HEY MONEY SAVERS!!
If you're anything like me, you have a bajillion points cards. For everywhere. I think you know which ones I'm talking about....the customer loyalty cards that you get and then somehow always forget to use when you're shopping, or they suddenly go missing after you've cleaned out your purse...yeah. Those ones.
I try to keep my point's cards to a minimum since I lose them like they're literally nothing, but the ones that I've managed to keep a hold of are the Shopper's Optimum card, and PC Points card (I'm anxiously awaiting the day when Wal-Mart has a points reward card....fingers crossed they have one soon.). I shop at No Frills, Shoppers, and Walmart the most, about 90% of my shopping is done at these places. Not just because I'm OCD, and have points cards, but because they're literally around the corner and that's really really convenient for me. I've asked the cashiers about a billion times when I used to forget my points cards if there was any way I could just call someone or scan my reciept and get the points that way, usually they tell me that I can just take my reciept in and they'll apply the points manually (Shoppers does that, but No Frills/Superstore is easiest becase I can just call in and explain to them everything that's on the reciept and they'll put the points on that way.).
I never forget my points cards now to a new system I've been using. You're goign to think I'm nuts...........I've (not recently), brought a binder with me every single time I go out grocery shopping. No. I'm not crazy (well...maybe a little).
In this wonderfull binder of wonder is a bunch of things. It's my binder of life. Monthly calendars, expense trackers, grocery lists, kid's stuff, our monthly income, goals etc.
I also keep my own set of weekly flyers for the specific places that I shop, along with the weekly deals from checkout51 and PC points that I choose to print off and put in the binder.
What does this have to do with Point's Card's?! Everything. I keep my points cards in little pockets (made with love), inside the binder so I'll never forget them. Ever. Yes, I probably look like a super oganized OCD mom with her kids, scanning through the binder for grocery lists, coupon matchups, special deals, and running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. NO, I don't mind. I'm organized, I'm quick, and most importantly, I'm there on a mission. So while other people just try to get their stuff and get out, I've pre-planned how to cram the MOST savings and get the most points from the things I need to buy.
So there you have it, that's how I manage my points cards. Below I've given you a personal breakdown of three different cards from three different stores, a little bit about the card and how to accumulate points, and whether or not I (and this is all in my own personal opinion) think it's worth it to have or just a waste of time.
PC Points: Waste of Time or Worth It?
What a lot of people don't know about PC Points is that you have to go online to load the offers to your card in order to gather up the most points. It's the most effective way of getting the maximum points you possibly can in the store, while also getting the occasional in store points specials. You'll be able to earn free groceries a lot quicker if you take the extra 2 minutes on Thursdays to load all of your offers (you don't have to use all of the offers, just load them all because it's quick!!), using the little "load all my offers" box as soon as you're on the offers page.
If you're willing to go the extra mile, or maybe you just like keeping track of everything, you can compare your PC Points offers, checkout51 offers, and any coupons that you have, to your grocery list and modify the crap out of it!
My verdict for the PC Points card: Worth It.
Air Miles: Waste of Time or Worth It?
I have a love/hate relationship with Air Miles. Mostly because I don't go to Sobeys that often. It takes me literally forever to accumulate enough Air Miles (even when I use on Irving purchases), to actually do anything with. It really does. I hate that it can take a whole year to accumulate enough points to get free groceries, so I don't use it that often (like I said, I really don't shop at Sobeys a whole lot.).
I think that there are other quicker points card systems to get free groceries, and I'd much prefer using those ways instead of Air Miles. You can hit up the deals at Sobeys and accumulate some Air Miles quicker than the standard "1 Air Mile for every 20$ you spend" but I find (this is my opinion), that the groceries that qualify for the increased Miles are marked up and not worth it (for me to buy them).
My verdict for the Air Miles card: Waste of Time.
Shopper's Optimum: Waste of Time or Worth It?
I don't go to shopper's often either, I mostly stop there for my prescriptions so the points don't add up real fast for me. HOWEVER, there are ways that you can earn more Optimum points by doing things on the website. I updated me and my husbands profiles and earned an extra 4000 points on each card. Since the points are transferrable, I was able to transfer all of the points onto one card. 8000 points is 10$ in free merchandise at Shoppers, so I got 10$ for doing nothing. They have LOTS of points events, where you can accumulate a lot of points in a little amount of time by buying things. Of course, they don't have THE biggest selection of things, but there's a huge selection of health products (including a large beauty-make up selection).
My verdict of the Shopper's Optimum card: Worth It.
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