One of the few grocery stores that I haven’t talked about on my blog is Publix. Well that all changes today. Below are a few of my favorite way to save money at Publix Super Markets, I hope they can help you save some cash on your next grocery trip.

Here are a few of my favorite insider ways to save money at Publix:

1. Shop Wednesday Nights or Thursday Mornings

Sale cycles end every Wednesday night with new sales starting every Thursday morning.

So it’s an excellent strategy to alternate between shopping on a Wednesday and a Thursday so you can take advantage of last minute sales on Wednesdays as well as brand new markdowns on Thursdays.

PRO TIP: BOGOs ARE YOUR FRIEND

Many Publix shopper these days stick to the BOGO deals at Publix and do most of their other grocery shopping elsewhere, typically Walmart and Aldi. Even when you do the math on the BOGO deals, Walmart will still be cheaper in many situations.

2. Pay Close Attention at Checkout Register

This one is pretty cool.

Be sure to watch carefully as your items are ringed up, and closely examine your receipt for price discrepancies.

If they charge you more than they should, they’ll not only give you the lower price for the item, but let you take one home for FREE.

See Also: 11 Smart & Simple Hacks to Save Money at Kroger

PRO TIP: DIGITAL COUPONS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND

Download the Publix app and start clipping digital coupons. Trust me, it’s the best way to save at Publix. Look for a digital coupon on a BOGO item and you’ve hit the goldmine. If you plan your trip correctly, you can use digital coupons and BOGO deals to easily save 50% off your grocery bill.

3. Many Store Brands are Made by Leading Manufacturers

I love it when some grocery store “generic” items are made by leading manufacturers and repackaged and sold to you for significantly less money.

Publix is one of those stores.

The specific products are kept hush-hush for obvious reasons, but it has been suggested that the name-brand directly next to the Publix brand on the shelf is actually the manufacturer.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve noticed this phenomena.

4. Get the Mystery “Penny Item” Every Thursday

Did you know that Publix has a “Mystery Coupon” that comes out every Thursday?

Check out the new sales flyer to find the coupon and buy at least $10 worth of groceries and you’ll be able to score the mystery item for only a penny.

5. Make a “Special Order” to Stock-Pile Sale Items

A great way to take advantage of upcoming sales at Publix is to place a “special order” and have them arrive during the sale period.

Apparently each department handles this differently but it’s definitely worth asking about.

Many stores will likely do this for you as they won’t want you to clear the shelves of a particular product.

Keep in mind that it will take some time to get the special order form filled out, and employees might not be happy about it, so save this tip for significant purchases like party planning.

6. Liberal Return Policy

Publix return policy is similar to Costco’s in that they’ll take back any unopened grocery items with no questions asked.

This includes both perishables and non-perishables grocery items.

Be sure to always hold on to your receipt to make your return as easy as possible.

According to this Reddit thread, many store managers will even take back competing store brands that Publix doesn’t even sell, which many employees feel is taking the policy “too far”.

See Also: Here’s Why the Trader Joe’s Return Policy is AWESOME

Ask the Reader: How do you save money at Publix? Perhaps you stack coupons or have a different insider tip? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks.

Photo by Ron Cogswell.

Finding a “real deal” on eBay is becoming harder and harder these days. With so many “Buy It Now” items being sold at full-retail, and a huge number of products that are simply drop-shipped from the manufacturer, the idea of getting a deal on an actual auction is difficult. But alas, if you know some insider eBay savings tricks and hacks, it’s still possible to score a screaming deal. Here is what you need to know to become an eBay “savings ninja”.

1. Save Money By Looking For Typos in Listings

Perhaps the best way to find an eBay auction deal is to find listings with misspellings, especially in the listing title.

A very cool resource to help you find a misspelling, which can potentially lead you to a killer deal is FatFingers.com (If you live in the UK, try GoofBid.com).

The site lets you type in the item you’re looking for and then does all the work for you.

Let’s say you’re shopping for a PlayStation 4, FatFingers will go out and find listings with titles using words like “Paaystation” and “Playsstation”.

You’d be amazed how many sellers do not proofread their listings, especially when using the eBay app.

By finding these listings, you stand a great chance of winning an auction far below the retail price.

See Also: eBay Users….Have You Ever Heard of Bid Sniping?

2. Look For Oft-Ignored Local Deals

Many items on eBay are sold only to folks in the local area of the seller.

At the seller’s discretion, they choose this option which requires the buyer to pick up the item in person.

You tend to see this mainly with larger items that are expensive to ship, but not always.

Because of this, you can often score a deal by looking for these local bargains.

Use the cool site, BargainTime, to quickly find local bargains, you can sort by distance, price, and category.

Think of it like eBay with a Craigslist twist.

3. Find Really Cheap Last-Minute Auctions

Savvy eBay users already realize that a great way to get a deal is to look for auctions ending soon, many of which have slipped through the cracks (for whatever reason) and are selling really cheap.

