Comments on: Retailers want your economic stimulus money

By: karen

karen — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:51:41 +0000

Food Pavilion (Pacific NW grocery stores) is also offering 15% extra.

http://www.brownandcole.com/

By: Austin Chu

Austin Chu — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:56:05 +0000

I just read a study, and we’re going to blog about it soon. Studies show that consumers are going to send back $42m back to necessities. So we’ll see where it goes.

By: Make Friends, Earn Money

Make Friends, Earn Money — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:53:18 +0000

I’m still not convinced that this huge cash giveaway is going to help the economy in the longterm, I think it merely sends out a panicked message to financial organisations and consumers and I think that many people are still going to save the money than actively spend it. However it’s always great to get free money from the Government.

By: fsc

fsc — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:19:46 +0000

To those living in the midwest, Meijer stores are offering $30 in gift cards per $300 you spend. A great deal if you do a lot of grocery shopping, meijer has it all!

By: karen

karen — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:30:35 +0000

Haggen’s (Pacific NW grocery stores) is offering not 10 but 15% extra.

http://www.haggen.com

By: Austin Chu

Austin Chu — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:59:44 +0000

Great post. I work for a company that manages and tracks gift cards, and we blogged about this issue a few days ago on savvywallet.com. Before exchanging your stimulus for retailer gift cards, consider this: $100B was spent on gift cards, and $8B was lost and unclaimed. My advice? Save it and put it towards debt.

By: Aaron Stroud

Aaron Stroud — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:33:59 +0000

A $1,200 stimulus check could also be used to save $4,805 (eliminating four payments) on a $200k mortgage (five years in and @ 6.5%). Exchanging a stimulus check for store credit is a great idea if you already intended to spend the money at the store. It's, perhaps, not such a good idea if you're like me---able and willing to invent new needs at a moment's notice!

By: Monroe on a budget

Monroe on a budget — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:58:32 +0000

Meijer, which is a grocery and general merchandise store in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, has this Government Rebate Booster program:
“For every $300 in Meijer Gift Cards you buy, we’ll kick in a coupon for $30 off your next General Merchandise and Apparel purchase at Meijer stores!”
No actual tax check needed, just buy a gift card. See http://www.meijer.com.
The detail you want to pay attention to is that the $30 bonus cannot be spent on groceries.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:03:17 +0000

I noticed that Pick N Save is also offering an additional 10% if you give your money to them.

My check was directly deposited, so I guess I can’t take part in any of this stuff since I didn’t get a physical check, not that I would have anyway…

By: That One Caveman

That One Caveman — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:08:04 +0000

I don’t really care for these “deals” since most, if not all, require you to sink all of your check into a non-refundable, non-cash “currency” that is only good at one place. If I was allowed to use part of my check, I would consider taking advantage of one of these offers if there was something I needed (such as Kroger’s – if there was one near me). But there is no way I’m going to hand over $1,500 to any corporation and hope they manage it properly for me – just look at what happened with the Sharper Image gift cards!