At the end of October, I received a mailing from Staples. It was four “rewards”, $5 each , distributed one a week through November. I read the details. No purchase necessary. So, this is like five dollars cash, four times over, no strings attached.

Oh, I know the deal. The hope is that when you wander in to find a less than five dollar item to use your reward on that you will find so much more that you cannot leave the store without. My mission, which I chose to accept, is to use each and every reward to get a less than five dollar item (must account for tax!), preferably non-edible and durable.

I decided on a path of building up my clipboard collection. I use them at work quite a bit. In fact, one of my colleagues walked off with one of mine recently, a nice powder blue one. I haven’t figured out how to approach her to ask for it back. I do miss it though. So, clipboards it is.

Each week I walk confidently into Staples, into the proper isle, and chose a clipboard. Four dollars and twenty-seven cents. Under five with tax. Perfect.

Week four. What do I spy? Some new colors? Oh, look, the very blue one that my collegue walked off with! Oh, snap. It’s $5.99. I’ll bring it up front with the usual $4.27 one. You never know if it is on sale. No such luck. So, I stand here for a moment and decide, but just a moment as there is another customer right behind me. No. I cannot open my wallet and hand any money over. I made a commitment to spend under the five dollars.

So, I made it through the four weeks collecting four new clipboards, not spending one penny. But, I know that powder blue one is there. Perhaps I’ll try to trade one of my new clipboards with my colleague for the powder blue one that she walked off with. Or, perhaps I’ll go back to Staples and purchase the powder blue one.

In the end, I did it. I used the rewards without spending any extra money. Not one penny.