6 Money-Saving Hacks That Don’t Actually Work

Try this instead: You can save on gas without driving out of your way by taking advantage of loyalty programs. Grocery stores such as Albertsons, Giant, Kroger and Safeway typically award loyalty program members one fuel point per $1 spent on groceries, with 100 points equaling 10 cents off per gallon. “Kroger even offers bonus fuel points when you buy gift cards,” James says. 

Gas stations such as Shell, Chevron, Texaco and Exxon Mobil offer their own loyalty programs. And if you belong to a warehouse club such as Costco, Sam’s Club or BJ’s Wholesale Club, you can typically save an average of 20 cents per gallon by filling up at their fuel centers.

Stocking up when prices drop

Sales offer the perfect opportunity to buy items in bulk to beat inflation. This strategy may be especially appealing when shopping at the supermarket, where buying five jars of pasta sauce to get one free can feel like a victory.

But stocking up doesn’t guarantee savings. “Buying something just because it’s on sale can easily increase your spending,” James says. “It’s easy to end up with a pantry full of items you wouldn’t normally buy, which defeats the purpose.” 

Try this instead: Make a shopping list before you head to the store, and stick to it. “If it’s not already on your regular grocery list, it’s not a deal,” James says. “Sales only save money when they lower the cost of something you already buy.”

In addition, sign up for supermarket loyalty programs — many provide exclusive deals to customers.

Scoring bigger savings with sitewide sales

You might feel like you’ve hit the jackpot when your favorite retailer announces that everything on its website is on sale. “Shoppers get really excited about it,” Lowe says.

The catch? Sitewide sales can create a false urgency that might discourage you from comparison shopping to confirm you’re getting the best prices, she says.  

Try this instead: “The lesson here is make sure you’re looking at every offer available,” Lowe says. “Just because you see a sitewide sale doesn’t mean you’ll save the most money.”

Consider using Google Shopping, Yahoo Shopping or ShopSavvy to compare prices for products across retailers. You can also check cash-back and coupon apps, as well as websites such as CouponCabin, Rakuten and RetailMeNot, to see if coupon codes are available for online stores where you want to shop. 

Adding more to your cart to unlock free shipping

You’ve probably felt the frustration of getting to checkout on a shopping site only to discover you don’t qualify for free shipping. Adding another item could make sense, you rationalize, because you won’t be throwing money away on shipping fees.  

More often than not, this hack won’t save you money. In fact, requiring minimum purchase amounts to qualify for free shipping is one way retailers try to get you to spend more, says Stephanie Carls, a retail analyst at RetailMeNot.

Try this instead: Before adding another item to your cart, consider the cost of your original purchase plus the shipping fee you’re looking to avoid, Carls says. If you’re spending an extra $25 on something you hadn’t planned on buying to avoid a $5 shipping charge, you may be better off paying for delivery and not buying that additional item.

Depending on the retailer, there may be other ways to avoid delivery fees, such as hunting for free shipping codes or choosing in-store pickup.

Getting instant savings with a store credit card

Signing up for a store credit card at checkout may seem like the ultimate money-saving hack. An automatic 20 percent off just for opening an account is a deal that’s too good to pass up, right? 

Maybe not, according to Carls. Retail credit cards typically have high interest rates, which can wipe out the initial savings if you don’t pay off the balance on time. The average rate on store cards was 30.14 percent as of September 2025, according to Bankrate’s latest study on retail card rates. That’s nearly 1.5 times higher than the average interest rate for all credit cards.

Try this instead: “Read that beautiful fine print,” Carls says. Understand the terms before opening a store credit card, and determine whether it makes sense for your shopping needs — for example, if you’re buying a big-ticket item and the card offers a 0 percent introductory rate, that gives you a year or more to pay off the balance without accruing interest.

Opening a general-purpose rewards credit card that lets you earn cash back on all purchases — not just those from a specific retailer — could be a better option.