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As long as some of the office supply stores keep giving away free money, I will share the news here! And until someone gives me a better one, I will continue to use the Mad Lib construct to announce them.
Solve the Mad Lib
Save _____ (amount) when you buy _______ (purchase amount) in _______ (type) Gift Cards at _______. Refund will be given in ___________
This time, the Mad Lib answers are:
1) $20
2) $300
3) Mastercard
4) Staples
5)Â Staples gift card
To follow along, if you buy $300 in Mastercard gift cards this week at Staples, you’ll get a $20 Staples gift card by Easy Rebate in the mail
Making the most of the Staples free money deal
Unfortunately, a Staples gift card is the worst of the 3 different types of these free money deals (best is instant rebate, and a prepaid Visa or Mastercard is next best).  Even discounting the $20 you’ll get back from Staples, I do think that this deal is probably worth doing.  There are usually enough deals at Staples that you can find a spot to redeem a $20 gift card
Definitely I would recommend using a Chase Ink or other card that gives 5x points on office supply stores. I love the Chase Inks for exactly this reason, and it’s one of the reasons that I think Chase Ultimate Rewards are the best deals out there!
I always recommend 2 $200 cards (if they have them) – the activation fee is $1 more than the $100 cards, but IMO that is worth the 500 extra points you’d get.
I never know what to do when I show up at the store and Office Max is (inevitably) out of the $200 Visa gift cards. Do I just buy the $100 cards, even though the deal isn’t as lucrative, or do I try stopping back later at another store. I even wrote a poll about this (how much your time is worth) awhile back, and the consensus seemed to be to just buy the $100 cards in the store that you’re in, and not go back.
Doing the math
If you find and buy 2 $200 Mastercard cards, you’ll spend $413.90, but then receive:
- $400Â back on the actual card
- a $20 Staples gift card
- 2065Â Chase Ultimate Rewards
Definitely worth a stop to Staples this week!!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Wait, M C or Visa?? At the end your summary says Visa.
It’s Mastercard – thanks! I’ll edit the post
Isn’t it better to buy 3 cards for dollar more and get 1000 pts via chase or am I missing something
Well you’d pay an extra $6.95 fee (not just a dollar more), right? And there are certainly people that regularly buy $200 Visa/MC at office supply stores for 1000 Chase points for a $6.95 fee, but you can do that all day every day
I just had an unauthorized Charge on my credit card at Staples for $413.90.. Looked up the amount and this was the first thing that popped up. Ugh
That stinks! This particular deal is expired, but $413.90 is the exact amount that 2 $200 Visa or Mastercard gift cards would cost. Sounds like next step is a call to your bank (I’m sure you know this already) 🙂