Money Matters: Grocery shopping used to be boring. Now it's a full-contact sport where cereal costs $6.49 and you leave the store wondering if you accidentally bought organic air.

You're not imagining it - prices are higher, carts are lighter, and somehow you still forgot the one thing you actually came for.

But here's the thing: while you can't control what groceries cost, you can control how much you actually pay. And no, we're not talking about clipping coupons like it's 1997.

This week, we're breaking down the grocery hack that saves families $30+ every trip - and it takes about 30 seconds.

Survey says: 

🛒 The average family spends $270 per week on groceries - that's over $14,000 a year on food that disappears faster than your sanity at checkout.

💰 Families who use cashback apps save $25-$40 per shopping trip without changing where they shop or what they buy.

📱 Apps like Ibotta work at the stores you already go to - Kroger, Walmart, Target, Safeway - covering about 90% of where families actually shop.

💸 That's $1,300-$2,000 back in your pocket per year for uploading a photo of your receipt.

🎯 Most people don't even know these apps exist, which means you're about to feel very ahead of the game.

Translation: You're already spending the money. You might as well get paid for it.

Here is what on that portioned plate today:

😎 Our Favorite Resources
👍 The 30-Second Grocery Hack (Yes, Really)
👌 5 More Ways to Drop Your Bill Without Dropping Your Standards
🤷‍♀️ What's up for next week

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Cool Links

Our favorite resources

📱 Cashback Apps That Actually Work
Ibotta – The heavyweight champion of grocery cashback. Scan receipts or link your loyalty cards.
Why this matters: Works at basically every store you already shop at. Pays real cash, not Monopoly money.

Fetch Rewards – The lazy person's cashback app. Snap any receipt, get paid. No offers to activate, no thinking required.
Why this matters: If you can take a blurry photo, you can use Fetch. It's that easy.

Rakuten – Best for online grocery orders (Instacart, Amazon Fresh, Walmart+).
Why this matters: Stack it with other apps for double cashback on delivery orders. Yes, you can double-dip.

💡 Price Comparison Tools
Flipp – Shows you every weekly ad from stores near you in one app.
Why this matters: Stops you from driving to three stores because you think Target has a better deal on paper towels.

Basket – Tracks prices across stores so you know if that "sale" is actually a scam.
Why this matters: Spoiler alert - half the sales aren't sales.

🛍️ Store Loyalty Programs Worth Your Time
Target Circle – Free, automatic 1% back + surprise coupons that actually apply to stuff you buy.

Kroger Plus Card – Fuel points + digital coupons that stack with cashback apps.

Walmart+ – Free delivery + gas discounts if you're already shopping there weekly. Do the math first, though.

📜 Quote

"I don't always buy groceries, but when I do, I spend $300 and forget the one thing I came for." — Every parent, every time

Today’s Main Event

The 30-Second Grocery Hack (Yes, Really)

Let's get one thing straight: grocery shopping is already exhausting.

You've got a cart that pulls left, a toddler asking why bananas are yellow, and a teenager who suddenly "doesn't eat anything" except the $18 box of protein bars.

The last thing you need is another complicated money-saving system that requires spreadsheets, a doctorate in couponing, or waking up at 5 a.m. to chase loss leaders across three counties.

Good news—this hack is so simple it feels like cheating.

Here's what you do:

Before you leave the house, open a cashback app (we'll get to which one in a second). Browse the offers. Tap the ones for stuff you're already buying.

Shop like normal. Buy what you need. Ignore the rest.

At checkout, snap a photo of your receipt. Upload it to the app.

Done.

Money shows up in your account within 24 hours, and you didn't change a single thing about how you shop.

That's it. That's the whole hack.

Real Example: A Typical $180 Target Run

Here's what a realistic Target grocery trip looks like when you're using cashback apps:

You buy your usual stuff - cereal, milk, ground beef, chicken, laundry detergent, pasta, frozen pizza, bread, bananas, orange juice. Nothing fancy. Just the weekly basics.

Total at checkout: $180

You open Ibotta on your way to the car, snap a photo of your receipt, and upload it while sitting in the parking lot.

Cashback earned: $8-$12 (depending on which offers were active that week)

Some weeks you'll hit $15-$20 if there are bonus offers on stuff you were buying anyway. Other weeks it's closer to $5-$8. The average shakes out to about $10-$12 per trip.

Time to upload: 30 seconds

Do that every week for a year, and you're looking at $520-$625 back just for taking a photo of something you were throwing away anyway.

That's not "extra money." That's two car payments. Or a long weekend somewhere that's not your house. Or the satisfaction of knowing you're not leaving free money on the table.

Savings: $520-$625/year for 30 seconds of effort per week.

Why You're Not Already Doing This

Let's be honest - if this was common knowledge, everyone would be doing it.

Here's why most people miss out:

You didn't know it existed.
Cashback apps aren't sexy. They don't go viral. Nobody's making TikToks about saving $3 on detergent. But they work.

You thought it was complicated.
It's not. If you can take a blurry photo of your kid's soccer schedule, you can use Ibotta.

You assumed the savings were too small to matter.
$2 here, $3 there—sounds like pocket change. Until you realize that pocket change adds up to $1,500+ per year. Suddenly it's not so small.

Savings: Your sanity, plus $1,500+/year.

How to Set This Up (No PhD Required)

Step 1: Pick one app and download it.
Start with Ibotta (best for groceries) or Fetch (easiest to use). Don't overthink it. Just pick one.

Step 2: Browse offers before you shop.
Open the app. Scroll through. Tap anything you're already planning to buy. Takes 2 minutes, max.

