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The government recently started sending checks as part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. Over the next two months, the U.S. government will send out more than $140 Billion to millions of families across the country.
Normally I would recommend paying off debt with that money, however I heard an offer on the radio this morning that may actually be worthwhile. Ralph’s groceries is offering an extra 10% on your money if you hand over your stimulus check in exchange for a Ralph’s gift card. That means that you would get an extra $30, $60 or $120 for your money if you exchange your $300, $600 or $1,200 check.
Why Ralph’s rather than Sears or any of the other retailers that are offering the same promotion? Well, regardless of how the economy is doing, you are still probably going to buy groceries. It may not be the wisest investment to go and blow your money on a new flat screen TV (although tempting), but most people would agree that making an extra 10% just by using the money for groceries is not a bad idea at all.
Then with the money you are saving on groceries, pay off debt or invest!
If you are wondering when you will be getting your check, check out the payment schedule below.
What are you spending your stimulus check on?
Paying off debt? Groceries? Buying a car? Going to Vegas?
Leave a comment and share!
Direct Deposit
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are, your deposit should be in your account by:
00 – 20: May 2
21 – 75: May 9
76 – 99: May 16Paper Check
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are, your check should be in the mail:
00 – 09: May 16
10 – 18: May 23
19 – 25: May 30
26 – 38: June 6
39 – 51: June 13
52 – 63: June 20
64 – 75: June 27
76 – 87: July 4
88 – 99: July 11
Stumble it!
FYI, Kroger is offering this too!
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Thanks for stopping by my site and leaving comments! I’ll definitely be back to read your blog!
I heard this morning that Kroger is doing the same thing with the checks… I’ve considered buying a $300 card and using it for the next couple months. The only thing I am worried about is that I’d spend it just to spend it because I had the card. I think I’m going to bank my check.
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The Economic Stimulus Act will allow Americans to keep more of their money to stimulate consumer spending.
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Regardless of how the money is spent, the idea is to get it back into the economy. I agree though getting that extra cash could help a lot of families ease the pain of that shopping.
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I’d rather invest the money wisely than to exchange it for some gift card. I hope to get even better returns like that.
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Kelli,
That is exactly the reason this idea makes sense. Everyone spends money on groceries right? This way you can take your money from the government, exchange it for a gift card, earn an immediate 10% on your “investment”, then take the money you would have spent on groceries and either invest it or do whatever you were going to do with your stimulus check.
Hey – thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment on our site. This is actually a great idea. Saving on savings is like compound interest. Increasing your stimulus check by $30, $60 or $120 is unbeatable most specially if you’re going to spend it on something you are going to spend for anyways.
Great advice!
Great advertising concept! I wish Publix was running the same kind of promotion. They already get most of my money each month.
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We received ours on May 2nd. I had a few plans in mind but the first thing that happened is that we had to get our car fixed. Now, we got the $1200 rebate. Car repair=$600. ACK! Then we had to rent a car to go get someone else who’s car broke down some 130 miles away. Sigh. Car rental=$200.
Do you see a theme here? Yep. That’s the way it happened. And of course, we did buy some groceries with it but because we got our rebate direct deposited, we had no way of proving that the money was from the stimulus package. So, we paid the usual price….well, not the usual price because by that time the food prices were going up, up, up!!!!
Thanks for this post anyway!!
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I feel your pain. We also just had $800 worth of car repairs in the last two day. I hate cars! There goes most of my stimulus check.
Good information – straight to the point