Monday, October 6, 2014

Saving Money on Cat Food

Last spring I ran across a very good sale on Purina Cat Chow cat food, which is what we feed our cats exclusively since it is not made in China. I buy the sixteen pound bag of cat food because I find that is the best value and lasts a long time. During the sale I bought five bags of cat food and have almost finished up using the last bag. 

Previously I've written about saving money on cat food in this blog post. Specifically, I spoke about the Purina My Perks rewards program. This is a very good program because you can earn points towards coupons for free cat food. 



The UPC code from a sixteen pound bag of cat food is worth 3,000 points. In order to get a coupon good for a free bag of cat food you need 30,000 points, so for every ten bags of cat food you can get a coupon for up to $15.99 off, which is a free bag of cat food.  

The program is easy to use and you can earn additional points by logging in everyday, visiting the Purina Cat Chow website, connecting your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, and other activities. I make a point of logging in every day. 

As a result, I have earned enough points for a free bag of cat food, which came in the mail this week. 



This is a high value coupon and only requires a couple of minutes of my time each day to earn. Even now, I already have enough points in my account to request a coupon towards another free bag and am well on my way to earning enough for a third bag. 

On Saturday while we were out shopping yard sales, we stopped in at Walmart and picked up a twenty-two pound bag of cat food, which cost $17.48 plus tax. I did this because I wanted to use up the full value of the coupon ($15.99). If I had bought my usual size, I would have only benefited from the $12.78 the 16 pound bag cost if that makes any sense. 




On a side note, I also love the bags from this cat food. One way we save money here is by finding alternative sources for things we already use. The cat food bag is perfect to use as a garbage bag, and if you're really thrifty, you can even reuse these more than once since they are so durable. 

I know I've written about it before, but I love rewards programs. We joined a new one last week for the Speedway chain of gas stations and are now on our way to earning money off a future gas purchase. And just today I turned in 250 of my Coke rewards points for a free 12 pack of Coke. I'll be getting a 12 pack of Sprite for sick tummies when the need arises. 



Have you benefited from a rewards program lately? If so, I would love to hear about it in the comment section. 

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"

16 comments:

  1. Some rewards that come to mind for being a reward customer: Kroger reward card decreases cost for car gas; bundling 3 services rewarded with a $150 Visa Card; Penney's gives $10 reward cards; using Kohl's card, there are $10-off rewards with every $50 purchase; consistently using a shop for oil changes gives a $5 to $10 reward card; and on and on. Paying attention to rewards is benefical.

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    1. I agree, paying attention to rewards is beneficial. You've gotten some great rewards there. I didn't know about the oil shop reward cards, I will have to look into that one. Right now, I try to go on Wednesday, which is lady's day to get $5 off, but I don't always have the energy after school. It's usually a Saturday run errand kind of job.

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    2. Big Lots has its 20% off reward card, too. Dollar Tree is a reward without a card for me. lol. For years, I looked over books at Dollar Tree that were special gifts through the years.

      Being an at-home meal preparer, I do not pay attention to fast foods or restaurant rewards. Carry water with me and do not stop for a fast beverage.

      Friends buy coupon books that provide sports and stage and symphony at half-price. Good deals with rewards, as I call them. Others may not.

      What does Target do for its customers?

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    3. I do have a Big Lots card, but I don't shop there enough to take advantage of it. I agree with you on the Dollar Tree, so much savings to be had there.

      I saw one of the Checkers fast food rewards one time. You got a free hamburger or something if you bought the large drink, but the large drink was $2.00, so you weren't really getting anything free.

      Target does the red card which gives you 5% off your purchases and they pay you a nickle to bring in your own reusable bag. Not too bad.

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    4. Unless Target was having a better-than-anywhere-else sale, 5% off is not enough savings for me, but I have seen outstanding Target sales that could make the 5% icing on the cake.

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  2. I use a few rewards programs for discounts, but I cancelled all store credit cards that I used to use for rewards. I have only maintained my Sam's Club card because when I first joined I couldn't use my regular checking easily. I think Target only does rewards with their credit card, but I'm not sure.

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    1. I save a lot of money with my Sam's Club membership. The savings on allergy medicine alone saves me more than I pay for the membership each year.

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    2. Although neither Sam's nor Costco has a reward program, as such, their coupons can save $$$. I stand corrected - by myself - because there are money rewards for car purchases, vacations, and such.

      Indeed, their allergy products are the best such savings I've found. The ony allergy medication that I am permitted to use is a nose spray. A Sam's pharmacist directed me away from a presented script. Rather, I was taken to a generic nose spray that saves more than $125. Without copay script insurance, I want all savings like that available.

      For years, tires bought at Sam's or Costco have cost less than any findable deal.

      Laughed when a man at Costco wheeled in a TV to return. He had bought the same for $100 less at Sam's.

      I am more years ahead with membership payments than years I will live... all because of saving at Sam's and Costco.

      Years ago, I bought pots of beautiful/beautiful tulips at Sam's and a large but inexpensive urn and potting soil at Dollar General to arrange for a funeral. The cost may have been 25% that which a florist would have charged and more than 6 years' membership.

      Reward programs may be more than we consider to be reward programs. Sorry if I have moved from the original intent about reward programs.

      I do not participate in CVS or Walgreen's reward programs, though. However, a friend saved 50% off her large bill at Walgreen's this week using coupons and its reward program. She is the one we do not like to be beind at a cash register. With Walgreen's sales and reward program, she gets many gifts for others to use throughout the year.

      Work the system!

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    3. You have done really well with your Sam's club membership! Can't beat that. :)

      I have the CVS and Walgreen's cards, but I don't shop there very often. Although this week Walgreens has canned salmon on sale, so I will be there this week.

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    4. You do well with CVS and Walgreen's reward cards, I assume. What kinds of bargains and freebies do you find best with their reward cards?

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    5. I don't shop there often enough to say for sure. My daughter did buy some sugar free Werther's Originals for free two weeks ago by combing a manufacturer coupon with a Walgreen's coupon. :)

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  3. I love reward programs as well. Sadly, Canada does not have nearly as many as the U.S. one of the best was the icoke program which ended last year. I scored some great items from that program.

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    1. Oh and Canada Dry ginger ale is great for sick tummies. Let it go flat first. Works wonders.

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    2. Sounds good Theresa, my daughter likes ginger ale too. :)

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    3. Theresa F: Does Canada's cost-of-living seem as high to you as it is reported? I live in one of USA's least cost-of-living areas and never felt the sting of the recession that started about 2008. Twisted around life to agree with income and did not experience the sting of recession.

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  4. Hi Belinda, this is a big help for me because I am a fan when it came to money saving or anything that can save. I also believe that saving money is better than making money because even if you have a lot of money but you don't know how to save it or use it on the right way it will not last.
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    Here is the example, you can check of my blog post about List Of Awesome Money Saving Blogs.

    I am looking forward for your reply.
    Cheers, Eve.

    ReplyDelete

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