Whenever you hear “reward card” or “loyalty card” it makes you stop and think of a couponing mom trying to save a buck here and there, but honestly it is a godsend for a college student.
I have many, many reward cards from any place that offers them. If it is free, I have it. I save money because of it and I eat free, too. It may seem cheesy and corny to pull out a card or give out your phone number to build up points, but when you’re on a tight budget isn’t it smart to save as much as possible?
For one, almost every student shops at Starbucks. We all drink something from the store and there seems to be one on every corner and in every library on campus. They offer a My Starbucks Rewards card which grants free drinks and free refills.
They have different tiers of the program. Once you reach 30 stars (purchases) in 12 months you become a Gold member. As a Gold member you get free refills in the store and every 12 stars you get a free drink or item. Considering there are 30/31 days in a month, it shouldn’t take most of the students more than one month to become Gold and then you just get free Starbucks.
Another thing students like to do is drink and eat, and TGI Fridays is one of the best places to go for that. Their Give Me More Stripes card gives free food or money off coupons and it is as simple as writing your phone number on the check. Every dollar you spend is worth one point.
Fifty points is a free dessert, 80 points is a free burger, 100 points is $8 off purchase, 150 points is a free steak. You also get to skip the line once a month. This means if you are in a one hour wait you can be seated immediately. Once you’re seated, once per visit, you get free chips and salsa.
Give them your email on sign up and you also can get buy one, get one coupons delivered at least once per month. On sign up, you also get a coupon for a free appetizer.
Even if you only go to TGI Friday’s every once in a while, you’ll still be building up points. Think about it: Two appetizers, two drinks and two entrees and a dessert. That’s almost $50 to $60 depending on the items and that’s already enough points for a free dessert and almost there to a free burger -- in one visit.
You’ve covered food and you’ve covered drinks, what about shopping? Surprisingly, Sears and Kmart offer a great reward card called the Shop Your Way Rewards card. Every dollar spent is 10 points and every 1,000 points is $1 to use in the store.
Also, you have the choice to have your receipt emailed instead of printed, which saves on paper and a choice to have the coupons “loaded” to your account so you never have to remember to bring them with you.
The best feature is “card linking.” You can go on their website and link your debit card to your account and earn bonus points at places like Burger King. That way, you’re earning points without even realizing it.
This feature is one more places should be implementing into their services. Think about how much more shopping you would be doing if you had more money off somewhere?
After all of that, you’re basically covered. There are many more reward cards out there, like Best Buy’s Reward Zone, and all you have to do is sign up with a phone number and email usually.
Maybe couponing and using these money saving cards isn’t something most of today's youth do, but as a college kid on a tremendous budget, signing up for five minutes is worth the money you save in the long run.
