I’ve recently discovered Great Canadian Rebates, which is a one-stop source that was made for Canadians to save money shopping online. The website offers cash back rebates and online coupons to hundreds of merchants who ship to Canada.
Great Canadian Rebates
I have to admit, I wasn’t too crazy about online shopping in the past. I like going into a brick and mortar store to really know what I am purchasing, as well as to ask questions about the product. Plus the shipping and handling charges can be outrageous, especially when coming from another country.
However, getting started with Great Canadian Rebates is easy. You simply sign in and select a store from the list of merchants. Next you will see a merchant profile that describes the cash back rebate percentage they are offering you, as well as any deals and coupons they are currently featuring. From there you follow the link to continue shopping, and you will be taken directly to the merchants’ website.
- Sign up for Great Canadian Rebates here – (link)
Great Canadian Rebates acts as a portal to these merchants and receives a commission when you make a purchase, which a portion of it is passed on to you. Great Canadian Rebates will send out payments every two months via PayPal or cheque.
Your balance needs to be greater than $3 to be paid through PayPal, and over $20 to be paid out by cheque.
I have personally used Great Canadian Rebates to purchase new blinds for our house, and most recently a new laptop. I received my first cheque of $39.78 earlier this year.
I am a big proponent of maximizing my rewards when spending money, so this is a good way to double-dip by using my credit card AND receiving a cash rebate back from the purchase.
Some examples of merchants and their cash rebates are:
- Quick Tax: 10% rebate
- Avon Canada: 6% rebate
- Sears Canada: 2% rebate
- Toys R Us Canada: 2% rebate
- Expedia.ca: 2% rebate
- Dell Canada: 1.5% rebate
- MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard: $60 rebate
- American Express Gold Rewards Card: $60 rebate
Check out Great Canadian Rebates and save money shopping online. All new sign-ups will receive a $2 credit just to get you started. You can sign-up as a referral under Boomer and Echo by clicking the link below:
To sign up for Great Canadian Rebates click here
Want to know how to accumulate cash in a hurry? Stop wasting it! Here is a list of 10 things that are a waste of money, in no particular order:
10 Things That Are A Waste Of Money
Insisting on brand loyalty. Sure, we all have our brand favourites but often generic or store brand clones are very similar in quality, if not indistinguishable, and can save you at least 25 percent or more. Check them out and compare the difference.
Buying from TV infomercials. TV products are overpriced and they hardly ever turn out as depicted. Plus shipping and handling costs can be enormous. If you’re still tempted to buy, most items are available at many retail stores, often at sale prices and you save the shipping charges.
Failure to return items. It doesn’t fit right or the colour is wrong or it was just a plain mistake, but who has time to trek back to the store? You do. If you still have receipts, try to get a refund for all new items with tags or original packaging. At least get a store credit, otherwise it’s a waste of money.
Late fees. Don’t be a late payer. Late fees on credit card accounts, mortgages, car loans, property taxes – even library books and DVD rentals are extremely high. Record due dates in your planner and pay on time. If you do incur a late fee, call immediately. Most creditors will waive the fee if you have a good payment record.
Related: 10 Fees That Are Worth The Money
Overdraft fees. A small slip-up can easily turn a $5 burger into a $40 overdraft fee. Even if your bank is happy to cover your mistakes you’ll be not only charged a fee, but at least 21% interest until the OD is covered. Look into your chequing account options.
Extended warranties. Extended warranties are mostly profit for the retailer. Generally, if an item is going to fail, it will do so early on and the manufacturer’s warranty will cover it.
Paying for storage. If you’ve got so much stuff that you need to pay to store it, you’ve got too much stuff. Period. Take the plunge and unload everything you don’t use or need. Turn what you can into cash or give away still serviceable items to charities like Goodwill or the Salvation Army.
Related: How Many Clothes Do You Need Anyway?
Not taking advantage of available discounts. Do you have a young driver in the family who is also a good student? You may qualify for a good student discount to lower your auto insurance rates.
Did you take a driver training course? Does you car have more than the basic safety equipment? Did you install a home protection system? Call your insurance agent for a review to save on auto insurance.
Buying in bulk. It’s easy to get carried away when you walk through a warehouse club like Costco. Determine how much you really need and then consider the price.
If it’s more than you can reasonably use before the stuff turn stale, rotten or past expiration – or you just don’t need it- you’re throwing money down the drain. If you must buy in large quantities, invest in a vacuum sealing machine or a large freezer for storage.
Not taking an employer’s match. If you’re eligible for employer-matching RRSP or other savings plans and you’re not signed up, you’re turning down FREE money. It’s like getting a 50 – 100% return on your money without any risk. How can you pass that up?
So, this is my list of 10 things that are a waste of money. Can you add to the list?
While putting together our family budget last year, we were looking for ways to save money as we adjusted to single income living. One of the first expenses we decided to eliminate was our home telephone. At $39.95/month, our landline was quickly becoming a cost we could do without. And we’re not alone.
According to a recent report by the Convergence Consulting Group, Canadians will cancel their landline at a rate of 9% a year in 2010 and 2011. It was suggested that 25% of Canadians have already ditched their home phones in favor of using a cell phone.
Why We Cancelled Our Landline
- The Cost – Saving nearly $500 a year sounded like a pretty good deal to my wife and I, and considering we both have cell phones we didn’t really see the point in having the landline any longer. My cell phone bill is paid for by my employer, so it’s just my wife’s plan that we pay for each month (around $65/month).
- The Convenience – We carry our cell phones everywhere, and with technology improving all the time, reception is rarely an issue. Plus, with smart phones like the iPhone or BlackBerry, my wife and I can use BlackBerry Messenger to quickly communicate for free.
- The Inconvenience – Quite frankly it got to the point where the only time our home phone rang, it was a telemarketer or some recorded message telling us to press #1 now because we’ve won a free trip. With our cell phones, besides the occasional wrong number, we aren’t bothered with unwanted phone calls.
Now there are some drawbacks to not having a landline. One being that if there is a power outage and your cell phone battery dies, you won’t be able to make a phone call. But I would hardly say that’s a good enough reason to shell out close to $500 a year for that piece of mind.
For some people, another negative to cancelling your landline and using a cell phone exclusively is that you might end up paying more for your cell phone plans by having to increase minutes or add other features.
Unless you have a good evenings and weekends plan, or don’t call long distance very often, it might be worth it to stick with your home phone. However with the emergence Skype and other VoIP services, you can significantly reduce or even eliminate your long distance charges as well.
It’s been more than three years since we cancelled our landline and we haven’t missed it at all. But now that I think about it, we haven’t “won” a free trip in a while either 🙂
Would you ditch your landline for a cell phone or VoIP service?