On Earning Shopping Points
@danishcanadian (28953)
Canada
January 18, 2018 12:41am CST
One of the greatest financial innovations of my adult life has been store points. I have points for my favourite grocery store, pharmacy, and several other points. These points have kept my husband and I fed during months when money ran tight.
My Aunt Nancy sent me a generous gift card for my favourite pharmacy for Christmas, and I really spent it wisely. I took the card, and decided to wait until they had a day when I'd earn 20x the points on a $50 purchase. That would be the same as getting points for $1,000 worth of stuff when I'd only actually paid $50. I ended up spending more than $50. I spent around $100, so I got points for $2,000 worth of groceries.
The neat thing is that next month my avourite pharmacy and my favourite grocery store are going to merge their points programs. This is because the pharmacy was recently bought by the company that owned the grocery store.
From the pharmacy I have $180 worth of points available, and from the grocery store I have $110 worth of points available. When things merge next month, I'll have $300 that I can spend at either store.
On top of grocery and pharmacy points, I also earn points on sites on line for surveys, viewing videos, and such. These points are redeemed for Amazon gift cards, and when I shop on Amazon I go in through the affiliate links on these sites, thus earning myself more points for shopping.
I should also mention that my debit card gives me 1 percent cash back on all purchases, so while I earn points for shopping on and off line, I am also earning cash back.
Is anyone else as into collecting points as I am? What kind of benefits have you discovered? How have your points made your life easier?
6 people like this
6 responses
@Fleura (29129)
• United Kingdom
18 Jan 18
I used to have an Amazon credit card (only got it for the points, and paid off in full each month). That was useful for buying gifts and such. Now I have various store loyalty cards, although I don't really like to think that I am so easy to manipulate!
2 people like this
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
18 Jan 18
I’m pretty predictable when it comes to shopping. It’s only manipulation if they get you to jack up the card, and buy things you don’t need.
2 people like this
@Fleura (29129)
• United Kingdom
18 Jan 18
@danishcanadian Well no, it's getting you to keep going back to the same store rather than a competitor, and also (and at least as important) getting you to give them all the information about you and your shopping habits, which you probably wouldn't willingly give them for free if they just asked you!
@BarBaraPrz (45484)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
18 Jan 18
I collect points whenever possible, but I don't do a lot of shopping, so it does take a while. A couple years ago I finally had enough Airmiles to fly out to Victoria for an old friend's 60th birthday. That was nice.
1 person likes this
@reskyyandi (3616)
• Indonesia
18 Jan 18
I will not getting point because I use cash when shopping, not card
@dgobucks226 (34356)
•
18 Jan 18
My credit card has a points per purchase program which can be redeemed for credit cards or cash back. It is a nice feature and the points do not go away, you can continue to accumulate until redeemed.
