Menard’s 11%-off-everything deal always seemed a bit sketchy to me. Alternatively, they would go from 11% off everything to 11% off power tools to 11% off ceiling fans, but nothing really changed.

The 11% off thing used to come around about every other month, but since the pandemic, it’s been nonstop. It’s always 11% off everything.

Whether they’re currently advertising 11% off everything or 11% off ceiling fans, if you go in there and buy a $159 ceiling fan, you will pay $159. Plus tax.

In case you’re wondering, you will pay tax on the full amount of the purchase price and never get that back.

When you check out, you will get a receipt for your purchase with a Rebate Receipt at the bottom for 11% of your purchase, which in the case of the fan would come out to $17.49.

IF – the biggest 2-letter word in the English language – you don’t lose the receipt and remember to fill out a Rebate form (you can’t do it online) and send in the Rebate form with the Rebate Receipt, you will receive, in about 5 or 6 weeks a postcard crediting you with $17.49 to spend the next time you shop at Menards.

The good thing about it is you don’t have to spend the entire $17.49 at one time. If you only spend $10.89, they will hand you back your post card and it will still allow you to spend the remaining $6.60 anytime in the future.

As long as you don’t lose the card.

That was a lot of math for one morning, but I have some time to kill while I wait to hear from our vet that our little doggie has woken from his neutering procedure.

For those on the fence themselves about neutering a beloved pet, I can tell you that we were in the same predicament. It’s a tough call, but it seems that neutering may be the best thing you can do for the little guy.

This past summer I made several lumber purchases from Menards and diligently mailed in the Rebates. The time lapse between mailing them in and getting the post cards back in the mail makes for a happy surprise.

It’s not like winning the lottery, but it’s fun. If you still need home improvement-type stuff 6 weeks later, those post cards will come in handy.

Once you run out of necessities though, you could find yourself spending your rebates on completely useless things that will take up space in your garage and gather dust.

Luckily, I was able to buy a lifetime supply of work gloves and increase my inventory of many things from 2-of-each to 3-of-each.

Bear in mind that if you forget to detach the Rebate Receipt from the regular receipt and then toss the receipt, you are out of luck. No Rebate.

Same if you lose the Rebate Receipt.

I learned one more thing recently while I was filling out the form to send in some Rebate Receipts that I had collected over the summer. You only have about a month to send them in before they become worthless.

Believe me, it’s very sad to see your 11% off everything turn into 11% off nothing.

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