Lowes Tax Refund Card

Today I got my first Lowe's Tax Refund Card in the mail.  I say "first" because I definitely plan to get a few more of these.  And I was happy it came today because I wanted to pick up a couple hopper windows.  Field trip to Lowe's!

So here's the deal: First you buy one of these gift cards from now until March 14th.  It will come in the mail in a couple days and you can use it right away.  On March 18th, regardless of how much of the card you have used, Lowe's will automatically add another 10% of the original purchase price back on the card.  Sweet deal, right?!  I look at it as a way to cover the taxes...and a little bit more.

The only "catch"...if you consider it a catch...is that Lowe's requires you to put at least $500 onto one of these cards.  That doesn't stop me because this is project is definitely going to cost more than that.

Now the trick will be to figure out how much to put on these cards.  I guess I'll need to get friendly with the budget spreadsheet again.  I'll also need to determine if there are items that Lowe's doesn't carry or that I would rather buy at another place.  For instance, Lowe's doesn't carry 1.5" extruded polystyrene insulation board, which I need.  Or maybe I would like to get my lumber from a lumber yard instead of Lowe's.

Either way, I'm happy to save a few bucks!