Now that I’ve been implementing my own economic stimulus plan through my crack addict purchases of Botkier handbags, I’ve joined FreeShipping.com. Even though we offer this program through the company where I work, I was (and am) skeptical of anything with the word “free” in it. So let’s be clear: the program is not free. It can, however, be financially beneficial if you shop online.

Here’s how it works:

1) Membership is $6.99 / month, billed annually — so $83.88 a year. They currently have a 30 day free trial so I’d recommend doing that — why not. You can cancel the membership anytime. You can get up to $500 / year in shipping rebates, including return shipping.

2) When you shop, log in to FreeShipping.com and search on the merchant you plan to patronize. They have over a thousand merchants, big and small (I’d say they capture about 65% of my online purchases). Click on the merchant you are shopping, and you’ll be sent over to their website. Complete your transaction.

3) Go back to FreeShipping and make a claim. This does require printing out your receipt and mailing it in, and I suspect their business model relies on the laziness of people and their inability to mail something in even if they get money back for it, but it’s a great program for the miserly people who get profiled in the Famously Frugal section of Real Simple magazine. Or people like me, whose husband just got laid off, but who believes that by sending in these rebates I am actually earning money and therefore am entitled to another purse. $500 would buy me a mighty nice Botkier on eBay.

Look for more money-saving tips as I head toward financial ruin!