As a freshman, I spent a majority of my time eating at the dining halls. While it is extremely nice to be able to swipe my WisCard on purchases, I have come to realize the benefits of apps like RedCard and MooCho, in addition to online grocery shopping on a college campus.
Check Weekly Ads
While Walgreens may not be the first place you think of when someone says “grocery shopping,” it has a decent selection of food that goes on sale quite frequently. Check Walgreens’ weekly ads to see their promotions. A few weeks back Haagen Daz was buy one get one free- which was a killer deal for all of us ice cream lovers out there.
With Fresh as the central grocery store on campus, it is inevitable that their prices are expensive. Checking Fresh’s weekly ad for sales is a good way to save a few dollars. Fresh also runs promotional deals where certain items are free with a purchase of a certain amount. For example, the week of September 10-17, Fresh ran a deal that with a $10 purchase, a Sabra hummus was free.
Download the Apps
In addition to Fresh’s weekly ads and promotional deals, they have also teamed up with MooCho and RedCard for deals. RedCard allows students to pay for food with the touch of a button. RedCard also offers weekly deals as well as coupons when a certain amount of money is entered onto the card or spent at restaurants or grocery stores. You can sign up for RedCard’s emails to get updates on their weekly promotions or add them on social media to keep up with the deals. Every Wednesday, RedCard offers $1 deals at a local hot spot in Madison. Recently RedCard ran a deal with Fresh where a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was $1, again, I’m lookin’ at you ice cream lovers!
MooCho is another app that has teamed up with Fresh, as well as the University Book Store, and Capitol Centre Market. MooCho is an app that allows you to pay for items similar to Red Card. Yet, unlike Red Card, MooCho runs deals where they give you free money! Last year the app ran a promotional deal where they gave $20 to shop at Fresh. With a certain amount of purchases and money spent on MooCho, “Mooches” accumulate and allow you to get even more free stuff.
Shop Online
Though it may seem obvious, online grocery shopping is a great method to find food items that you can’t find on the Madison campus or that are cheaper at a store that’s hard to access without a car. Online grocery shopping also saves the trip of having to wander around a store searching for exactly what you are looking for. Sam’s Club, Costco, and Amazon are all great options when buying food items, as you can buy items in bulk for a discounted price. Target is also great since items are constantly going on sale there and shipping is free with a $25 purchase or by using Target’s RedCard (not to be confused with Wisconsin’s RedCard).
Don’t Pay Full Price!
With all the methods to save money grocery shopping, why pay full price? When you’ve saved more money than you’ve spent, you’re shopping right. Weekly ads, promotions, apps, and online grocery shopping are fantastic resources to help prevent you from wearing out your credit card and overspending.
Happy Shopping!