Is It Really FREE?

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On the way to Michigan, we stopped at Menards.  They were running some special sales over the weekend - Friday thru Sunday - and Jeffrey wanted to get some 6 foot long hdmi cables they had on sale for $4.  He got four of them, and then we started looking at other stuff.  They had a lot of stuff on sale, with rebates.

We got some really nice folding chairs that will be $10 after rebate and some magazine racks that will be 99¢.  We got tennis racquets and soccer balls, and I found some Stainless Steel Soap and some floor mats that will be free after rebate.

We were telling our friends about all our good deals and how it's hard for me to say no to FREE when we mentioned that the rebates are in the form of a merchandise credit check which is only usable at Menards, and that brought up the question - is it really FREE if you have to spend the money you get back in the same store?  In our case, we've decided it's a good deal, because we know we're always going to be buying something at Menards, and the check doesn't expire so we have as long as we need to spend it.  Yes, we have to spend the money in the first place, but then we get to spend it again.