Getting the Most From Your Kroger Fuel Points
November 14th, 2011 . by 21st Century Dad
As a single vegan guy with 50/50 custody of a child, I don’t have a huge grocery bill, but last month, I earned over 300 Fuel Points. I certainly didn’t spend $300 on groceries last month. How did I do it?
Every $1 spent at Kroger earns you 1 fuel point and every 100 points earns a $0.10 per gallon discount at Kroger Fuel or participating Shell stations. You earn double fuel points when you purchase gift cards at Kroger. The selection of gift cards available is extensive. You can buy gift cards for major retail outlets and restaurants. If I am planning to make a purchase at one of those retail outlets, I will buy a gift card in a denomination closest to what I will need to spend at that particular store.
- I buy a $15 Starbucks gift card for myself once a month. I figure that’s a reasonable amount of money to spend at Starbucks in one month. That’s 30 fuel points that I would not have earned if I just forked my cash over to the green mermaid.
- A friend helped me move last month, so I treated him to lunch at Ruby Tuesday. I picked up a $25 gift card and earned 50 fuel points.
- I went to Home Depot to buy plastic sheeting and staples for my staple gun to mitigate the energy-leeching effects of drafty single-pane glass windows in my apartment. Buying a $25 gift card prior to shopping at Home Depot earned another 50 fuel points.
- Panera Bread has some excellent vegan-friendly items, none of which is a plain baked potato and side salad. $25 is a reasonable amount to spend there over the course of two months. 50 more fuel points.
- Do you shop on Amazon.com? Amazon gift cards are available at Kroger too.
My car takes just over 20 gallons to fill up. A $0.30 per gallon discount adds up to a whopping $6, but $6 is still $6 for very little effort on my part. Compare that to how much time and effort goes in to earning $6 on my paycheck after taxes. Don’t dismiss these small opportunities to save money. Several small wins like these (especially those that do not require much time and effort) go a long way. Several opportunities to save a few dollars every month adds up to a nice chunk of change at the end of the year.
One thing to keep in mind is to avoid falling prey to the tactics used by such customer loyalty programs. Frugal Dad talks about you you might end up spending more than you save if you’re not careful.