How I Save Money at Kroger

Kroger is one of my go to places to save money on groceries right now.  I love that there are so many ways to save money there.  There are free items, digital coupons, paper coupons, weekly sales, and fuel points.  There may be more, but right now these are the main ways I save money at Kroger.  We have one of the largest Kroger Marketplaces, when it was built, they said it was the largest Kroger in the world.  There have been larger ones built since then.  A Kroger Marketplace is unlike any other store we had around here.  Not only is it a grocery store, but it has a full deli, hot food bar, olive bar, sushi and cheese areas, specialty foods, clothing, shoes, a pharmacy, a jewelry store and lots more.  It is a huge store so I usually spend 1-2 hours shopping, especially if I forget something and have to go back to the other side of the store.

Before I go to the store, I look through the digital coupons and load the ones I want to my Kroger Plus Card.  They add new coupons every week and each Friday there is a free item coupon available.  It must be loaded to the card on Friday, but can be used anytime during the following 2 weeks.  We have been able to try a lot of new items over the last few years thanks to the Friday free item coupon.  Each coupon has an expiration date listed and if they are not used before they expire, they simply disappear from my account.  Occasionally I receive an email that says there are Best-Customer Bonus coupons available, I can then add them to my card if they are something that I will use.

I also receive paper coupons in the mail.  Kroger sends coupons out in several ways.  Sometimes it will just be coupons, other times the coupons are included in little brochures for special events.  Some of the coupons will be regular manufacture coupons, some are store coupons and others will be department coupons.  The department coupons require a certain amount to be spent in a certain department.  An example would be ‘save $2 when you spend $10 in the produce department’.  A paper coupon and digital coupon cannot be used be used on the same item, but the department coupons can be combined with either paper or digital coupons.

The weekly ad comes out each Wednesday and is good through the following Tuesday.  It can be viewed online and the paper version is available at each door when you enter the store.  If I have time, I try to look through the ad online before I go to the store, but sometimes pick up a paper ad when I enter the store.  Each ad will be different, but some of the sales will carry over for 2 weeks.  Sometimes they have special events where certain items will be exceptionally cheap but only on Saturday or different items are on sale each day.  Other sales use a group of items that you purchase a certain amount of and they take a certain amount off.  Example: ‘save $5 when you buy 5 items’.  Sometimes they will have sales where you get a free item when you buy certain items.  Example: ‘buy 4 cereals and get ab gallon of milk free’.  Sometimes they have a digital sale where they add a lot of extra coupons to the website just for the week of the ad and they are good on up to 5 items on the same receipt.  Example: ‘save $1 off each item up to 5 items’.  That is just a few examples of the types of sales that they run, but the best thing is that all these sales can be combined with paper or digital coupons for even more savings.

Fuel rewards are awarded on each receipt depending on how much you spend.  Usually it is one point for each dollar spent, but gift cards earn double the points.  Sometimes there are special coupons that award extra points if you purchase a certain gift card or shop on a certain day.  Once the points add up to 100 you may redeem them for 10 cents off each gallon of gas purchased at the Kroger gas station.  The points for each month do not combine so if you receive 99 points in a month, they cannot be used.  The points can be used up to 1000 points at each fill-up for up to $1 per gallon savings.  Receipts also have surveys that you can complete for 50 points, you may complete one survey every 7 days.  The points do not expire until the end of the following month.  Example:  235 points were earned in February, they could by used for 20 cents off one fill-up or 10 off each of 2 fill-ups, if not used they would expire on March 31.

When it comes down to it there are lots of ways to save on groceries at Kroger.  It takes some time to look through the sales flyers and coupons and figure out what is a good deal, but it is worth it to me to be able to save money.  At the very least, I try to always pick up the free items before the coupons expire.  Most Krogers have a certain location in the store where they showcase the Friday Free items, but sometimes the item is a refrigerated item so it will be in the normal location instead.  All of these savings are only available through the use of a Kroger Plus Card.  When checking out, the card may be swiped or the phone number can be entered by the cashier.  I usually enter my phone number on the keypad.  Sometimes it is close to the end of the check-out process by the time I can get the number entered and it is fun to watch the total come down when all the coupons and saving are applied to the beginning total.  The bottom of each receipt has totals of how much was saved and how many fuel points you earned on that visit and in total for the month.

Do you shop at Kroger?  Any tips I missed?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

You might like these other posts on ways to save money – What’s the Deal with Aldi? and Not Cheap, Just Frugal.

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