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Playing the Flybuys Game to Win - November 2018
Love it or loathe it, Flybuys, and other loyalty programmes like it, are here to stay, so why not play the Flybuys game - to win of course!
Right now my Flybuys points, converted into dollars, are sitting at $268.44, and I haven't bought a thing we didn't need or want, or pay more than I would normally for it. Yes, it has taken all year to reach that amount, but I'll take free money any time.
I simply swipe the card when I shop at Coles or Kmart, or fill the cars with petrol (when Shell is the cheapest around us) and the points add up.
If you're not sure, for every $1 spend you earn 1 point and 2,000 points = $10 off or to be redeemed as a "cash" loading on your Flybuys card. Now that's not a huge discount, 0.05%. But if you're going to shop there anyway, and it's free to join, it's better than nothing just for swiping your card.
But I do better than that, much, much better and it doesn't cost a cent more.
Here's how I work Flybuys to my advantage.
I do the bulk of our shopping at Aldi, but there are a couple of things I can only get at Coles, and if there is a special on something on my list, that brings the price down to under the Aldi price, then I'll buy it at Coles. But that alone isn't enough to gain a huge benefit.
Every week I get an email with an offer for bonus points. Sometimes it's spend $100 a week for four weeks to earn 10,000 bonus points, the equivalent of $50 in cash. So in effect, instead of paying $400 for the groceries, I'll only pay $350.
For example, this week the offer was spend $120 in a single shop to earn 4,800 points.
Now for me to spend that much in one trip at Coles takes a lot of planning and careful browsing of what's on sale and what we need.
So I look to the future: what will we need in the near future that will help earn those bonus points? This week it was fresh chicken, dishwasher powder, laundry soap, fruit for jam making and cheese. The chicken was on half-price sale, so I was able to buy six instead of the three budgeted for, and the fruit was on half-price as well and as it will be needed to make jam for the Christmas hampers I simply shopped ahead.
Doing this I doubled my money and earned the bonus points.
I refuse to be conned into buying anything and everything just to get bonus points. But when I can get what we need and use, and still earn those points then I'll make it work for me.
This week the offer was doable - fresh chickens were on half-price at $2.90/kg, I had laundry soap and dishwasher powder on the stockpile list, cheese is the same price as Aldi, I had fruit for jam making on the shopping list and with the usual bread and milk the total came to $124.82. I earned the bonus points easily by simply buying what I would normally buy.
It's not always that easy though.
I look at the bonus offer, then look at the catalogues to see what's on half-price sale, then check the pantry, fridge and freezer to see what we need. Right now, I'm rebuilding the stockpile for 2019 so I'm looking for things on the stockpile list that are either the same price as Aldi, or on half-price sale (my favourite way to build the stockpile - I can buy two for the price of one) and I'll shop ahead (which is what a stockpile is - shopping ahead).
Some things I'll shop ahead for are:
Tinned fish
Tinned tomatoes
Tomato soup
Dishwasher powder
Dishwashing detergent
Laundry soap
Flours
Sugar
Peanut butter - only ever bought on half-price sale
Vegemite
Tea bags - again, only ever bought on half-price sale
Toiletries
Toilet paper
All these things are regular items on my shopping list. But I never, ever pay full price for them. I plan and shop ahead, when they are on half-price sale, and then swipe my Flybuys card. At the end of the year I cash in the points and use that money to buy our Christmas, New Year and Anniversary treats, effectively getting them free.
This method of shopping isn't for everyone.
You need to be organised.
You need to be strong and just buy what you would normally buy.
And yes, it's just another way to get you into the store, with the aim of spending more money (see above!).
Play the game to win, and beat the supermarkets at their own game.
Right now my Flybuys points, converted into dollars, are sitting at $268.44, and I haven't bought a thing we didn't need or want, or pay more than I would normally for it. Yes, it has taken all year to reach that amount, but I'll take free money any time.
I simply swipe the card when I shop at Coles or Kmart, or fill the cars with petrol (when Shell is the cheapest around us) and the points add up.
If you're not sure, for every $1 spend you earn 1 point and 2,000 points = $10 off or to be redeemed as a "cash" loading on your Flybuys card. Now that's not a huge discount, 0.05%. But if you're going to shop there anyway, and it's free to join, it's better than nothing just for swiping your card.
But I do better than that, much, much better and it doesn't cost a cent more.
Here's how I work Flybuys to my advantage.
I do the bulk of our shopping at Aldi, but there are a couple of things I can only get at Coles, and if there is a special on something on my list, that brings the price down to under the Aldi price, then I'll buy it at Coles. But that alone isn't enough to gain a huge benefit.
Every week I get an email with an offer for bonus points. Sometimes it's spend $100 a week for four weeks to earn 10,000 bonus points, the equivalent of $50 in cash. So in effect, instead of paying $400 for the groceries, I'll only pay $350.
For example, this week the offer was spend $120 in a single shop to earn 4,800 points.
Now for me to spend that much in one trip at Coles takes a lot of planning and careful browsing of what's on sale and what we need.
So I look to the future: what will we need in the near future that will help earn those bonus points? This week it was fresh chicken, dishwasher powder, laundry soap, fruit for jam making and cheese. The chicken was on half-price sale, so I was able to buy six instead of the three budgeted for, and the fruit was on half-price as well and as it will be needed to make jam for the Christmas hampers I simply shopped ahead.
Doing this I doubled my money and earned the bonus points.
I refuse to be conned into buying anything and everything just to get bonus points. But when I can get what we need and use, and still earn those points then I'll make it work for me.
This week the offer was doable - fresh chickens were on half-price at $2.90/kg, I had laundry soap and dishwasher powder on the stockpile list, cheese is the same price as Aldi, I had fruit for jam making on the shopping list and with the usual bread and milk the total came to $124.82. I earned the bonus points easily by simply buying what I would normally buy.
It's not always that easy though.
I look at the bonus offer, then look at the catalogues to see what's on half-price sale, then check the pantry, fridge and freezer to see what we need. Right now, I'm rebuilding the stockpile for 2019 so I'm looking for things on the stockpile list that are either the same price as Aldi, or on half-price sale (my favourite way to build the stockpile - I can buy two for the price of one) and I'll shop ahead (which is what a stockpile is - shopping ahead).
Some things I'll shop ahead for are:
Tinned fish
Tinned tomatoes
Tomato soup
Dishwasher powder
Dishwashing detergent
Laundry soap
Flours
Sugar
Peanut butter - only ever bought on half-price sale
Vegemite
Tea bags - again, only ever bought on half-price sale
Toiletries
Toilet paper
All these things are regular items on my shopping list. But I never, ever pay full price for them. I plan and shop ahead, when they are on half-price sale, and then swipe my Flybuys card. At the end of the year I cash in the points and use that money to buy our Christmas, New Year and Anniversary treats, effectively getting them free.
This method of shopping isn't for everyone.
You need to be organised.
You need to be strong and just buy what you would normally buy.
And yes, it's just another way to get you into the store, with the aim of spending more money (see above!).
Play the game to win, and beat the supermarkets at their own game.