As long as 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) Staples gift card

In case you didn’t follow along, if you buy $300 in Mastercard gift cards this week at Staples, you’ll get a $20 Visa gift card, by Easy Rebate (limit 1 per household). Here’s the weekly ad (it’s on page 3).

Making the most of the Staples free money deal

Because you get your gift card by mail via Easy Rebate, it’s not a super attractive deal, as there is no way to scale it.

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, not to mention the fact that you can get 2 free airport lounge visits – read our report of the Club at ATL that we got into for free!

I would also 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 Staples 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 Visa card,s you’ll spend $413.90, but then receive:

• $400 back on the actual card
• $20 Visa gift card in the mail by Easy Rebate
• 2070 Chase Ultimate Rewards

Definitely worth a stop to Staples this week!!