Got your attention, now bear with me! I will get to the 17% return in a minute.

As most of you are probably aware, the government started direct depositing the economic stimulus payments last week. According to the U.S. Treasury nearly 8 million taxpayers have received their checks, so far. If you are still wondering about the Economic Stimulus Package, check out my post ESP: It’s All Gravy Baby!

In these tough economic times, I believe you should be taking action with regards to your personal finances. I would be working on ways to cut spending, saving more money and I would definitely be working on shoring up your employment. No kidding. The time for action is now!

Up until about seven years ago, we would eat out 2-3 times a week, on average. You would typically find our family dining out Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Occasionally we would venture out during the week as well. Not only did this have a negative impact on our health, but it had an equally adverse effect on our wallet.

I wanted to take a few minutes and share my savings experiences today. I guess you could say this is an update to the post 5 Tips To Cut Your Grocery Bill Today!. I went shopping this afternoon, starting at Walgreens. I stopped by there to pick up some Alli. For those who don’t know, Alli is a weight lose product. I had three coupons totaling $25.00. So stop #1 netted a cool 42% savings! Not bad, right?

In this post, I will give you three real life examples of why you should bother to register for rebates. And, I will also share how our family combines multiple discounts to maximize the bang for our purchasing buck. Ready? Of course you are!

How many times have you been enticed into purchasing something because of a nice fat mail in rebate? After tearing open your new prized possession, the rebate quickly fades into oblivion. Sound familiar. You’re not alone. That’s why manufacturers do mail in rebates. They get the psychological benefit of a great sale, without having to pony up. It’s a Vegas-esque numbers game, with the “house” favored to win. They know that the majority of consumers will not follow through to get the rebate. Don’t be a statistic. Well if you want to be a statistic, don’t be part of that statistic. Capiche?