DIY One Month of Free Groceries Per Year

How are we getting one month of free groceries per year? Everyone that shops at Kroger, as well as other local stores, can do this easily. Here’s the information and documentation for those pursuing financial independence (#FI #FIRE). Save more for retirement by reducing your grocery spending by more than 10% per year; here’s how we do it.

Believe me, I’m sometimes skeptical myself at how easy it has become to cut spending and save more just by educating yourself. There are so many opportunities to do so it boggles my mind. Why everyone doesn’t take advantage is beyond me. But, implementation is everything. Fortunately, we learned about it and immediately took action. The result is one month of free groceries per year for us.

DIY One Month of Free Groceries Per Year

First, we learned this AMEX credit card offer pays you a $300 cash-back bonus for signing up. It has an annual fee of $95 so you net $205 just by getting the card for a year. And, it pays 6% cash back at “all” grocery stores up to $6,000 in spending. That’s $360/year in cash back if you spend $500/month on groceries, including wine and beer which we buy at our grocery store (Kroger). It also pays us 3% cash back at gas stations. We use it at grocery stores and gas stations.

Second, we learned this DOSH app pays an additional 5% cash back to us when we shop at Kroger. Just load the app and tell the app what credit card you use when shopping. You get $5 just for setting it up. And, that’s it. No receipts to scan or other activity required when shopping. It’s automatic, we love that aspect of the DOSH app. Set it and forget it! Well, you can’t totally forget it because after shopping you get a notification letting you know you have more money in your account. It is recurring revenue, a feature we love.

Here’s the math and results of me spending less than two hours getting the AMEX credit card and setting up the DOSH app:

• $205 – AMEX sign-up bonus ($300) minus annual fee (-$95), money now in retirement account!
• $360 – AMEX cash back at grocery stores (6% on $6,000 spending/year)
• $  10 – DOSH app paid us, my wife and I, each $5 just for downloading and setting up the app
• $300 – DOSH app cash back at Kroger for the year (assumes spending/budget of $500/month for groceries and wine/beer at Kroger).
• $875 – One Month of Free Groceries Per Year (credit card bonus gets you more the 1st year)

As I mentioned above, I spent about two hours getting the credit card and setting up the app. My return for those two hours is over $800; that’s $400/hour for my time. I like that return. The same return is available to you, assuming you have good credit and you can get the card. If not, just download and setup the app and at least get the extra 5% back in cash.

UPDATE (August 2019) – ATTENTION SENIORS: Those 55+ can get an extra 5% discount at certain Kroger grocery stores on Tuesday and Thursdays (senior discount). With the DOSH app (5% cash back) and using this AMEX credit card (6% cash back at grocery stores) plus the senior discount at Kroger (5%) = 16% off grocery shopping at Kroger! Say you spend $500/month on groceries; $6,000/year. A 16% savings is $960/year or almost 2 MONTHS OF FREE GROCERIES!

Any questions?

Here’s my review of the DOSH app for “researchers” looking for more information. Also, here’s a post on how we make over $1,000/year playing the credit card and online savings account sign-up bonus game with the banks.

Most importantly, take action. Too many people read this stuff and sit on the sidelines, or in their cubicle LOL. Implementation is everything when pursuing financial independence (#FI). I hope you learned what we learned and you get one month of free groceries too!

For those that take advantage of the above, it’s time to update your grocery budget for the year!