Do you really think it's free?

[billig]

I'm talking about using previously earned register rewards or extra care bucks when calculating if something is free....

To me, if you pay $5.00 out of pocket and you get a $5 RR it's free.

If you owe $5.00 and use a $5 RR to pay for it, and also generate a new $5 RR, it's still also 'only free'. But many say they made $5 or had $5 overage.

It's not...you bought something else to get the first $5 RR, maybe it was rolled, but it's still not some $5 that came out of thin air. It was your work, gas, time, effort.

KWIM?????

[mom2Isaac]

I totally understand where you are coming from and agree. Most of the people who refer to that are newbies (I already know I am gonna get flamed for that one!).

For the diaper deal at Wags this last double dip it really wasn't me making a profit (because there wasn't much...). It was just me breaking even. Getting my $50 in RR and then using that towards other purchases.

[nateNnatsmommy]

I'm glad someone pointed that out...it's kinda been bugging me to see when people say that. Or when they use their rebate GC to buy something, and call it free too?

[kdphi_uh]

Yeah it confuses my whenever they do that but I guess everyone does their calculations differently.

I have no problem w/ newbies and am happy to help everyone but is it more or are we flooded with newbies recently?

[MrsPinecone]

I never, ever count the ECB or RR earned as savings on the deal that earned it.

If I paid $5 OOP and got a $5 RR, it cost me $5.

If I have a $5 total and use the $5 RR, I consider it free after coupons. If it earns another $5, I don't consider that 'making money', I just have another coupon in my arsenal to use for other things.

RRs and ECBs can expire, they can be lost, they can be stolen, they can be drowned by a sippy cup full of milk... until they are redeemed, they are not savings. I treat them like any other coupon.

[kdphi_uh]

I never, ever count the ECB or RR earned as savings on the deal that earned it.

If I paid $5 OOP and got a $5 RR, it cost me $5.

If I have a $5 total and use the $5 RR, I consider it free after coupons. If it earns another $5, I don't consider that 'making money', I just have another coupon in my arsenal to use for other things.

RRs and ECBs can expire, they can be lost, they can be stolen, they can be drowned by a sippy cup full of milk... until they are redeemed, they are not savings. I treat them like any other coupon.

So in your case, since you don't count it as you earned it. Does it mean you count it when you use it? That's what I meant by everyone does their calculations differently. In the end it should come out to the same result...SAVINGS!

[MrsPinecone]

So in your case, since you don't count it as you earned it. Does it mean you count it when you use it? That's what I meant by everyone does their calculations differently. In the end it should come out to the same result...SAVINGS!

I don't count it on the deal that earns it. I count it as savings when I spend it. It drives me crazy when I click on a post that says FREE, and it's FREE after whatever stuff you earn on it.

As I said, they can be lost, detroyed by fire, etc. There's no saving if that happens. How many posts have you seen recently about people losing their binders and all of the ECBs and RRs they had. How do you count those as savings if you no longer have them? If you counted them on the deal that earned them, that is now negated by the loss.

ALSO, the same people who calculate deals as free after the RR earned then go on to apply that SAME RR as savings on another deal. It drastically skews the savings picture.

[tmotley]

I do the same as MrsPinecone. I count the coupon when I use it, not when I earn it. I view RR, ECB, cats, etc as any other coupon. When I use it, I'm saving $.
I like to know exactly how much cash I've spent oop. So if I counted those coupons when I earned them, I wouldn't have a realistic view of how much cash I actually spent.

[mom2Isaac]

That irks me too! I am thinking free, as in NO OOP. And I get stopped in my tracks when I see it is after you get the money back. Something I am having a hard time dealing with because my ECBs are depleted right now.

[nateNnatsmommy]

RRs and ECBs can expire, they can be lost, they can be stolen, they can be drowned by a sippy cup full of milk... until they are redeemed, they are not savings. I treat them like any other coupon.

Too true! LOL