Filed under: Smart Spending by Chelsea

I love it when businesses get into discount wars. The consumer always wins! Right now, OfficeMax and Staples are competing to see who can give away the most stuff (or at least, who can give the best “member rewards”). Both are offering a plethora of “free after rewards” items. For example, if you spend $6.99 on a featured item, you’ll then get a reward check for $6.99 that’s good for any purchases in the store (so this is really only beneficial if you were planning on buying office supplies anyway, because the item is “free” in the sense that you get store credit in the amount of the purchase price). You may be familiar with similar drug store programs: CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens all have similar programs with rewards known as Extra Care Bucks, Single Check Rebates, and Register Rewards.

Staples is currently offering small binder clips ($3.39), letter-size heavyweight manila file folders ($8.00), 100-count pack of letter-size envelopes ($7.99), 5-pack retractable gel pens ($3.99), 6-pack perforated notepads ($7.99), and a 6-pack of Bankers boxes ($9.99) for free after rewards. Staples has a limit of 1 per household for each item.

OfficeMax is currently offering a case of copy paper ($34.99 – limit 2), a 12-pack of Sharpies ($5.99 – limit 3), and a 50-count pack of letter-size envelopes ($3.99 – limit 3) for free after rewards.

Both stores’ deals are good through January 16. For both stores, you’ll have to be a member of their rewards program to get the deal. Sign up for OfficeMax’s reward program at their website (select “MaxPerks Rewards for Business” – it doesn’t actually matter if you own a business or not) and sign up for Staples’ reward program at the Staples website (select “Sign Up Now”). As an added plus, both sites offer free shipping for any purchase over $50, so you could potentially get all of this stuff for free without even leaving the house.

Filed under: Smart Spending by Chelsea

I’ve heard it said that no act is truly selfless (okay, I’ll admit I’ve heard this mostly on a certain episode of Friends). Disneyland is now taking this idea a step further by rewarding people for volunteering. So in case all the warm fuzzy feelings you get from helping out your community weren’t enough, NOW you can get a day at a Disney park for free when you volunteer at a Disney-approved location through the Give a Day Get a Disney Day program. They have a wide variety of opportunities, including shelters, after-school programs, hospitals, and more. The program is limited to the first million people who sign up, one Disney day per person, volunteers must be at least 6 years old and accompanied by someone over 18, certain other restrictions apply, blah blah blah.

Here’s Nate and I at Disneyworld in Orlando just six months after we started dating. And yes, we are wearing matching shorts. Again. I’m starting to think that every well-documented moment in our lives will have us looking like the Cleavers. I should just give in and start buying all plaid for both of us.

We’re planning on visiting Disneyland in Anaheim this year – we’re already signed up to volunteer at the Carlsbad marathon this month. I, for one, can’t wait!