both online and in stores.  These gift cards can be readily purchased at a discount (see how to do this and save 5-10% here). Better yet, these gift cards can be purchased using a good cash back rewards credit card like the Chase Freedom Visa card or the Fidelity American Express card through any of the gift card resellers.
     Now, Sam's Club members can realize big cash back savings like the rest of us, instead of settling for the 0.25-1% cash back rewards typically earned by Discover card holders.  Let me know in the comments below if you found this tidbit of information helpful.  Thanks!

Merchant Cashback Strategies: Walmart - Everyday 7% savings!

This week I am going to talk about getting cash back at the king of retailing kings, Walmart.  Walmart prides itself on having the lowest prices, day in and day out.  Quality may be a different issue, but I am just going to focus on how you can trim your Walmart bill by another 5-10% after you are done shopping.  First, let's discuss cash back rewards credit cards.  Unfortunately, virtually all major credit card holders exclude Walmart from any special 5% cash back promotions.  They refuse to categorize Walmart as a grocery store, or a clothing store, or an electronics store because it is all of the above, without really specializing in any of the above.  One does get the default cash back of 1% or 2% for using the rewards credit cards, depending on the card you are using, but that is about the best that one can hope for. 
   Now, on the other hand, Walmart gift cards can routinely be purchased through Cardpool, Plastic Jungle or other gift card reseller sites for 3% discount.  If one uses the cash back portal Bazando to reach the Plastic Jungle site, Bazando will pay you an additional 3% on your gift card purchases.  Finally, pay for the gift card with your cash back credit cards to realize a bottom line savings of about 7%.  Remember that this discount is after you have taken advantage of coupons, in store savings and the like.  If you are purchasing from Walmart online, look for the eCode gift cards, as you do not need a physical gift card there, just the code to enter at checkout.
I bet you didn't know you were paying 7% too much every time you shopped there, did you? 

OK, if you are ready to start saving an extra 7%, make sure that you are signed up at the gift card stores first.  Sign up for the biggies, Plastic Jungle and Cardpool by clicking on the links here or at the right on my blog.  Then sign up for the cash back portals, like Bazando mentioned here. (Click on the Bazando logo here and Bazando will give you $3 just for signing up!).  If you prefer to use the Cardpool site, then use Mr. Rebates first to get an extra 1% by going through them to the Cardpool site.  Then purchase your Walmart cards and check your mailbox a few days later.  As a side note, discounted Walmart gift cards are obviously in high demand and short supply.  The best time to find them is early in the morning or late at night.  I always carry at least $200 worth of these with me for my shopping forays. Depending on your shopping needs, you may want to get more cards.

Pharmacy Discounts for the Rest of Us

     I ran across this website today that offers discount at most major pharmacies for prescription and non-prescription drugs.  If you are uninsured, have a high copay or HSA, are sitting in the donut hole, or simply need prescriptions that your insurance will not cover, then this site is for you.

The company is called Honest Discounts, and it takes 30 seconds to sign up (free) and print out your prescription discount card.  You cannot be turned down, as you don't need to qualify. The savings are real, and their card is honored by Walgreens, Walmart. CVS, Safeway, Kroger/King Soopers and so on. You can check for prices online at your current pharmacy, and see how it stacks up to what you are paying now.


   With prescription drug costs skyrocketing, it is time that the consumer have some help keeping these costs under control.  This may be one of those tools.  And while you are at it, if you aren't paying for the drugs with your HSA card, then I hope that you are paying with a gift card, to score an extra 3-8% off, depending on where your pharmacy is. 

How to Buy an Ipad 2 and Get Cash Back!

Unless you live on another planet, you probably know that Steve Jobs and his Apple crew unveiled the new Ipad 2 yesterday, to go on sale March 11th.  The price is $500, same as the current price for the original Ipad, but with a lot of upgraded features.


Apple has also announced that the Ipad 2 is going to be distributed in several major outlets in addition to its own stores.  Merchants currently include Best Buy, Sam's Club and Walmart.


I sincerely doubt that any of these merchants will be discounting the price of the Ipad2, so plan on paying $500, both online and in the stores.


So how does one get cash back (in addition to using a cash back credit card)?  It's not as hard as you think. Let me take you through the process using Best Buy as an example.


1.  Sign up at Cardpool, a major gift card reseller, if you are not already a member.  It's free.


2.  Sign up at Mr. Rebates, a major online cashback portal, if you have not already done so. It too is free.  This site gives you 1% cashback on all your purchases at Cardpool.


3.  Go through Mr. Rebates to the Cardpool website and purchase a Best Buy giftcard for a 6% discount.  You are getting an extra 1% from Mr. Rebates for going through their site, so that is 7% so far. If you plan on buying your Ipad online, you can buy an electronic Ecode instead of an actual plastic gift card, and the code will be sent to your email within hours.


4.  If you are purchasing online (and why not, you might save sales tax), wait for your gift card or eCode to arrive.  Then go to Mr. Rebates again, select Best Buy as your merchant, and proceed to the Best Buy website.  Purchase your Ipad 2 with your gift card.  Mr. Rebates will give you another 1% ($5) on your purchase.


5.  Sit back, pat yourself on the back for being a smart shopper, and wait for your new Ipad 2 to arrive at your doorstep. You have just saved 7-8% on the Ipad2 going through Best Buy.

Update: Cash Back Portal News

     Based on my recent purchases,  Mr. Rebates calculates their cash back percentage on the price BEFORE discounts are applied.  So if you have a discount code, that is not taken into account.  This makes the actual cashback percentage even higher than stated. For example, when I purchased the Nook Color on Ebay through Mr. Rebates, the original price was $249. Even though I had a coupon for $50 off, the cash back rebate I received was $7.47, or 3% of the stated price. Since I only paid $199, the actual discount was more like 3.75%.


     Ebates has just announced that their cash back at Walmart.com has increased to 2%.  If you plan on doing any shopping online at the big W, remember to go through Ebates.


What?  You say that you still haven't signed up for these sites? Ebates is giving out $5 cash and Mr. Rewards $7.50 just for signing up. Here are the links:

Ebates


Mr. Rebates