Long time reader, first time poster. We've got a great hack we've developed that has saved us a ton of cash, and we thought it was time to share as it relates to gas. Now, our primary vehicle is electric, so we use nowhere near the level of gas that most families do - but for longer trips, or transporting lots of kids, we use my wife's old SUV. And gas is expensive, and going up. Also, if you don't live near a Kroger store that sells gas, this might not be quite as good.
So, here's the trick.
- Sign up for an American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card, and use it only for groceries. It's a great card and provides 6% cash back on groceries (and there's a $200 bonus). It's capped at $6000 a year in grocery spending on the 6% cash back, which should be fine for most mustachians. Total cash back $560 in the first year. There is a $95 dollar fee, but well worth it. Even if you don't use this hack, it's a great card to have. Not the reason for this post, but if you want one, PM me and I'll send you a referral link.
- Sign up for Amazon Subscribe and Save. We use this for all our recurring durable items - diapers, baby wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. It's super easy, and if you get 5 items per month, you get 15% off an already low price and it shows up at your doorstep once a month. There's no Costco or Sam's near us, but I've heard the prices are even better than those stores. You'll be loading this with Amazon Cards in the next step.
- Here in the midwest, Kroger offers a great fuel points rewards program, in which you can get cash off per gallon every month, based on how many points you have. 1000 points = $1.00 off per gallon (up to 35 gallons at a time) when you fill up at a Kroger fuel station. At $1.00 a point, we don't spend that much on groceries every month in order to max out the $1.00 per gallon every time (if you filled up twice a month, you would need 2000 points, etc.) so here's where the hack comes in. Most vehicles do not have a 35 gallon tank, so you can use 5 gallon cans to max out the discount and fill your vehicle later, if you like.
- Kroger offers 4x fuel points bonus on gift cards about once a month via on online coupon you load to your kroger app, and 2x fuel points on gift cards is standard - and they allow you to stack these bonuses. Keep your eyes open when this happens each month, and buy an Amazon gift card using your Amex Blue Cash in whatever denomination you need for your normal monthly purchases via subscribe and save - for us it's $100. It's super easy to load these to your Amazon account, and there are no fees associated. A $100 gift card = 600 points.
- If we have a big purchase, we also do it via this same method - we just did this on a new water heater recently. Here's the breakdown, let's say the water heater was $1000 to make the math simple (it wasn't that expensive).
- Buy 2 $500 Home Depot gift cards at Kroger using the Amex Blue Cash - $60.00 cash back.
- Use the 4x gift card coupon and standard 2x gift card savings - 6000 Kroger Fuel Points (enough for 6 $1.00 off/gallon fill ups).
- I'm a military veteran, so I get 10% off at Home Depot - $100 off purchase.
So, there it is. I can't remember the last time that we didn't get $1.00 per gallon when we filled up, plus the cashback that comes monthly via the Amex Blue Cash. I've heard other grocery store chains offer similar fuel points programs, but I can only vouch for Kroger.
As I stated above, I think the Amex Blue Cash Preferred is a great card for any mustachian family to have to use solely for groceries. PM me and I'll send you a referral link if you're interested in one!
