Budget/ Costco rebate question

[threebyme]

I have a monthly budget and I cannot remember how I handled this last year.  My question is I received my Costco rebate and used it today when I went shopping- so do I count the total I spent in my food budget or the amount spent after the rebate was applied??

what do you all do??  Thanks!!

[Tanaqui]

Oooh, I'd definitely count the total. Then the rebate is like a fun bonus.

[Tap]

If you would have spent the money anyways...then count the total. And move the rebate into a different (funner) category!

When you shop every month, you think "this is $10 but I will get 2% back, so I am really only speding $9.80", then I would count the amount after the rebate, so it matched the thought process when making the  purchases.

If you made splurge purchases, just because of the bonus, then put those dollars in budget accordingly. 

[BarbecueMom]

I’ve heard you can cash out the rebate at the service desk, then pay normally at the register.  I want to try that this year, because the rebate comes off like a coupon and you don’t get the 2%+any credit card rewards (mine’s 2.5%) for that amount.  Our rebate will be abnormally large this year due to a vacation booked through Costco, so I feel a bit weird about getting a pile of cash at the service desk.

I do spending tracking rather than an actual budget, so the rebate would go under the “cash” column, although I’m considering adding a “rebates” column next year.  I want to know how much groceries and household items cost for the month/year, and leaving things like rebates and gift cards off completely messes with those totals.

[mlktwins]

5 minutes ago, BarbecueMom said:

I’ve heard you can cash out the rebate at the service desk, then pay normally at the register.  I want to try that this year, because the rebate comes off like a coupon and you don’t get the 2%+any credit card rewards (mine’s 2.5%) for that amount.  Our rebate will be abnormally large this year due to a vacation booked through Costco, so I feel a bit weird about getting a pile of cash at the service desk.

I do spending tracking rather than an actual budget, so the rebate would go under the “cash” column, although I’m considering adding a “rebates” column next year.  I want to know how much groceries and household items cost for the month/year, and leaving things like rebates and gift cards off completely messes with those totals.

You can also buy something low $, use your check to pay, and get the cash that way.  I always do this during less busy times depending on how big my rebate check is.

 

[KrissiK]

9 hours ago, threebyme said:

I have a monthly budget and I cannot remember how I handled this last year.  My question is I received my Costco rebate and used it today when I went shopping- so do I count the total I spent in my food budget or the amount spent after the rebate was applied??

what do you all do??  Thanks!!

I keep a very detailed budget. When I get my rebate, I definitely count the bill toward my food budget because I want to know how much I spent on food, etc, for the year. That’s why I budget.   But, I also take the rebate amount and add it toward the budget. For example, if my monthly food budget is $600 and my rebate was $250, then for that month my food budget was $850. Although, no one ever buys just food at Costco, so I would divide the rebate among appropriate budget categories. I hope that makes sense.

[bethben]

I always apply the rebate to the cost of my membership.  For example, my membership costs $110 and anything over that amount is fun money.

[vonfirmath]

3 hours ago, BarbecueMom said:

I’ve heard you can cash out the rebate at the service desk, then pay normally at the register.  I want to try that this year, because the rebate comes off like a coupon and you don’t get the 2%+any credit card rewards (mine’s 2.5%) for that amount.  Our rebate will be abnormally large this year due to a vacation booked through Costco, so I feel a bit weird about getting a pile of cash at the service desk.

I do spending tracking rather than an actual budget, so the rebate would go under the “cash” column, although I’m considering adding a “rebates” column next year.  I want to know how much groceries and household items cost for the month/year, and leaving things like rebates and gift cards off completely messes with those totals.

When we had a Costco membership, this is what we always did -- cash out the rebate. It was always more than we'd spend at one visit.

[threebyme]

Well, I never knew you could cash out the rebate!!  I like that idea!  Maybe next year- and I will go ahead and count my total spent before rebate towards my food budget for now!

Thanks!

[Tap]

Regarding cashing out the rebate....my Citibank and Executive checks come about a month apart.  :0)  My Executive membership pays for itself and some left over.  My yearly renewal is in April, so I put a portion away to pay for that. The rest of my rebate/Citibank check all get cashed at the store and put in my Christmas fund.