If I added up how many hours I’ve spent driving, the time would amount to years. All that time behind the wheel, I’ve had plenty of time to think of new business ideas. I always thought I should write a book titled, “101 Businesses to Start.”

One of the “corniest” ideas I ever had was starting a carpool business where people rent themselves out to commuters, so commuters can use the carpool lane…lol. Then, on an episode of “King of Queens” Carrie’s dad did just that…started a business renting out his friends…lol.

Okay, that was my corniest idea. Another idea I had which is a good idea for the entrepreneurial spirited was to start a rebate buy-up company. Rebates are awesome, but as I’m sure most know, they can also be cumbersome (filling out the forms and mailing them in), and…I always hate waiting eight weeks, sometimes longer, to get my money back. I personally believe most manufacturers count on the fact that a majority of buyers will blow-off mailing in the rebate, then the manufacturers make boo-koo bucks from this buying incentive. 

So, the idea is that I take my rebate to a buy-up company, and they give me my rebate there on the spot for like a 60/40 split. I get 60% of the rebate immediately, and they send in the information and wait the eight weeks for the manufacturer’s rebate. If you think about the return on investment for the rebate buying company, it would be HUGE!!! I thought I’d mention this idea since I’m going to be talking about Mr. Rebates today.

Onto Mr. Rebates

As the ol’ saying goes, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” And, in today’s economy, every penny counts. Disposable income can be both about making money, and figuring out ways to not spend so much money.  At Mr. Rebates, they offer rebates on everything from clothing to travel for online shoppers.  Some of the rebates are low like 3%, but other rebates are as high as 14% back.

They have over 31 categories to choose from and over 1,000 stores. Registration is free, and for 125 of the stores listed, they are currently offering extra discounts and a daily chance to win $100.00. They also post online coupons and other discount information. 

One thing I really liked about Mr. Rebates when I was researching is I read their “about us” page, and I felt they were being honest. What it boils down to is Mr. Rebates is a site of “affiliates” and their sharing their commissions. Now, if you have a site or blog, of course it would be best to buy through yourself (see my “get paid to use affiliates link in sidebar), but if not, you might want to look into Mr. Rebates for some extra savings.

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