Get Serious Savings at Kroger Without Coupons: Here's How

Do you need a Kroger Plus card to get sales? Can you even save money at Kroger if you aren’t clipping coupons like a maniac?

We have answers to all of your Kroger questions, and we’re going to help you save BIG at all of the Kroger stores without clipping any coupons.

 

SHOP ALL KROGER DEALS NOW

 

1. Get a free item every other Friday.

About every other Friday, Kroger releases a digital offer for a totally free product. The offer is available to download to your card for one day only, but it doesn’t expire for two weeks.

Here are the offers that have gone live since Jan 2019.

4/5/19 Free RXBar Single, 1.83 oz, through 4/21

3/29/19 No Free Download

3/22/19 Free Butterfinger Singles Candy Bar, 1.9 oz through 4/7

3/15/19 No Free Download

3/8/19 Free Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Reese’s Pieces Candy Bar 1.55 oz through 3/24

3/1/19 No Free Download

2/22/19 Free Cacique Queso Fresco, 10 oz, through 3/10

2/15/19 No Free Download

2/8/19 Sweetarts Chewy Cherry Punch Rope Singles, 1.8 oz, through 2/24

2/1/19 No Free Download

1/25/19 No Free Download

1/18/19 Simple Truth Ready to Drink Coffee, 8 oz, through 2/3

1/11/19 Free Bai Bubbles, 11.5 oz, through 1/27

1/4/19 Free 1850 Ready to Drink Coffee, 13.7 oz or Neuro Drink, 14.5 oz, through 1/20

Note: In order to get the Free Friday deal, you’ll need to sign up for a Kroger Plus rewards account and load the offer to your digital card. If you’re a Fred Meyer customer, you’ll also get quarterly rebate rewards (1 point for every $1.00 you spend). Earn at least 500 points in a quarter to get the rebate.

TIP: Sign up for text alerts and you’ll never miss the Free Friday deal.

 

2. Get free fruit when you shop with your kids.

Shopping with kids in tow? Keep them occupied with a totally free piece of fruit.

 

3. Get a free cookie for kids, too.

The bakery will give any kids tagging along with their parents a free cookie. Promise the cookie at the end of a successful trip because, bribery works.

 

4. Save 10-20% on wine when you buy 6 or more bottles.

The typical discount is 10%, but sometimes Kroger and affiliates will run sales giving you 20% off. They’ll even throw a free tote into the deal! Wine deals are my favorite.

 

 

5. Save 50% on day-old bread, cakes and other bakery items.

These markdowns are done in store daily. My Fred Meyer puts them out in the morning around 8 a.m., but ask your local store when they stock the reduced bakery items.

 

6. Shop for markdown meat mid-morning to save at least 25%.

Most Kroger and affiliate retailers mark their meat down on or near the “best by” date. Mine does this around 9 a.m. daily, so ask your local store what time is best to get the freshest discounts.

Meat freezes well, so it’s worth looking even if you don’t need it right away.

RELATED: 27 Bizarre & Extreme Ways to Get Meat for Cheap

 

7. Save at least 25% with markdown produce.

Overripe or slightly bruised produce along with perfect produce that’s overstocked and needs to move out to make room for more is sold in a discounted produce section. It’s pre-bagged in mixed lots and marked to $1.00. Slightly bruised bananas are sold alone for as low as $0.39 a pound.

 

8. Shop the Mega Sales and buy in multiples to save big.

Mega Sales are frequent at Kroger, and they work like this:

Buy a specific amount of products to save an additional amount off each item. A popular version of this sale is: Buy 5 participating items, save $5.00.

Bonus! Many of the items are on sale on top of the Mega Sale, giving you even better discounts.

Make sure you buy in the correct multiples, though, or you don’t get the deal at all.

 

RELATED: Kroger’s Mega Sale: What You Need to Know

 

9. You don’t have to buy 10 items in a 10/$10.00 sale — check the unit cost.

Kroger also runs 10 for $10.00 sales frequently, and you can buy as few or as many as you like to get the $1.00 unit cost.

 

 

10. Watch for two-day sales and stock up as much as the sale allows.

The latest two-day sale featured $0.99 soda and cheese and $1.99 family size Nabisco cookies and crackers. The sales are almost always for Fridays and Saturdays, and quantities are limited.

You’ll need to load the offer to your Kroger (or affiliate) account before you get to the register.

