I know. That sounds really gimmicky. Well, maybe it is but I am so stoked right now, it’s not even funny.
Here’s the deal: I just bought $294.90 worth of stuff at L.L. Bean for $9.44. $9.44!!!
Do you want to know how?
This is SO cool!!
Ok. So first: I use a Discover Card. For everything. This month I had to buy a fridge (unfortunately) and got more than $75 cash back in one purchase. (See HERE how I saved money on this too.) Last month I didn’t use my cash back bonus and let it accrue. So I had a total of over $200 in cash back bonus available to spend. Did you get that? It’s FREE CASH back! 😉
Second: I redeemed my CASH back bonus for L.L.Bean gift certificates at 20% off. You can cash in your bonus at the following rates: $25 for $20, $50 for $40 and $100 for $80. I chose 2 $100 gift certificates and 1 $25 gift certificate.
Third: I signed up for L.L. Bean emails and got a 20% off pretty much everything coupon. I had to use it by midnight but they send them out at least quarterly. I don’t shop there often but we needed a couple of back to school items and I wanted a couple of things myself. They have the BEST guarantee 0n their products and the quality is generally excellent.
Fourth: I shopped through Swagbucks. For this I earned $4.55 in Swagbucks. Not a huge amount but every. dollar. counts. I use it all the time. In fact I also used to when I bought my fridge so I have another $39 in Swagbucks pending from that purchase. I will then turn those into Amazon gift cards to spend on Christmas shopping. Bonus. 🙂
The awesome part is that I still have about $23 left in cash back bonus at Discover which I can use to shop at Amazon or get a statement credit or buy more gift cards at a discount to give as gifts. It’s pretty awesome.
Here is one thing to note: If you shop at L.L.Bean through Swagbucks you will earn 2% back in Swagbucks. If you shop through Discover Deals (for cardholders only) you earn %5 but only on what you actually put on your Discover Card. So for me it was better to use the gift certificates and shop through Swagbucks because 1% back on $13.99 isn’t much and the 2% back on $227 was a better deal IMHO. Without a gift certificate, it would be a better deal to shop through your Discover Card online deal link.
So what did I get? Well, the kiddo’s needed new fall/spring fleece jackets. Their dad said so. And I wanted a pullover fleece so I got one of those. I also wanted a back pack to replace the one I used to have that my husband’s ex-cats peed in. Really really not cool. They hated me. I also got a pair of woven flip flops. Just because I am going on vacation and want a pair of flip flops. The rest of the kids back to school shopping will pretty much be done at Gymboree for black leggings and Tar-Jay for cheap tops. With Snoopy on them. I guess we have a Snoopy thing going on. (WAAAAY better than Frozen. I’m not arguing…)
In summary:
$294.90 worth of stuff
Got 20% off everything at L.L. Bean with coupon. (sign up for emails)
Bought L.L. Bean gift certificates at 20% off with Discover cash back rewards.
At this point we are shopping at 20% off of 20% off.
Shopped through a link on Swagbucks to earn 2% back.
Used $225 worth of gift certificates to pay for order which I “paid” $180 for through Discover cash back program.
Paid $13.99 on my Discover with $4.55 in Swagbucks earned and 1% back on Discover.
S0 effective total is about $9.44.
= I’m having a proud moment here.
Happy back to school shopping 🙂
Liz
*shameless affiliate links. Click on them and support my cause to pay for the blog. I haven’t made a dime as of yet but a girl can dream… But if it helps you and I don’t profit that is still awesomesauce in my book 😀
*these are only things I actually use and appreciate in my daily existence. That actually says a lot! 🙂 (LLBEAN is not an affiliate. I just love their stuff and they have amazing guarantee’s on their products)