Supermarket card

We have a variety of different point deals and the points can often be used for purchases but usually only on specific items and at certain times of year. I do have enough points on my card to buy a half dozen turkeys when they are on around Christmas. The turkeys seem to be the only thing I see to use my points on that I would normally buy anyhow. Quite often the free items are junk food and I try to avoid those types of items.

The local pub has a points card and I can make use of that on from time to time.

 

For me also, the supermarkets I buy my stuff from have a sort of rewards debit card. You load money into the card at the supermarket and when you use it to pay for the items you've bought, you earn points. You can redeem your points any time for a product worth the number of points you've earned. The problem is the supermarkets' prices are a little higher than all the other retail outlets so I only buy from them IF circumstances force me to.

 

That's pretty neat. We don't have any deals like that, but I wish we did! We do have cards that we can load coupons to, though, and one of my cards accumulates points toward special, higher-value coupons.

 

There are Fresh and Easy stores in the States and they are the only store, to my knowledge, that has a rewards card that converts points into cash. I love it because it keeps track of my purchases and I get coupon offers based on those purchases. It's a win-win for everyone.

 

I wish we had a Fresh and Easy store here! I live in North Carolina, and I've never seen one of those. Walgreens has a similar program, which is cool, but I don't shop there too much.

 

Yes we also have that over here, but to be able to redeem something substantial, you have to make A LOT of purchases, preferbly those expensive items, because if you just buy your basic needs from the supermarket and the occasional clothes or appliance from the department store, then you won't get to redeem anything because the points are so small, and that's based from our experience.

 

I think they are quickly becoming obsolete with the proliferation of smartphones and just simply using people's email addresses. One big chain in my area, Giant Eagle, has had a promotion for a couple decades now, where they would give you perks on gasoline when you bought your groceries from them (they also have a gas station outside of their stores). It seems cool, but honestly, I could save just as much, if not more, by simply buying only certain items from them and certain items from other stores. Giant Eagle marks up some of their products, so they get the money off of you in the long run.

Plus you should read the fine print about what they are doing with all of your shopping data. Some credit card companies have actually been lowering people's limits based on their shopping habits.