More tips for saving money at the pump

Yesterday, I mentioned a few different ways in which you could save money each time you buy gas.  Today, I will examine another which I have discussed in the past, Giant Food Store's Gas Rewards, and build upon it with yesterday's post.

For some time now, Giant grocery store (which is basically East Coast) has had a deal with Shell Oil called Gas Rewards.  The premise is very simple:  register with the program, shop at Giant, and earn points when you shop.  Points are earned at a rate of 1 point/$1 spent.  Once you hit a threshold of 100 points, that's good for $.10 off a gallon.  Shop a lot?  Rack up enough points and you can save up to $2.20/gallon in one visit!  Their website has a very helpful tutorial in case you need more explanation, but once you visit the gas station, pop in your Giant Bonus card and the price per gallon will go down as you redeem points. 

Here is the fun part.  Just as you can double dip using the Exxon/Mobil's Speedpass promotion using a gas rewards credit card, you can do the same with Giant's program.  Again, let's look at another example.  Using the national average of $3.85/gallon, and, assuming you have earned enough points in Giant's program, coupled with 5% cash back, your cost could be as little as $2.09/gallon!  You will feel like you entered a timewarp. 

There are some restrictions, of course.  Points are only good for 30 days, and since it takes 100 points for $.10/gallon savings, and with each point costing $1 in purchases, it would take about $2200 in grocery shopping a month to take full advantage of the program.  A bit challenging even for the largest of families.  Even without realizing the full savings ability, there is still a potential to shave money off each gallon--and, you would be buying the groceries anyway!  You might as well get something for them.

If you read this far, don't get discouraged if you don't have a Giant in your neighborhood.  There are other stores that have similar programs as well.  Just look for them and feel free to report back what you find.  I will list them in a future post.

AMEX Small Business Saturday is Back!

If you haven't heard of American Express' Small Business Saturday, get excited. On November 26, spend $25 at a small business and you will receive a statement credit for $25.  That's right: spend $25, get $25.  All you have to do is register your AMEX card here and then patronize your favorite small business.

Where can I find a small business that accepts AMEX?  Easy.  Just search using this link and look for "See where you can shop to earn your $25 statement credit."

For more great offers from American Express, you can sync your card here and receive other statement credit promotions and deals.

"Extreme Couponing" show coming to TLC

Get excited, at least I am, about the TLC Channel's newest reality offering, "Extreme Couponing."  Starting April 6, viewers can watch profiled so-called "extreme" shoppers who are able to walk in a grocery store armed with coupons and a bit of shopping savvy and save big.  Not $10-15, but hundreds consistently.

I am looking forward to it. But, I am not going to recommend all of the strategies they discuss, one of which seems to include buy a lot of bulk food in advance.  And, the bulk food purchased neither looks all of that healthy nor totally appealing.  Jello for a year?  Nevertheless, it should be entertaining to say the least.  Hopefully, the shoppers profiled, or ones they inspire, do not end up on another TLC show, "Hoarders."

Enjoy.

P.S. got an idea for a blog topic?  Let me know at theconsumersedge@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.

Verifying grocery store receipts- redux

I have mentioned a few times in the past about the importance of verifying charges on receipts, and once again, that was proven to me yesterday.  Giant grocery store had listed an offer for buy (3) Multi Grain Cheerios, get (1) free.  Since I like Cheerios, and I like free (well, heavily discounted prices) I took them up on the offer.

At home, I checked my receipt and noticed that I was charged two different prices for the same box of Cheerios:  $4.49, $4.49 and $3.49.  I thought that was a little odd.  Looking down at the receipt summary, it reflected some bonus card savings, but no subtraction of at least $3.49 from the offer.  What was also odd was the first two listings of Cheerios abbreviated a few of the letters, while the third box didn't.  So, I went back to the customer service counter, showed my receipt, and they refunded the difference.  Of course, what was somewhat appaling was that the lady didn't seem to be bothered by the noticeable price gun error that had occured.  Instead she says "you must have gotten different sizes."  No, I didn't.  Regardless, she refunded the $4.49 and I was happy.

Before leaving the store, to save the effort, check your receipt and make sure you get credit for your savings.