 

11. Sign up for a free Kroger REWARDS Debit Card to save 2% on Kroger brands.

The Kroger REWARDS Debit Card will link directly to your bank account, just like your normal debit card. There are no fees, but there are a couple of great perks:

• Get 50% more fuel points on every grocery purchase
• You’ll receive 2% back on all Kroger brand products. The 2% will be automatically taken off at your next purchase

Note: The Kroger REWARDS Debit Card isn’t available at all affiliates. Here’s the list of Kroger stores where you can sign up:

Baker’s

City Market

Dillon’s

Food 4 Less

Food Co.

Fry’s

Gerbes

King Soopers

Jay C. Food Stores

Kroger

Owen’s Market

Pay Less Supermarkets

QFC

Ralph’s

 

12. Buy gift cards at Kroger and earn up to 4 times the fuel points.

You can save up to $1.00 per gallon at the pump (up to $35.00) just by shopping at Kroger and affiliates. Here’s how it works:

For every $1.00 you spend you get 1 fuel point. For every 100 fuel points you earn, you get $0.10 off a gallon at select gas stations.

Kroger sells gift cards to tons of restaurants, retail and other merchants and typically offers 2-4 times the fuel points on all gift-card purchases.

TIP: Your balance resets every month, so don’t wait to use up your points.

 

13. Get a 10% Senior Discount at Fry’s on the first Wednesday of the month.

If you’re 55 or older and shop at Fry’s, then you can score a 10% discount every 1st Wednesday of the month.

You’ll get the same discount at Fred Meyer, but on every 1st Tuesday of the month.

Check with your local affiliates to see if they offer a specific senior discount. The main Kroger stores did away with them as of 2019.

 

14. Get up to an hour of free babysitting at Fred Meyer.

Fred Meyer stores offer Playlands for children ages 3 through Kindergarten. They’ll give you an hour of free childcare as long as you stay in the store.

 

15. Get a free birthday cake from Harris Teeter for your kiddo’s first birthday.

Fill out the application and bring it to Harris Teeter customer service. When your little one’s first birthday rolls around, you’ll get a free 5-inch Patti-Cake.

 

16. Get cash-back offers at Ralph’s, Fry’s and King Soopers then transfer the money to PayPal.

 

Kroger’s Cash Back Rewards program is essentially a rebate program through specific Kroger affiliates. Instead of loading traditional coupons to your account, you load cash-back offers, buy the items, then choose if you’d like your money through PayPal or as in-store credit.

Here’s how it works:

1. Log in to your store account and load qualifying offers to your shopper’s account.
2. Purchase the qualifying items, and scan your shopper’s card
3. Transfer the cash to your shopper’s account to spend in Fry’s, or wait until you have $20.00 and transfer to your PayPal account.

Sign up with Ralph’s, Fry’s or King Soopers.

 

 

17. Shop the Smith’s Case Lot Sale in January, April and September for stock-up prices.

The best thing about the Case Lot sale is that you don’t always have to buy a full case of the items to get the deal. The sales are never exactly alike, but you should look for great deals on pantry staples like peanut butter and baking supplies.

 

18. Sign up for College Rewards at Harris Teeter and get 5% off your purchases from October through May.

Register your Harris Teeter VIC card as a college student and you’ll get the discount while school is in session. You’ll need a valid college ID to qualify.

 

19. Shop the two biggest sales of the year at Fred Meyer: the Founder’s Day and the Anniversary sales.

The Founder’s Day sale happens in mid-May and the Anniversary Sale happens mid-September.

With both, you’ll see big price drops in all departments. Shop for summertime items like patio decor and fresh berries during the Founder’s Day Sale. Stick to early fall goodies like blankets and back-to-school supplies during the Anniversary Sale.

 

20. Get a Fred Meyer Friends and Family Pass in August and November to save 10-20% on everything — including clearance!

 

21. If you shop at a Fred Meyer then you can get up to an extra 70% off clothing markdowns.

Fred Meyer always has an apparel clearance section, but they regularly have an extra percent-off sale to go with it, too. This ranges from 30-70% throughout the year.

 

22. And watch for an extra 40% off beauty items (including sale).

Clearance cosmetic items are often marked down 10-50%. In addition, some affiliate stores, such as Dillons and Fred Meyer, regularly run an additional 40% off clearance home and cosmetic items, meaning your potential savings is 90%!

 

23. Even electronics goes an extra 40%.

If your store sells electronics then they will likely run additional percent-off deals on top of already-clearance prices.

We recently saw a Play Station Player’s kit marked down from $59.99 to $26.98, a 70% savings!

 

24. The Natural and Organic aisles will likely have their own clearance section — look to save at least 30%.

These are typically found at the end of the natural and organics aisles, though sometimes the products will be sprinkled throughout.

We’ve seen products marked down as much as 80%, but look to save at least 30% as a general rule.

 

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