Tag Archives: budgets

How to Join Great Canadian Rebates

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A few months ago I signed up for Swagbucks to see how it worked and whether I could get a few dollars in Amazon.ca gift cards for purchases I was about to make anyway. Although I have yet to redeem my Swagbucks for my first gift card, it all seems to work fine. Today I was about to make another online purchase when my fingers hesitated over the keyboard. Should I make the purchase through Swagbucks? Or should I try Great Canadian Rebates? So I joined Great Canadian Rebates to give it a try.

What Kind of Reward Do I Get for Shopping through Great Canadian Rebates

As with most of these programs, joining Great Canadian Rebates is free. They are basically affiliate marketers: when you buy stuff online after clicking through their website to get to the online store you want to shop at, GCR gets a kickback from the online store. They then pass part of that kickback to you in the form of cash or a gift card.

The rewards here are pretty straightforward. You can get

  • Cash sent to you as a cheque if you accumulate at least $30 in your account.
  • Cash sent to you via PayPal if you accumulate at least $5 in your account.
  • An amazon.ca gift certificate (the email kind) if you accumulate at least $1 in your account. UPDATE: In July 2016 it’s now $3.

Right now (in 2015), they are offering you $2 if you join and buy something, but that $2 does not count towards the minimum you have to accumulate to get “paid.”

How to Enroll in Great Canadian Rebates

Go to their website at https://www.greatcanadianrebates.ca/Register/171462/
NOTE: An Honest Crooks admits, if you click this link to get to their site, GCR will be paying me a bonus if you decide to join and if you use your GCR account to shop. If you don’t want to give me anything, it’s fine to just type the url for GCR rather than click on the link.

Click on the Sign Me Up button or on the Join Up Here link in the upper right corner.

Complete the following fields by typing in the appropriate answers:

  • Email address:
  • Confirm Address:
  • Password:
  • Confirm Password:
  • First Name:
  • Last Name:
  • Address:
  • City:
  • Postal/Zip Code:

Select your Province/Territory from the drop-down list.

Country: Canada is already filled in, or if you’re not from Canada, type your country of residence in the Or Enter Here box.

From the drop-down lists for the Help Us Serve You Better: section, select

  • Male/Female
  • Your Age Range

Choose your Payment Option by clicking to select the radio button beside

  • Amazon.ca gift card, issued each month for the balance of your account if it exceeds $1. UPDATE: In July 2016 it’s now $3.
  • Paypal, your balance is transferred to your Paypal account each month if it exceeds $5.
  • Cheque, request a cheque anytime if your balance exceeds $30

You can change the payment option at almost any time after enrolling.

If you were sent here, in the I was referred by: field type in the email address of the person who sent you.

Select or click to not select requesting to receive a weekly email.

Click to select that you have read and accepted the User Agreement and the Privacy Policy.

Enter characters in image:

Click on the Register button.

That’s all it takes!

How To Shop Using Great Canadian Rebates

To shop, which is why I started this whole rigmarole in the first place, you can click on the Select Merchant drop-down list and choose the store at which you’d like to make your purchase.

For example, you can choose amazon.ca. If you do, you’ll be informed that there is no reward for purchasing books, electronics or videos unfortunately.

However, it looks like you could get cash back for booking and staying at some hotels. I found that interesting and if we ever travel again I will take a closer look.

When you’re done with your explorations, click on the Signout button.

Did Buying Through Great Canadian Rebates Work?

I’ll update this post when I see whether the purchase I made gets credited properly to my account.

In the meantime, I’ll mention that Krystal Yee at GiveMeBackMyFiveBucks has been successful using it.

Update: Yes! It works. I received a bonus for opening my account and I received credit for my purchases from Walmart.ca. And one day my first amazon.ca e-certificate landed in my inbox ready to spend the next time I buy a book. So it’s all been good!

Help Me Earn Thousands of Dollars! Please!

Ok, I admit that’s not going to happen.

Still, if you decide to join Great Canadian Rebates for your own reasons (and you have to shop too) and if you are feeling benevolent towards bloggers, please consider starting your signup from this link so I may share in your beneficence:
https://www.greatcanadianrebates.ca/Register/171462/

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Have you ever experimented with these reward programs? Please share your experiences with a comment.

Why It’s Worth Eating Out for Lunch and Why It’s Not

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Today I broke with routine and ate lunch at a restaurant. Well, actually at one of those American soup and sandwich stores which are popping up around here in a likely failed attempt to beat Tim Horton’s at the quick and convenient game. While walking afterwards, I noted spring migration is likely to be summer migration this year. Aside from a few Cardinals, Goldfinches, Robins, Chickadees, and Downy’s, all of whom had struggled through this icy, snowy winter alongside us with nary a moment in the Sunshine states, I was alone with my thoughts. Being a cheapskate conscientious spender, I contemplated why eating out for lunch had been worth it, and why it had not.

A Quick Review of the Cost of Lunch

$8.68 one sandwich (which turned out to be two sandwiches when served),
one lengthwise quarter of a dill pickle, and
one perfect two-bite apple (actually I like this size but I think our guinea pigs would have been unimpressed)

A Quick Review of the Cost of Supper

3.99 pound of ground turkey
0.50 2-pound bag of large carrots at 1.99, at least 8, used 2, so say 50 cents
0.25 1 from a huge bag of yellow cooking onions, I have no idea how many per bag so I’m just randomly guessing a cost
0.75 head of celery at 2.99, at least 12 stalks, used 3
0.50 bay leaves, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme
1.98 two large cans of tomatoes with herbs and spices
0.50 long grain rice
0.75 flour
0.15 baking powder
0.02 salt
1.00 milk
0.40 shortening
$10.79

I’ve overestimated some of the costs to keep it simple.

Yep, that’s turkey soup and biscuits and/or dumplings depending on the child. Yes, it’s not very glamorous cooking. My children will eat some pretty amazing things happily but there’s not much wrong with giving them what they want once in a while.

Besides there are leftover chocolate cupcakes (yes, also homemade from scratch) for dessert. So everyone is happy.

That $10.79 is a little misleading because there will also be 2-3 lunches worth of leftovers as well as supper for all of us.

Why Eating Lunch Out Isn’t Worth It

It probably doesn’t take an advanced degree in Mathematics to see why I think it’s not worth it from a $$ and ¢¢ point of view to eat out.

Why Eating Lunch Out Is Worth It

I met with 3 of my peers for lunch. None of us work together or in the same field. Our common ground is our children, some of whom have been in each other’s classes since kindergarten.

We talked about

  • High schools and who was going where and why and perhaps more importantly not going where and why
  • Graduations
  • Field trips
  • Sleep-away camps
  • Good and bad teachers and administrative staff
  • Summer jobs
  • Possible career choices
  • Peer and romantic relationships and the hazards thereof
  • Sweet 16 Parties, from pizza out with a best friend to extravaganzas that make weddings look tame
  • Caring for parents who are frail and in failing health when families are divided and cultures collide

Was that worth $8.68?
Every penny.

Spending Mindfully Is Worth It

There’s nothing wrong with spending money. Choosing where to spend it to bring you the most satisfaction at an affordable cost is the trick.

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Are there expenses in your life that may seem frivolous to others but which are extremely rewarding to you? Does sharing lunch with friends make an intolerable job bearable for just one more day? Please share your experiences with a comment.