Want to Get Your Groceries for Nearly Free? You’ve Got to Try This…

Listen, even if you’re not one of those crazy coupon people that you see on TLC, we both know that you could be saving more on your groceries.

I’m not saying you need to hoard 455 rolls of toilet paper or that you need to spend hours comparing sales ads, but there are a few weird (and easy) things you can do to save some money on your grocery bill.

Here are 5 ridiculous ways to save on your groceries…

1. Get Paid Extra to Use Your Coupons

Did you know that InboxDollars will actually pay you to print and use the coupons they offer on their website? Here’s how it works…

1. Sign up for a free account with InboxDollars (just need a name & email address). Plus, they give you $5 free since I referred you.

2. Navigate to the “Coupons” section. There you will find dozens of high-value coupons for everyday items like cereal and toilet paper. Select the ones you want, print them out, and use them in your store like a regular coupon. But here’s the kicker —- InboxDollars will pay you ten cents for every coupon you use.

Now, that might not sound like a lot of money, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Most of the coupons that you can print on their site are the same coupons you find in your Sunday newspaper or on Coupons.com. They’re actually put out by the same people. 🙂 So, it’s free cash for coupons you’re probably already clipping. And all those dimes start to add up after awhile…

2. Scan The Groceries When You Get Home

Did you know that the Nielsen company will pay you to scan your groceries each week? Crazy, right?

Once you sign up to become a Nielsen Consumer Panel family, the company will send you a free scanner (like the one pictured to the left) or you can use your smartphone. Every time you go shopping, you simply scan the barcodes on the back of each product and send your data off to NCP. Pretty easy, huh?

If you want to give it a try, you can fill out an application here.

You also receive entries for the panel’s many sweepstakes.  Prizes include money, vacations, and brand new vehicles.  This is a great way to make your consumer voice count and be rewarded handsomely for recording your purchases.  You’re already going to the grocery store anyway, right?

3. Create Your Own Sales Circular

There’s a great new website called Pirc that aims to streamline grocery shopping for those of use who like to shop around for the best price. Pirc allows you to favorite all of the items you regularly buy and then their system will scan all of the sales ads/circulars in your area each week.

If something you favorited goes on sale, they will send you an alert. Even better, it will notify you if there are any online coupons that can be printed to make the deal even sweeter. It’s sort of like setting up your own personal sales circular each week.

It’s all completely free to use and can be set up in just a few minutes. A lot of readers who like to price match at their local grocery store find this site extremely helpful since it can quickly tell you which store has the best deals that week.

4. Take a Picture of Your Receipts

Yeah, did you know that you can get cash-back on your groceries just for taking a picture of your receipt? The very popular website and mobile app, Ibotta will pay you to do just that. Here’s how it works….

1. Sign up for Ibotta here (you just need a name/email address to start).

2. Browse through the cash-back offers in your area and take note the next time you go to the grocery store (the offers change every week). For example, in my area Ibotta will give me .50 if I take a picture of a receipt showing that I bought a gallon of milk and a $1.00 if I take a picture showing that I bought graham crackers. Pretty cool, right?

3. So, obviously you don’t want to buy a bunch of crap you weren’t already going to buy. But, this can be an easy way to get a little cash-back for doing something you were already going to do. Also, you can still use coupons on the items you’re buying, so this can be a nifty way to “stack” your savings and in some cases, you might be able to get the item for free.

4. Once you’ve reached $5 earnings or more, you can request payment via Paypal or Venmo.

5. If you like doing this kind of thing, I’d also check out Checkout51 as it’s very similar (although you don’t have to have a smartphone to use them). Heck, sign up for both and you might be able to get cash-back on your receipt twice. 🙂

5. Get 1.5% Back on All of Your Grocery Store Purchases

If you’re not using a rewards card for your grocery purchases, you’re really just leaving free money on the table.

Here’s an option we like: It’s the Chase Freedom Unlimited card. Its claim to fame? You’ll earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all your purchases. Plus, if you spend $500 in your first three months of opening the card (hi, groceries), you’ll pocket a $150 bonus.

There’s no annual fee, and the cash-back rewards don’t expire. We checked Credible’s annual rewards calculator, and it estimates $417 in annual rewards based on our spending habits.* (You can enter your unique spending habits and see what you’d earn, too.)

Get signed up — and 0% intro APR for 15 months — here.

*Annual Rewards amounts will change based on the amounts you enter. The monthly spending category names and definitions may vary among issuers, and categories may not align one-to-one. 

The information for the Chase Freedom Unlimited card has been collected independently by The Penny Hoarder. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. The Penny Hoarder is a partner of Credible.