Rebate checks: How to spend 'em

Sales associate, 44, Monroe, Mich.

My husband and I are using [our check] on car repairs. We spend so much money on gas, we don't have money left over to get some of the necessary car repairs to maintain them.

We have three vehicles and they all need some repair or other. Now we will be able to get new tires on my van and get new shocks. We parked the truck all winter to avoid the gas crunch and put off repairs on the ball joints and a new alternator. The car we use most often is our 4-cylinder Saturn and it needs to be fixed.

With the uncertainty of the economy, we dare not take on another car payment. And my husband is being laid off in June so he's looking for a new job. So nothing real glamorous, but we are glad to be getting the extra cash.

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