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My 2008 laptop is still working fine. I use it for email, with MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel; I edit photos with Photoshop Elements; my kids do homework and play dubious computer games. Still, my husband would never be able to run *his* games on such an antique which resulted in him eventually upgrading his boat anchor. We decided to load it with MS Office 2016 because so much of the homework our children get encumbered with requires them to use it. I shopped around for a reasonable price and found it at Staples on sale for $99. Of course, I immediately tried to get an even better price: this is how I saved $10 more and got $2 back in amazon.ca gift cards although I decided to blow some of that $10 on a roll of designer duct tape adorned with comical cartoon owls.

Always Check Great Canadian Rebates Before You Make an Online Purchase

I wasn’t sure if Staples was one of the stores available through Great Canadian Rebates so I visited the website and checked. Yes. And even better, it offered rebate of up to 4% on purchases. Admittedly the rebate on computer-related stuff like this software is only 1% but still, not bad.

What really caught my eye, though, was the click through coupon to save $10 on an order of $100 or more. That’s significant considering it applies to items that are already on sale!

Of course, the software I wanted was $99.00. I thought about buying something that cost very close to $1, like paperclips at $1.68 a box. But then I thought what we need more of is duct tape. There were many colours and styles to choose from: I went with the sophisticated neon cartoon owls that should add a certain j’n sais quois to patching that hole in the yard waste tub.

(This image leads to my amazon.ca kickback page to buy the tape. It’s cheaper at Staples right now so shop around.)

Buying from Staples Through Great Canadian Rebates Also Gets Free Shipping on Lower Orders

Another perk that is available when buying from Staples through Great Canadian Rebates is the minimum order for free shipping is lower. Shipping is free on most orders of $45 or more. (This offer will change from time to time, so check before making a decision.)

How Did I Get $2 In Amazon.ca Certificates If I Bought from Staples?

The kickback Canadians get from buying stuff through Great Canadian Rebates is paid in amazon.ca gift certificates. They nicely round up to the next $ if your monthly total rebate is even $0.01 above a dollar. Since I didn’t buy anything else last month, and since my eligible rebate is $1.04, I’ll be getting a $2 certificate for Amazon.

UPDATE: As of June or July 2016 it appears they no longer “round up” the Amazon certificates. They seem to be issuing them now right down to the penny you’ve earned.

What Did I Save In Total For Clicking Through from Great Canadian Rebates?

So by
signing in to my GCR account (e.g. typing my email and password), and then
typing Staples in the Merchant text box, then
clicking on the Save Now button beside “Save $10 on Your Next Purchase of $100 or more” and then
shopping at staples.ca as usual, I saved or was rebated

$10 – $5.60 the cost of the duct tape that I would have bought elsewhere possibly for less
$2 – $1 rebate from GCR in Amazon certificates (It would have been $1 if I had not bought the tape.)
Plus the cost of gas driving to staples

On software that was already on at a reasonable sale price of $99.

For a total saving of
$5.40 (or
$12
if you don’t adjust for the duct tape)

Cool.

Blatant Sales Pitch for Great Canadian Rebates

If you don’t belong and you join GCR by clicking on my link, you will get the same rewards as if you just join GCR by searching for it on the internet. I, however, will be very happy you used my link because I will get a small percentage rebate if you ever buy anything using GCR, even though it will not reduce or affect your reward. (I don’t get any info about who joined, what they spent, or what they spent it on, though, so I won’t know how to thank you personally.)

To join Great Canadian Rebates and help me earn a few more dollars in amazon.ca certificates, please join using my

http://www.GreatCanadianRebates.ca/register/171462/

Code, which is automatically entered if you click on this above link.

Either way, consider joining as it could save you a few bucks and get you a free roll of duct tape, too!

Related Reading

Join In
Do you use an online rebate program like GCR or RedFlagDeals to save a few $$ on your online purchases? Please share your experiences with a comment.

OK, so far I’ve tested paying bills from Tangerine and PC Financial. In both cases, somewhat to my surprise, it all went well. Now I’m going to try to set up a bill and pay it from our BMO Online Banking program: wish me luck!

As usual, I will do my test with our Bell telephone bill. That’s because although I share nothing (else) in common with the woman in Fifty Shades of Grey I do like the threat of suffering endlessly while trying to straighten out a billing error with Ma Bell. OK, maybe it’s because I can see the results of a bill payment online on my Bell account fairly quickly. Or maybe it’s because I like to play for high stakes. I dunno. But here goes anyway.

How to Create a New Account to Pay Using BMO Online Banking

Sign in to your BMO Online Banking program and take a second to review your recent transactions looking for any computer fraud: Phew. No problems.
Click on the tab called Payments and Transfers.
There’s a long list of links down the left side of the screen. Under the heading My Payments and Transfers, click on: Add a Payee

The Add a Payee: Enter Details Page

From the drop-down list for Payee Province, select the province the bill is coming from. For example, since I live in Ontario, I selected Ontario.
In the Payee Name field, start typing the name of the bill. For Bell telephone, I tried Bell. The system will present you with a list of possible matches. From the list, remembering the hassles elsewhere, I selected Bell One Bill.
In the Account Number field, the system prompted me to enter a 14 digit alphanumeric account number. So I did. I got the number from a recent Bell bill where It was listed and described as the “14-digits number for online/telebanking.” It’s not actually my account number.
In the Nickname field, type a name to help you identify what company you will pay if you choose this number from a list in the future.
I typed the service at Bell for which I am paying.
(No, I did not just type #*$*%&% although it was tempting.)
Click on the Verify Payee button.

The Add a Payee: Verify Details Page

Review the info you submitted. If it looks ok, click on the Add Payee button.

The Add a Payee: Complete Page

Review the confirmation message.

Now to try actually paying Bell a buck or two to see if it gets credited to my account.

How to Pay a Bill Using BMO Online Banking

From the list of links down the left side of the screen, click on Make a Payment.

The Make a Payment: Enter Details Page

From the drop-down list for the From field, select the bank account from which you wish to pay the bill. As warned, be sure there will be enough money in the account before setting up a payment, especially for the future.
From the drop-down list for the To field, select which bill you wish to pay. I chose my nicknamed Bell account.
In the amount field, type the amount you want to pay.
You can then either accept the date proposed or click on the calendar to select a future date to pay the bill. I accepted today’s date. (Watch out if you are paying bills after hours, on weekends or on holidays: the bill will not be paid immediately!)
Click on the Verify Payment button.

The Make a Payment: Verify Request Page

Review the details of your proposed bill payment.

If it all looks good, click on the Submit Transaction button.

The Make a Payment: Complete Page

Review the details of your bill payment including the reference number.

You may want to cut and paste the confirmation information into a document and save it to a secure storage device such as a USB stick. The confirmation has your bank transit number and bank account number and your bill’s account number so you don’t want to leave this information unguarded.

Now I’ll have to watch my payment history at Bell and see if and when the payment arrives.

I went back to the My Accounts tab and clicked on my bank account. I can see the money has been deducted from my bank account with a note saying it has been sent to Bell. So it looks good so far.

UPDATE: The amount was credited on my Bell account the second morning after I made the payment. Phew!