Step 3: Shop like you normally would.
Buy what you need. Ignore what you don't. The app doesn't care if you skip offers - it only pays you for what you activate.

Step 4: Snap a pic of your receipt.
At checkout, take a photo of your receipt. Upload it in the app. Done.

Step 5: Cash out when you hit $20.
Transfer it to PayPal, Venmo, or grab a gift card. Use it for whatever you want - groceries, gas, or finally buying that thing you've been eyeing on Amazon.

Savings: $25-$40 per trip, just for doing what you were already doing.

Pro Move: Stack Your Savings

You know what's better than getting cashback once? Getting it three times on the same purchase.

Here's how families who know what they're doing stack their savings:

1. Use the store's loyalty program (Target Circle, Kroger Plus, etc.)

2. Activate cashback app offers (Ibotta, Fetch)

3. Pay with a cashback credit card (if you have one and pay it off in full every month - don't carry a balance just for cashback, that's lunacy)

Real example:
You spend $100 at Target on groceries.

• Target Circle gives you 1% back = $1

• Ibotta gives you $8 back on activated items

• Your cashback credit card gives you 2% back = $2

Total earned: $11 on a $100 trip.

Do that every week for a year? That's $572 back in your pocket for literally just using the tools you already have.

Savings: $572/year by stacking like a pro.

5 More Ways to Drop Your Bill (Without Dropping Your Standards)

The cashback hack is the easiest win, but if you want to level up, here are five more moves that shave dollars off your grocery bill without forcing you to eat ramen until retirement.

1. Check the Price Per Ounce (Not the Sticker Price)

That jumbo-sized box of crackers looks like a steal, right?

Sometimes. Not always.

Most stores print the price per ounce on the shelf tag right below the total price. Compare that number instead of eyeballing the box size.

Example:

• Small box (10 oz) = $3.49 = $0.35/oz

• Big box (20 oz) = $5.99 = $0.30/oz

The big box wins. But only if you actually check.

Companies know you're in a hurry. They count on you not doing the math. Don't give them the satisfaction.

Savings: $100-$200/year by buying smarter, not bigger.

2. Buy Store Brands (They're Literally the Same Thing)

Target's Good & Gather mac and cheese tastes identical to Kraft. Ask your kids - they won't know the difference.

Kroger's Simple Truth yogurt is the same as Chobani, minus the $2 upcharge for the logo.

Walmart's Great Value ketchup is...ketchup. It's fine. You'll survive.

The only difference? The packaging. And about 20-30% of your money.

Pro tip: Try the store brand once. If you hate it, go back to the name brand. But nine times out of ten, you'll shrug and keep buying the cheaper one.

Savings: $300-$500/year just by switching logos.

3. Meal Plan Around Sales (Not Pinterest)

You know what's expensive? Shopping with no plan and hoping inspiration strikes in aisle 7.

You know what's cheaper? Building your meals around whatever's already on sale that week.

How to do it:

• Check your store's weekly ad (or open the Flipp app while sitting on the couch)

• See what's on sale

• Build 3-5 meals around those items

• Shop only for those meals (plus snacks because you're not a monster)

Example:
Chicken's $1.99/lb this week? Cool. Monday: grilled chicken and veggies. Wednesday: chicken tacos. Friday: chicken stir-fry. You just saved $15 and didn't even have to think that hard.

Savings: $200-$400/year by planning 10 minutes ahead.

4. Stop Shopping Hungry (This One's Obvious But You Still Do It)

Shopping on an empty stomach is how you end up with $40 worth of snacks, two types of chips you don't even like, and a rotisserie chicken you ate in the parking lot.

Ask me how I know.

Eat before you go. Seriously. It's the easiest $20 you'll ever save.

Savings: $20-$50/trip by not impulse-buying your way through Aisle 5.

5. Use Pickup or Delivery (Yes, Really)

I know, I know - paying a fee for delivery feels wasteful when you have two functioning legs and a car.

But hear me out.

When you shop online:

• You can see your total before you hit checkout (no surprises)

• You avoid impulse buys (because you're not staring at end caps designed by psychologists)

• You can compare prices across brands instantly without squinting at tiny shelf tags

• You can stack cashback apps on the entire order

Plus: Most stores offer free pickup. You order online, drive up, they load your car. No wandering the aisles. No toddler meltdowns. No buying $60 worth of stuff you didn't come for.

Walmart+, Target Drive Up, Kroger Pickup - all free or cheap, and all worth considering if your time is worth more than $10.

Savings: $100-$300/year by avoiding impulse purchases and emotional shopping.

The Bottom Line

Groceries are expensive. That's not changing anytime soon.

But you don't have to pay full price for everything, and you don't have to become an extreme couponer who hoards 47 bottles of mustard in the garage.

Cashback apps, store brands, price-per-ounce checks, meal planning - none of this is complicated. It's just smart shopping. And it adds up faster than you think.

Pick one thing from this list. Just one. Start there.

If all you do is download Ibotta and snap a photo of your receipt once a week, you'll save $1,500+ this year.

That's a vacation. Or a credit card paid off. Or a very nice dinner where someone else cooks and does the dishes.

Your call.

Until Next Time

What’s Up Next Week

Alright - your grocery bill just got a lot less painful, and you've got a system that takes 30 seconds per trip and pays you $30+ every time you use it.

Next time you're standing in the cereal aisle staring at $6.49 Cheerios, just remember: you're getting paid to be there now. That's the dream.

Check back next week as we dive into the next issue!

Until then - shop smart, scan those receipts, and enjoy the very specific satisfaction of watching free money show up in your account while everyone else pays full price.

—Nico & the MoneyHoot Team 🦉

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.