Cash Rebate Shopping Series: “Having a Baby” Nursery
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Cash Rebate Shopping is an amazing way to earn cash rebates for the items you need to purchase. Each month I handle a new topic. September is “Having a Baby” and this week’s shopping list has the theme: Nursery. Every person having a baby will need to outfit a nursery of some kind. Maybe you want to have a bassinet for the baby to start in, then move to a crib. Many people do that! Plus, there are great extras you might want to add to your list of needs like a monitor, sound machine, changing table and a glider chair/rocking chair.
Yes, I know. Many of you have showers prior to the baby’s arrival, but in my family, we’re severely superstitious and we just don’t do it. It’s just a personal preference for my family. BUT, let me tell you – if you are reading this and you know someone having a baby and have seen the items on their registry, you know how expensive the baby shower gift will be, so my theme this week can be for those who need to purchase items for their own new baby, OR those who will be attending a shower for someone having a baby!
More often than not, you will hit places that have registries for “soon to be parents.” Places like Target, Walmart, Babies “R” Us and Buy Buy Baby. Wherever you register, or shop, more than likely you can do it ONLINE and through a cash rebate site. PLUS, there is always a sale somewhere!
Today we explore just two stores: Babies “R” Us and Target. This will give you the idea of “price shopping” and hunting for sales online through Cash Rebate sites! For Target, I found that ShopAtHome had the HIGHEST Cash Rebates at 5%. Babies “R” Us had a Cash Rebate of 2% at not just ShopAtHome, but also Mr. Rebates and Extrabux.
First up, Babies “R” Us. This store is great, very easy to find everything you can imagine for kids, the registry is easy to do online or in the store. Their prices can be a bit higher, but many times they do great deals like FREE SHIPPING. Currently, online, when you purchase $100 worth of items, you get free shipping. It doesn’t seem to have a date of expiration, but I’m sure it won’t last long. The downside? It will only cover Standard Shipping up to a $25.00 value. But every little bit helps.
****Since this will be free shipping up to $25.00, break your orders up if you go over the $25.00 value. REMEMBER, you have to first go to the Cash Rebate Site you want (I recommend ShopAtHome, Mr. Rebates or Extrabux for this store as they ALL offer 2% cash rebate at Babies “R” Us) and then start filling up your cart. If you separate the items to maximize your free shipping, go back and start your shopping trip at your cash rebate site!****
I found a fantastic crib set that comes in three colors: White, Espresso and Cherry. It’s the BSF Baby Cabana Baby’s Room. The set includes the crib, changing “station” and a great organizer shelf unit. Great find for just $239.99. You’ll get the free shipping being offered right now this one with Standard Shipping. Obviously it does not come with the mattress, not many crib sets do. For more information about what to look for in a mattress to lessen the chance of SIDS, visit here –> SIDS
Along with the crib set, you’ll want to look for a good monitor. I prefer the ones with a camera, as that is what I still use for my youngest child. One that has a decent rating and the option to buy another camera, which is always nice if you have more than one child, is the Summer Infant Slim & Secure Handheld Color Video Monitor. It comes in silver or pink. However the extra monitor seems to only come in Silver. This item is $199.99, with the extra camera running you $89.99. All have free shipping option right now, too.
One of my favorite parts of a nursery is the glider chair, or rocking chair. Such a great addition to the nursery, or your own bedroom if you have your child with you for the first 6 months. One that got very good ratings at Babies “R” Us is the Storkcraft Hoop Glider & Ottomon Combo, which comes in a MULTITUDE of colors. More than really necessary! Most of the colors are going to run you $179.99, but a couple of the colors are a little cheaper at $174.99.
A very popular nursery item these days is the sound machine. We have one that attaches to the crib, though I wish we had one we could have taken off of it easily and brought with us, because my son just doesn’t want to sleep anywhere but in his crib and I think it has a lot to do with that machine! So it can be a savior, but it can also be a downfall. It’s up to Mommy and Daddy. I think the best of both worlds would be the Cloud B On the Go Travel Size Plush Sound Machine. It comes in Sleep Sheep, Dozy Dolphin or Giraffe. Most people I know like the Sleep Sheep or the Giraffe. Both are so cute and super soft. The travel size one does not have mommy’s heart beat sound, you have to get the big version for that “noise”, but the travel one is still awesome because you can take it off the crib easily and bring it with you wherever you may go. It’s not a huge price difference between the three versions, but the Sheep is cheaper at $23.99, while the other two are $24.99. The larger version of the Sleep Sheep is $26.99, which can also be brought with you places, it’s just a tad larger.
