Use them or lose money, there is no way around the loyalty program concept.   What really matters is maximizing the benefits. Two ways to enhance your savings – when ever possible stick with one program for every category type i.e. food, office supplies, hotels, air travel and give them your email address (set up a seperate account for deals if necessary) so you receive up to the minute offers.

Here are the no fee programs the Frugal Diva likes best and why.

Staples – They give you $2 for every used printer cartridges and a percentage of purchases in a rebate check.  Watch for emails with weekly savings and coupons. Back to school is an excellent time to stock on supplies for the office.

Ralphs – Their points system allows you to get back a small rebate for Shell gasoline. They will email you items that garner bonus points and just by clicking you can make your way to savings. The coupons are loaded into your loyalty card and automatically deducted at checkout. No cutting and no forgetting.

DSW- Buy your way to the next pair of shoes. Plus a $5 coupon for your birthday and offers all year long for double points, free tote bags, and discounts.

Chicos – After an initial purchase amount, members receive an automatic 5% off and a coupon every month plus a birthday bonus, invitations to private sales, and special discounts.

Let me know what you think are great programs and I will add them to the post.

All my friends had become ardent supporters of Chicos, yet I held out. Convinced that my love of basics and solid colors, my desire to choose any two pieces from my closet and have them match, would never be fulfilled by Chicos. It was a riot of color while I was an orderly march of solids. They scared me.

Well, they kept sending me catalogs and coupons. And the coupons were pretty good. Twenty five dollars off any purchase of $100 even if the items were on sale. They wore me down. I started by going into the store just to look around. And though they are known for their colors and prints, I spotted some solid pants. And they looked pretty good. Clean lines, nice neutral colors, up to date styles. My will was weakening.

You have to love their sizing, I was instantly reduced to a size two. Of course that is a medium in their world but in my world it is still a size two. I liked the sound of it. And I liked the pants. Beautiful velvet black jeans that are very stylish this year, denims with that extra bit of Lycra to hold you in, and racks and racks of sale items. Light weight cargo pants in khaki, capris in taupe, and some T shirts that go with everything. And all reduced by thirty percent. Things were looking up.

To maximize the coupon, try and keep your purchases just a little over $100. That will give you an additional 25% off your bill and that includes items that are already discounted. Now I don’t mean to steer you away from their other items. For the print and color lover there are fantastic choices, the accessories are a whole world also, and they have beautiful sweaters.

However for the more classic minded, stick with pants and solid colored tops. And don’t forget to join the Chicos club which gives you an automatic 5% off after you reach a minimum purchase amount.  They roll over stock very quickly so if you don’t find something you like, just stop back in two or three weeks.

Do the math and save big.