The Power of Loyalty Cards

 Loyalty cards at hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores can save you a lot of money and often provide occasional bonuses.

We buy most of our groceries at a chain store called Giant. Using your card with every purchase "earns" cents off your gas at their gas pumps. The "cents off" is in ten cent increments and Giant has a 24 gallon maximum. So, any time we get up to 30 or 40 cents off, I wait until I am well below a quarter tank of gas, put two five gallon gas cans in the back of the car, and go fill 'er up. If you can max out at 24 gallons you get the most savings.

I live part-time in Maryland, where I work, and I have a rewards card with Royal Farms, a gas and food business. I earn a point per dollar spent. I also get a ten cent a gallon discount so my gas there is usually thirty to forty cents a gallon cheaper than at home in PA. With my points I can get free food and drinks. Royal Farms regularly gives out random bonuses such as a free coffee, free energy drinks, and a free chicken meal on your birthday.

My son travels a lot for work and his employer pays for his hotel stays but he gets to keep the reward nights. So when he and his wife go on personal travels, all their rooms are paid for with the reward points.

Panera Bread also has a reward point system and it takes a while, but I earn free drinks and free pastries after buying a few meals there.

A local car wash in my town has a reward card where after paying for nine car washes, you get the tenth one free. That is, effectively, a ten percent discount.

These cards generally cost nothing but pay off points for money that you were going to spend anyway. You need gas, so earn some free stuff when you pay for it. You need groceries, so get free stuff when you pay for them.