Extra Grocery Rewards: Get Them with A Bonus Cardby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 21 Jan 2007 09:26 AM
The woman in front of me in the line also had a jar of Ragu pasta sauce in her cart, along with what looked like the makings of one meal (pasta, the sauce, a bagged salad and bread). I introduced myself and told her that there was a buy one get one free promotion on that sauce. "Oh don't you need a card for that?' she asked, and I nodded. "Well, I don't have one, and I don't have time to go sign up." I offered her the use of my card for her purchase, so she could get the free jar. The bonus or savings card has been the new way for grocery stores to offer discounts, taking the place of those old "cut the store coupons out of the flyers for discounts" technique. Use the card and you get the sale. Don't use the card, and you pay full price. I didn't mind lending the woman my card, not only because it is great to help out another person, but also because her purchases will count towards big rewards for me. She was probably in a rush, and I don't want to scare people with my obsessive frugality, so I didn't share with her what I will tell you now. Make sure you sign up for that bonus card. Keep it with you at all times. Sure you can ask someone else in line or even ask the cashier to swipe a card for you, but then you would be missing out on a lot of extra rewards. Here are some of the different types extra rewards you can get by using your grocery store bonus card.
What extra rewards does your grocery store offer? Related Articles: 8 Practical Stockpiling Tips: Save Money! How Much Did Groceries Cost in the 1980s? The Secret to Grocery Print-Out Coupons Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  Jeff Bogle (1022) 21 Jan 2007 09:26 AMIt does not bother me, but I know some folks are a little freaked out by the amount of information stores will capture about them and their habits and how/if that will be used in the future and who that will be shared with down the line. These cards bug me because I do not want to sign up for every store's card under the sun and if I need to make a quick pit stop in a new part of town or while on vacation, I am forced to provide all my personal data with yet another company in order to save a few bucks while away. Ever get those cashiers who just refuse to help you out and use the store card for your $5 purchase?  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 21 Jan 2007 09:44 AMJeff, All that information that is collected is pretty scary, isn't it? This might be an urban legend, but I thought i heard something about a woman suing a store when she slipped and fell. The store claimed that it was the woman's fault, as her records showed she had recently purchased beer. I've never had a cashier refuse to swipe a card, but if that happened, I would just ask another shopper who was in line with me. siageah (1845) 22 Jan 2007 05:05 AMThere isn't any reason at all that you need to use valid information for a store card. Unless you want check cashing or really want the mailings they send to your house (which I rarely receive anyway) just use your dog's name and an incorrect address. If they are going to require that you divulge personal information to give you the prices they used to give you anyway, then they can give the discount to Fluffy Cattins. Mary Ann Romans (26876) 22 Jan 2007 08:36 AMSiageah, That is pretty good. I once signed up for a free offer using my cat's name just to see how much junk mail it would then generate. I checked off "other" for ethnicity. I wound up with lots of offers for Korean language tapes and Russian ladies. 1001001SOS (225) 04 Mar 2007 08:22 PMI don't give them the real information either. Poor person with the PO Box I always give out as fake. lol Mary Ann Romans (26876) 05 Aug 2008 04:13 PMHave you noticed fewer coupons being spit out of the checkout machine? Community Tags Coupons, groceries, save Discuss this article
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The other day, I was waiting in line at the grocery store, coupons in hand. One of the items in my cart was some Ragu pasta sauce. It was on sale for buy one get one free. I was combing that offer with a coupon for a free jar 
