Family Life

Why You Should be Buying Gift Cards at Kroger

/
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through the links I provide (at no extra cost to you.)
Share with Friends and Family

Planning to go out to eat?  How about 14% off your bill?  Need some new clothes?  How about 14% off your total?  Have a Netflix or Hulu subscription?  Why not get a 14% discount? If you have a Kroger or Kroger affiliate store near you then you could be saving up to 14% off many of your everyday purchases.

When I discovered that I could get 14% off most of my everyday purchases, this drastically changed the way I was shopping.  Once you hear how easy this is, you’ll be doing it too.

Kroger has a fuel rewards program where you can earn 1 point for every $1 you spend in the store.  For everyday gift card purchases you earn 2 points for every $1.  Every so often Kroger will run a promotion where you can get 4X the fuel points for gift cards.  So now you earn 4 points per $1.  In order to get the 4X fuel points you have to download a digital coupon to your Kroger card.

Here’s an example of how this works for me.  I have two children with birthdays coming up and I need to buy gifts for them as well as a few other items.  So I will be buying a $250 Amazon gift card.  Amazon is usually my fall back gift card purchase because I know I will always be buying something from Amazon – it’s just a matter of time, right?  So with the 4X fuel points coupon, instead of earning 1 point for every dollar I spend, I will earn 4. So my $250 gift card will give me 1000 fuel points.  Every 100 points equal 10 cents off per gallon up to 35 gallons.  So 1000 fuel points equals 1.00 off per gallon, so $35 in free gas.

Here’s the 5 step process for buying gift cards at a 14% discount.

  1. Check your weekly ad to see if Kroger is running a 4X fuel points promotion. If you don’t know what you’re looking for you can easily overlook this part of the ad. (see photo below)
  2. If they’re running a promotion go to the Kroger app or the Kroger website and click on digital coupons. Search for the coupon or filter by “4X Gift Card Event,” and add the digital coupon to your card by clicking the green “CLIP” button.
  3. Go to Kroger and buy any qualifying gift card.  Make sure you check the ad and coupon to see what types of gift cards qualify for 4X fuel reward points. Sometimes the coupon will be for any gift card, or only certain categories of cards such as dining or entertainment gift cards, etc.  If you don’t purchase a qualifying gift card it’s not a HUGE deal because gift cards are always 2X the fuel reward points, but 4X will net you a greater discount.
  4. When you check out with your gift card make sure you scan your Kroger card to get the fuel points. Your fuel point total will show up on the bottom of your receipt.
  5. Buy gas and use your fuel points. Here in Kentucky you can redeem your points in increments of 100 (10 cents off) up to 1000 points, for a maximum of $1.00 off per gallon. Some areas will allow you to use more than 1000 points at a time.

Here’s the math behind the 14% savings. $250 gift card – $35 in gas savings = $215 for a $250 gift card which is a 14% savings.  Now I understand it’s not really getting a $250 gift card for $215, but it is still saving you money.  Depending on what kind of budgeting system you use, you might be able to see how this would work for you. We are Dave Ramsey fans, and we have several categories set up in our budget, so when we have extra money in our Gas category (because we didn’t have to spend that $35), I can move it to the Gifts category to replace the $35 I spent upfront on the gift card.

If you take a few minutes and peruse the gift card section at Kroger you will start to see all of the categories that you can start to save money in your life. Kroger sells so many different gift cards. Rob always stops at Kroger to buy a Lowe’s gift card on his way to Lowe’s. We’ve also stopped in for a Chick-fil-a card on our way to dinner. Every little bit of savings adds up.

We always have something that we are specifically saving up for, and we like to use the money we save on gift cards and put it towards our current savings goal. Here lately most of our savings goals have been travel-related, so they are something that the whole family is motivated to work towards. All of our kids are excited about our 50 States Before Graduation Challenge, so they want to help us save up for our next trip as quickly as we can.

Does your family have common money saving goals? What other ways do you work as a family to save money?

Tweet
Share
Pin190
Share
WhatsApp
Email
190 Shares

You May Also Like

How to Earn Free Gift Cards With the Fetch Rewards App

March 8, 2020

Acrodo Space Saver Compression Bags – An Essential Travel Item

July 20, 2020

Contigo: Our Favorite Water Bottle for Everyday Use

February 7, 2020

63 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *