Beating Costco

I have to admit that I once thought Costco had really good prices. Buying in bulk from the big warehouse is supposed to be cheaper, right? I suppose this is true most of the time for most of the people. However, I'm learning that with a little effort, you can beat Costco prices and sometimes even make a little money while doing it. This is really cool to me. I love getting stuff for free and making money too! Right now, Office Depot has some items that are free or close to free after mail in rebate. In the past, I've hesitated to do rebates because it seemed like too much work to fill out the forms and I never sent them in by their due date. Now that I see I can get most of my money back, I'm going to be very diligent about sending in my rebates. The first couponing website I was introduced to is hip2save. This is the deal she posted for Office Depot.

Wanna make some $ with your Office Depot purchase?! Check out this deal scenario below…
Buy 1 Swingline LightTouch Reduced Effort Stapler $13.99
Buy 2 Office Depot Brand Multipurpose Paper Reams 500 sheets $6.29 each
(I would encourage you to buy 2 as this is great paper for printing coupons :D )
Total $26.57
Use the $10/$25 coupon found here
Pay $16.57
Submit for the $13.99 Swingline mail-in rebate
Submit for 2 $5.29 Mail in Savings Visa Prepaid cards from the paper purchase
Final Cost FREE plus $8 moneymaker!

Tonight I stopped by Office Depot on the way home and purchased all the items above. When my rebates come back, I will be ahead $8, two reams of paper and a stapler. A ream of paper costs almost $3 at Costco so I definitely beat Costco with this one!