Last month I bought a high performance calculator for Christen for her math class. At $125 list price, it was not cheap but I bought when it was on sale. Now part of the sale price was in the form of a vendor rebate. Not too long ago, the process to receive that rebate required sending in a rebate form and a receipt and then waiting for 2-3 months for the rebate check.

These days, the rebate process moves a bit faster and you can track it on-line. I receive my rebate about 3 weeks after I submitted the claim. However, instead of a check which I can deposit for future use, I received a VISA rebate card for the amount of the rebate.

I find that irritating. Right now, I prefer having cash in my accounts. The $35 for the rebate does not sound like much but it does help. Now, having it on a card, forces me to spend the balance before the card expires in 6 months. I can do this as a substitute for other means of payment for groceries and the like but it just adds an extra step or two to get the card out, apply the balance and then use another payment method to finish the transaction.

Of course, there other aspects of this I do not care for at all. It is pretty easy to lose one of these cards and the process and fee to get it replaced is sometimes just not worth it. Also, there is the full balance issue. Sometimes if you get down to a dollar or two, you might end up throwing it away and thereby throwing money away, literally. Finally, there is the environmental cost. I think a piece of plastic embedded with magnetic stripe is a bit more harmful in the long run to the environment in terms of landfill space and so on than a piece of paper that can be shredded and recycled.

But this what they are all doing now so I have to live with it.