This morning was a good time to head out to the grocery store. With my large cup of home brewed chocolate flavored coffee by my side (I only occasionally splurge on Starbucks, whew those prices) I had read the Sunday paper, and had perused the coupons to see if there were any interesting ones. I am not like the coupon lady who belongs to an online club and can buy a cart load of groceries with $10.00, but I do appreciate the small savings that can be generated by clipping only for items I might actually buy and use.
Yes, I am a loyalty customer at my local grocery store, several actually, but I do prefer to shop at Ralph's. It's hard to accumulate points if you spread them out amongst too many grocers. If you register with Ralph's online, they will also send you an email with electronic coupons that they will download right onto your store card. Amazing this technology stuff! They also mail out coupons based upon my shopping habits and sometimes have in-store booklets with additional offers. It can be confusing sometimes trying to remember which coupons I have selected online, but I figure if it is already downloaded and I happen to buy it anyway I will still save. Important to me is that I never buy things just because they are sale, but because it will be something that I will use. Today my goal was to spend at least $75.00 because I had a store coupon for $5.00 off of a $75.00 purchase. They don't count dairy, prescription or liquor towards that, but that's ok because I was sure I would have no problem reaching that goal with how expensive food is!
My end result? I spent $94.33, put it on my Upromise credit card that earns me 1-3% cash back monthly, earned 625 rewards points, used coupons worth $4.00 in discounts, and by buying mostly store brand items the store said I had verified saving of $34.29! I also have accumulated 2558 in bonus points which means that in October I should receive a voucher for $25.00 to use towards my next purchase! I also purchased 45 items which means they each averaged about $2.09 a piece. Not bad for 4 bags of groceries. Can't beat that with a stick! Hey, I just realized they forgot to give me a 5 cent credit for each bag I brought in! Dang!!! .20 cents lost...
So basically it does pay off to be a loyalty shopper and to only use credit cards that give you something back whether it be cash, mileage, gasoline or something. The banks certainly aren't giving us interest on cash in the bank, so we might as well get a little bit something back. Of course that only pays off if you pay your entire balance off monthly, so be careful.
ta ta for now....
My end result? I spent $94.33, put it on my Upromise credit card that earns me 1-3% cash back monthly, earned 625 rewards points, used coupons worth $4.00 in discounts, and by buying mostly store brand items the store said I had verified saving of $34.29! I also have accumulated 2558 in bonus points which means that in October I should receive a voucher for $25.00 to use towards my next purchase! I also purchased 45 items which means they each averaged about $2.09 a piece. Not bad for 4 bags of groceries. Can't beat that with a stick! Hey, I just realized they forgot to give me a 5 cent credit for each bag I brought in! Dang!!! .20 cents lost...
So basically it does pay off to be a loyalty shopper and to only use credit cards that give you something back whether it be cash, mileage, gasoline or something. The banks certainly aren't giving us interest on cash in the bank, so we might as well get a little bit something back. Of course that only pays off if you pay your entire balance off monthly, so be careful.
ta ta for now....
