I love Staples. They have some really good sales, and their copies are the least expensive around (three cents apiece for now!). I went in to spend my Rewards Check (Staples gives you a check each quarter depending upon how much you spend), and found another great promotion going on.
Right now, if you sign up for a free eight-week trial of Sports Illustrated, Time, Fortune, or Money, you’ll get a $20 coupon for $20 off anything at Staples. You’ll get it right then, not mailed to you. I went ahead and signed up for SI for eight weeks, and it popped right out. “Click here to print your coupon.” That simple.
I took my coupon and bought some ink (with four kids, it seems that we’re constantly running out) that I had them price match to the store across the street. That’s another good thing about Staples – they price match 110%, meaning they’re cheaper than other places. All you have to do is swallow your pride (or wear your tightwad label proudly) and tell them the other price and where you found it. They’ll often even match online prices if there’s also a brick & mortar store. Then they lower their price by the competitor’s price plus 10%. I’’ve done this dozens of times and there’s never a hassle. It’s one of their big selling points. After price matching, I still had money left over on the coupon. Since they don’t return money from the coupon, I still had to spend about $7.
Woohoo! Christmas stuff on clearance, with an additional 50% off the clearance price. I passed on the wrapping paper, bows, cards, etc because I’m such a Frugal Queen that even at those prices I could do better. But I did get a couple of coffee gift baskets for three bucks and change apiece. So, for signing up for a magazine that will win me brownie points with dh, I got the magazine for at least eight weeks (more if I decide to keep the subscription), ink for my printer, and two gifts for the gift closet. Total cost that day: $1.08 (plus subscription, if he likes it).
If you decide not to keep the subscription, simply cancel within eight weeks and you don’t owe anything. The coupon is not tied to the continued subscription. The neat thing is that if you like the magazine and do decide to continue, you’ll get it at a good price and you don’t need to do anything further. You will need a credit card to sign up. There are signup kiosks in the store, usually by the furniture department. Happy reading!