Moving on to the business of dirty diapers. My preference is a Diaper Genie. I have one, it’s super easy to us, it is easy to put together, the refills are a decent price. Again, this is my personal preference, but there are diaper pails galore to choose from. The Diaper Genie II Elite is available for $34.99 and for a refill, they are $7.49 per single refill or if you want to go for the 3-pack, that’s $19.99. It’s not like you won’t need them! Might as well get the 3-pack and save yourself the $2.48!
A final little extra that I found pretty cool is the Amber Alert My Child ID. It comes in three colors: pink, green and blue. It’ll run you $39.99 and it keeps all your child’s information in digital format JUST IN CASE you ever need it. This will be very helpful for police. It’s PRECAUTIONARY and about being prepared for the worst.
Our findings: You would spend $718.94 for the crib, the monitor, the sound machine, the glider chair, diaper genie and the amber alert. It varies depending on what you would choose with the chair and the monitor system, I’m just doing a ballpark here. Plus, if you want to spread the orders out to get the free shipping for your items, since the cap is $25.00 per order, it’s a sort of crap shoot on your preferences-so we’re doing it based on ONE order, so you get the idea of what I’m trying to drill into everyone shopping on line – use cash rebate sites to shop through. LOL.
So you spend $718.94 at Babies “R” Us shopping through one of the three that gives you 2% cash rebate. You save $14.37 on the subtotal of the order, before shipping and taxes are even included, because cash rebates never include that, just the merchandise total. It doesn’t seem like a lot, right? Until you realize it’s FREE MONEY. You are going to purchase these items anyway, so why not earn money back to offset some of the cost? It isn’t like it takes a huge amount of time, just go to the cash rebate site of your choice first, then shop through the store you want! SIMPLE.
Now, for Target. Again, go through ShopATHome, it has the highest cash rebate at 5% for Target. Target happens to be having a BABY SALE running until September 11, 2010, so you might find the better deals here right now. Let’s start out with a nursery set. They don’t have the same set as Babies “R” Us, but they have great cribs that they are offering a free gift with in the form of a dressing table. Sorry, no organizing shelf included with these. But still a great deal.
You can get the Graco Lauren Classic Convertible Crib in four colors: Espresso, White, Natural or Walnut. Each one comes with the “free gift” of a dressing table right now. It goes from crib, to toddler bed, to day bed and then to a full sized headboard for later in life. It’s $159.99. However, no free shipping. So that’s a factor in your choice.
I found a very similar, if not the same with just a slightly different name, monitor at Target. It’s the Summer Infant Silver Sleek & Secure Video Monitor. You can get just the one monitor and camera (on sale for $161.99), you can get the monitor with TWO cameras (on sale for $242.99), or just buy an extra camera along with your purchase of the one monitor and camera, because when you add the $161.99 and the cost of the extra camera together, it’s still cheaper than buying the “set” which has two cameras included in it, if you need one (on sale for $72.99). PLUS, they all have BULLSEYE FREE SHIPPING.
Target has a much smaller color selection for the Stork Craft Hoop Glider Rocker & Ottoman, but they are all less expensive than their counterparts at Babies “R” Us. They range from $135.99 to $143.64 on sale. Honestly, even when they aren’t on sale, still cheaper than Babies “R” Us. HOWEVER, no free shipping is available. So that might be the downfall for Target. Just zapped all the savings away! It depends on shipping method and where you live.
Target does NOT have the Cloud B sound machines, BUT they have a pretty nice Conair Infant Sound Machine for $25.99 that when combined with a larger $50 order, will get BULLSEYE FREE SHIPPING. It’s got 10 soothing sounds, which is 6 more than the lamb.
Combine your purchase with the Diaper Genie II Elite for $35.09 and you can get your BULLSEYE FREE SHIPPING between the two products. Save yourself some money! Even though this product is actually more at Target, than at Babies “R” Us. Amazing!
Unfortunately, Target does NOT have the Amber Alert ID like Babies “R” Us does. They should look into getting it!
So, at Target, if you purchased all of these items at their cheapest prices, you would spend $592.04 (before shipping costs, which Cash Rebates does not calculate their percentage with, just the subtotal) and with the 5% cash rebate it would be like spending $562.44 instead. Just made a big savings on items that have to be purchased anyway, just by shopping through the cash rebate site.
