I just read yesterday that the average family of 4, spends $770 every month on food. This blew me away. I’ve never spent that much on groceries. But, that got me to thinking more about what I’m really spending; and what I’m doing differently. So, I tracked everything I bought on my quick trip to Winn Dixie this morning and all the different methods I use to save money on groceries. Almost everything I bought today was not necessary in terms of nutrition. But, it was necessary to keep my sanity and keep the kids from screaming about not having snacks after school or me starving because I didn’t have time to make an actual meal.
In My Shopping Cart
All of this cost me 26% less than retail price, and I didn’t have to clip coupons.
On this particular shopping trip, I bought:
- Winn Dixie brand “Pop-Tarts”
- Small bag of off-brand Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- 2 boxes of Winn Dixie brand granola bars
- Winn Dixie brand crackers
- 4 small cans of tuna
- 2 snack packs of Winn Dixie brand pudding
- Chocolate flavor ice pops
- 2 off brand lunchables
- Clear Value paper towels
- Winn Dixie brand gallon of milk
- 4 Winn Dixie brand yogurt
- 2 Aim toothpastes
Total retail cost: $39.44
Methods to Save Money on Groceries
There are tons of different ways to save money on groceries at Winn Dixie. Some of these are in-store programs and some are apps I use on my smart phone.
In-Store Programs
- Winn Dixie Rewards Card
- Winn Dixie Fuel Perks
- Winn Dixie Quarter Back Event
Winn Dixie has a reward card just like any other store. The main benefit is that you can only get the sale price if you scan your card. It’s free to sign up; so there is no reason not to. I saved a total of $6.10 on this shopping trip with my rewards card.
Winn Dixie Fuel Perks are tied to your rewards card. Every 50 dollars you spend gets you 5 cents off every gallon of gas you buy; up to 20 gallons at a time. The only drawback is that you can only use the Fuelperks at Shell gas stations. But, on top of normal sale prices – there are sometimes Fuelperk bonuses. Look for the blue tag to get up to 15 cent in Fuelperk bonuses just for buying the item. On this specific trip, I didn’t get any bonuses but I spent $33.34 towards my $50. This means I earned the equivalent of about 3.3 cents in perks. With the 20 gallon limit, this has a value of $0.66.
The last program is a temporary one. Select items throughout the store are part of the Quarter-Back Event. Every 4 items you buy gets you 1 dollar off of your next shopping trip. I bought a total of 10 items and got a coupon at the register for $2.50.
Total savings with in-store programs: $9.26
Money-Saving Apps
Ibotta and Checkout 51 work in generally the same way. They both have items that you earn rebates for buying. This is separate from the store. These two almost always have a rebate for milk. But, you can’t use it for multiple gallons bought at the same time. : ( This shopping trip got me 25 cents from Ibotta and 75 cents from Checkout 51.
Receipt Hog is very different. You earn coins based on the total amount you spent on the receipt. This shopping trip got me 10 coins in the app. This is equivalent to 5 cents once I redeem them for PayPal deposits.
Total savings with money making/saving apps: $1.05
This means that, overall, I saved $10.31 on $39.44 worth of groceries. This is a savings of 26.14% – without clipping a single coupon.