Question about Frugality and Reward Programs

[PrincessPerky]

I think the way out is to remember why the company created the tiered system.... to keep you from using those points!

Remember it is very cheap to store points on a server, but to redeem them the company has to shell out real money.

So the next time you consider passing up an item to go spend cash, think of it as getting the company to buy it rather than you.

If you really don't need/want anything try buying to donate, could prolly get decent nonperishables at amazon in there 50% off section (or more)

[Bimmer]

I use Coke points to get stuff that I know I can turn around and sell on ebay or craigslist for decent money. That way I'm bringing in cash for the time I spend punching in those codes.

Occasionally an item comes up that I want/need and will save for that. I do not see the point of saving the points up unless there is big item you are trying to get to. Why spend the money at Wal-mart or wheverever when you have the points?

Also, I manage a plastic bottle recycling program at work and get most of the coke points that way. So I guess I see them more as freebies instead of actually buying a lot of Coke.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Bimmer

I use Coke points to get stuff that I know I can turn around and sell on ebay or craigslist for decent money. That way I'm bringing in cash for the time I spend punching in those codes.

Why not just save yourself the trouble and ebay the Coke rewards numbers? They bring good money. Do a search and you'll see. I may actually start doing that myself.

[FrugalTexan75]

Ugh.

I entered my limit of Coke points tonight. Then I decided to double check how much the movie tickets were.

Last time I looked, they were 330 points. Now they are 480 points!!! I'm trying to earn 3 of them, but at this rate, I don't know if that'll happen.

I personally hardly ever do Coke, but my mom does. So I get all the codes from her 12 and 24 packs, plus she looks for any 20oz coke bottle caps where she works. I've got a lot of them backlogged at this point that I need to enter - but I doubt that I have anywhere near the 1440 I'll need for 3 tickets. (Have 266 entered so far.)

If I hadn't procrastinated in entering them, I *might* have had enough for the first ticket when it was still 330 (although it would depend on when they changed the value.)

[pearlieq]

I don't bother with Coke Rewards anymore.I found it so tedious to keep track of caps, labels, etc. and even more mind-numbing to enter them.

And then, after entering all of them, they weren't worth anything decent. A few bucks at Subway just isn't worth entering the stupid codes off of 80 2-liters. Ugh! A movie ticket would have taken over 40 10-packs.

The older I get the choosier I am about which reward programs I'll use. If I had the opportunities that you had as a physican, disneysteve, I would be all over the surveys too. But as it is, I'm no longer willing to fill out 35 Zoomerang surveys for a cheap toaster. The idea of dealing with the kooks on eBay makes me want to curl up in the fetal position.

I'm willing to do reward credit cards, travel loyalty problems, and limited CVS-ing. But my patience is thin--I need a pretty good return for my efforts to motivate me.