Earn and Manage Fuel Saver Points at Kroger

Points are earned on purchases made from the first to the last day of the same month. It “costs” 100 points to apply the 10 cent discount on gas. Any points above the hundred earned in a certain month, are wasted since they are not enough for a discount and are not transferable. Any points not used by the end of the following month will expire.

So towards the end of the month I make sure to gather up to the nearest hundred points, then I stop shopping for the rest of the month. On the first of the next month I start shopping again. This method has been very useful for maintaining a grocery budget and I strive to spend less and less cash for the same amount of points earned.

To fill up a whole tank or for just 3 gallons of gas with a 10 cent discount, 100 points get deducted from your account. We even got tricked to “spent” 100 points even for one gallon of gas that fits in the scooter tank. I have found that the best thing to do to maximize the savings is to fill up the nearly empty tank. How about filling up the scooter tank? This started not long ago, but when scanning your card you now get to choose whether you want your 10 cent discount to apply or not. If you choose to keep your points, a 3 cent discount still applies, which still makes me want to shop for groceries and gas at Kroger.

Add a comment February 17, 2009

Earn and Manage Fuel Saver Points at Kroger (part 1)

There are three ways to earn Fuel Saver points at Kroger: 50 points for each eligible prescription, 2 points for each dollar spent on gift cards, and one point for each dollar spent on groceries. Of course, all of these some with a little star * at the top, which usually means “I was just joking”. I have found, though, that the little star means something good in the case of each dollar spent for groceries.

Lets say I purchased two Progresso soups that are on sale for $1.25, down from $1.49 each.  One eCoupon for 50 cents applies at checkout and I have a paper coupon for 50 cents off 2, which doubles. (1.25×2=2.50-1.5=1.00) Then we add the 2% GA tax for food and I pay $1.02. This would mean one point, right? Looking on my receit, this actually meant 3 points.

The way that the points are calculated brings another reason to use coupons, both paper and eCoupons. The sale price for that product is considered, but coupons are not represented in the equation. So I earned points as if I actually pulled $3 out of my pocket. Not all items bring points this easily, but on average, we have been actually spending 60 cents for each point earned. This has helped tremendously with earning the points needed to fill up the gas tank each month.

Add a comment February 17, 2009

Save on Fuel at Kroger

Some Kroger stores have their own gas station where you can fill up your gas tank conveniently, without leaving the parking lot. The price for their gasoline is equal to or even lower than the price offered by RaceTrac, Shell, or QT in the same neighborhood. But Kroger goes one step further and makes it even more appealing to buy gas from them.

Use your shopper’s card and save 3 cents per gallon… but wait, there is more! For every 100 points earned by shopping in the grocery store, you can save 10 cents per galon of gas bought from their gas station. Still more, if you use your 1-2-3 Rewards Visa credit card, you can even save 15 cents per gallon of gas!

I applied for a Rewards credit card, but I was not accepted for one. So we are still only saving 10 cents per gallon. In our car, this means about $1.50 per fill up. Multiply this by an average of 4 times a month, for 30 months (which is how long we’ve been shopping at Kroger). So far so good, we probably saved about $180 by using fuel saver points at Kroger.

See how to get them and how to manage them in the next post.

Add a comment February 16, 2009