Small Money Savers

I saved a little money this week in a couple of new ways. You may already know about them but just in case, here they are:

1. Ship-to-Store free shipping. First, I bought a product I needed from Ace Hardware. I searched for the product online then found it at Ace Hardware’s site. The big box home centers didn’t have it. The product is not expensive so I was cringing at what the relative cost of shipping would be. Then I learned that Ace Hardware has a free “ship to store” program. If you order a product and have it sent to your local Ace Hardware store, shipping is free. Nice. Borders books has the same deal, which I have used in the past. We have Ace and Borders locations fewer than five minutes from our house. Shipping charges – gone.

2. Kroger Plus gas savings. The second money saver I found this week was Kroger gasoline. Our local Kroger grocery gets a lot of our food dollars. It does not have gas pumps. A Kroger store farther away just installed gas pumps. It’s on the way to my office so I stopped. I asked the attendant how I could save money as a Kroger customer. She said that if I had a Kroger Plus Card (a free customer loyalty card) and had spent $100 at Kroger in the last month, I would receive a 10 cent per gallon discount.  So I save $2.00 just for being curious. I’m liking this.

When I returned home, I did more investigating. I learned that Kroger and Shell had just concluded a deal where Kroger Plus Card holders could save the same way at Shell Stations. All you need to do is enter your alternative Kroger Plus ID (e.g., home phone number) at the Shell pump. Instant 10 cent/gallon savings! Shell stations are everywhere so I won’t have to spend $2.00 in gas to find a place to save $2.00 on a tank of gas. That’s the problem with buying gas at a place like Costco. Unless you happen to be at the store for other reasons, the drive to the pumps undercuts your savings.

By the way, if you want to know how many Kroger Plus points you have available for gas discounts, it’s printed out at the bottom of your Kroger receipt. You can also check online.

Now if I can avoid wasting these small savings on other stuff!

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