But…what is the best way to find and sort through all of these last-minute deals After all, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of auctions ending every minute.

Enter the website Last Minute Auction.com, whose tagline is “An hour or less, a buck or less…find great bargains now!”

The site allows you to easily search through thousands of ending auctions by category.

I was blown away with the huge number of auctions ending that were going for 5 cents or less.

This is especially true with video games, books, sporting goods, clothing/shoes, and sports memorabilia.

4. Learn to Snipe Your Bid

The idea of sniping your eBay bid is something I’ve talked about before.

For those of you who don’t know what “sniping your bid” means, it’s when you wait until the last few seconds of an auction, then place your bid.

This almost guarantees you won’t be outbid and often results in the best deal possible.

While there are many free, or cheap, tools to help you automatically snipe your bid, eBay is not a big fan of them and could ban your account if you abuse it.

Also, be sure to research these tools carefully as many will require you to share your credit card information with them.

So…it’s probably safest to do your own sniping. Simply place your highest bid within the last 10 seconds of the auction ending.

Ask the Reader: When was the last time you got a real deal on eBay.com? Did you use one the above strategies to score your bargain?

By Kyle James

Photo credit to Kārlis Dambrāns.

While the idea of stacking coupons is not a new idea, and one that I’ve discussed in detail in the past, Target takes the practice to a whole new level. A level that deserves it’s own blog post so you too can become a money saving ninja on your next trip to the red bull’s eye. If you shop at Target regularly, especially for grocery, health & beauty, and baby items, you can easily knock 20% off your annual bill by stacking Target coupons. Here are the steps to make it happen.

Step 1: Find a Manufacturer’s Coupon

The first thing you’re going to want to do when becoming a coupon stacking pro at Target, is to hunt down free manufacturer coupons for the things you need to buy.

A few great places to start include Coupons.com, CouponMom.com, and Savings.com.

All three resources keep very accurate and up-to-date databases of the newest manufacturer coupons available and allow you to print them out for free.

PRO TIP: PRICE MATCH…THEN USE A COUPON

Target has a pretty killer price-match policy in place, one of the best actually. But most shoppers aren’t aware that you can get a price match, then add a manufacturer’s coupon on top of the new price to save even more.

Simply show proof of the lower price at the customer service desk and hand them the coupon at the same time and you’ll be out the door with extra money in your pocket in a matter of minutes.

Step 2: Find a Target Coupon

Next, you’ll want to find a coupon specific to Target stores to stack on top of the manufacturer coupons that you’ve already found.

Hit up the section of their site designed specifically for Target coupons, and quickly search and print the coupons for the products that you need to shop for.

Popular coupon categories include cleaning supplies, beauty products, food, and baby items.

Step 3: Find a Target Circle Discount

Next, be sure to sign up for the free Target Circle program. By doing so you’ll get instant access to hundreds of coupons and rebates when checking out.

Be sure to check out the websites Totally Target and The Krazy Coupon Lady as they both do a great job breaking down the current Circle Deals so you can plan your next “coupon stacking” trip effectively.

And before you ask, YES, you can stack Circle offers on top of any manufacturer or Target coupons that you’ve found.

Pretty cool, huh?

See Also: Here’s Where Target Sends Their Liquidated Items (Go Save Some Money)

PRO TIP: USE IBOTTA AND EASILY STACK TARGET OFFERS

The ibotta app unlocks a bunch of secret rebates on products you’ll probably be buying anyways from Target. Examples include $1 back on a pack of Oreos, 25 cents back on a gallon of milk, or $1 back on a box of Wheat Thins.

Next, after shopping, tap the “Redeem” button, snap a picture of your receipt, and verify your purchases.

Once verified, you’ll get your rebate money added directly to your Ibotta account.

Reach the $10 minimum and request a deposit to your PayPal or Venmo account, or get paid via a gift card.

Step 4: Use Your REDcard Too

But wait, we aren’t done saving money at Target yet.

Have you ever heard of Target’s proprietary REDcard that gives you an extra 5% off EVERY time you use it?

It comes in 3 flavors, a debit card, credit card, or a reloadable Visa Cash Card.

The debit card works like a check by drawing money straight from your existing checking account.

The credit card version allows you to charge your purchases, both online and in-store, and comes with no annual fee.

Lastly, the reloadable card allows you to add cash for free at Target and spend it anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.

Buyer beware on the credit card, it comes with an APR close to 23%, so it’s only a good option if you pay your bill in full every month.

Otherwise your 5% savings will quickly get wiped out by the high interest charges.

Also, by using the REDcard you get free shipping at Target.com and an extra 30 days to return items which is kinda cool. It basically comes down to how often you shop at Target.

If you’re a weekly shopper, it’s a bit of a no-brainer as the 5% savings is fairly significant over the course of an entire year.

Especially after you stack all of the above mentioned coupons on top of your 5%.

Happy savings.

By Kyle James

Photo by Mike Mozart.