Favorite Reward Programs

Many stores and businesses offer rewards programs to encourage consumers to continue shopping with their brand. Here are a few of rewards programs that our family utilizes, and I would love to hear about the programs you have found valuable.

Kassa Cash Back on Debit Purchases - A trend that started with credit cards is quickly becoming an industry standard with debit cards as well. Our credit union began offering cash back on purchases. This seems like a no-brainer to take advantage of for those monthly bills you use your debit to purchase. We earn 2% with a max return of $12 a month. Certainly not an amount to retire on, but it adds up to $144 a year.

ebates.com It may seem like I’m beating a dead horse with referencing this site, but it’s really a simple way to get cash back for purchases you’ll be making online anyway. You simply set up an account at ebates and search their site for participating stores. If you can use their cash back offer, you’ll follow the link which will lead you to the retailers store front. You make all purchases directly with the retailer and ebates will generate a ticket after the purchase is completed and apply it to your account. Quarterly they will send a check to your house. I’ve received $172 using this site for the past couple years. There are also incentives for referrals so if you’re going to check it out I’d appreciate you following this link on the side of the page.

Grocery and Gas Partnerships - This is another great rewards program for things that we need to purchase anyway. We don’t take full advantage of these programs because we primarily shop at Aldi which doesn’t partner with any gas stations, however, our local Knowlan’s has partnership with Kaposia Convenience. We get 5 cents off a gallon for every $50 we spend. Many Financial Peace University families have shared that this is a great way to save a few bucks each month.

Fantastic Sam’s - I was really disappointed when Fantastic Sam’s moved away from their punch card system. With a family of 5 someone was getting a free haircut every other month. Their current rewards program keeps track of all purchased haircuts and issues a $10 off coupon after spending $250 on cuts and products. In addition to building towards a reward, participants also receive regular coupons for discounts on products and services. Our family isn’t too picky about our hairstyles or seeing the same stylist and have been really pleased with the local service. 

Walgreen’s - It seems like someone is always in need of a prescription at our house, and picking up the medicine at Walgreen’s allows us to take advantage of their rewards program. After signing up, purchases build until reaching a “goal” and then a cash discount is applied on the next purchase. We are all about finding simple ways to discount purchases we need to make and this is a great fit for us.

Thrift Stores - Our local thrift store Neighbor’s Inc offers a punch card that provides a $10 discount after it is filled. Since prices are cheap, it takes awhile to fill the card but when I get a $10 shopping spree the money can be stretched awfully far. To my knowledge, Goodwill doesn’t offer a rewards program, but you can get a 25% discount coupon for a donation. Again, that type of savings can be a real workhorse when buying second hand items.

Kohl’s - This list would not be complete without giving a nod to the mother of all rewards programs. Kohl’s seems to be the holy grail of getting people to spend more to rack up their rewards points in the form of Kohl’s Cash. Their rewards programs offers $5 Kohl’s cash for every $100 spent. They also periodically offer Kohl’s cash in store or online, on top of their rewards program. Combine with coupons ranging from 10%- 30% and checking the ebates offer (today it is 6% cash back) there are plenty of ways to save at this store. We certainly take advantage of all of these rewards program but skip using a charge account.

None of these rewards programs will make you a millionaire, but there are plenty of simple ways to discount products that are going to be purchased anyway. I can’t wait to hear about the rewards programs that you love. Please add them in the comment section below.