Discounted Gift Cards

If you know you are going to purchase something at a particular place, one of the easiest ways to save a bit of cash to purchase discounted gift cards. You can sometimes find discounted gift cards in stores (e.g. Kroger, Costco) or you can buy discounted gift cards on specialized sites (e.g. Raise). The percentage discounts can often range from 3% to 20% (for places that I look at shopping at), depending on the retailer. 

Discounted gift cards are great because there are no limitations on gift cards. This means you can stack the discount in buying the gift card with other deals that the retailer may be offering. And if you're online shopping, discounted egift cards are almost instantly emailed to you (may need a quick verification if the value is high).

And if you have a higher percentage reward at grocery stores, why not pick up a gift card to retailer you know you'll be spending money at while grocery shopping? And you can get extra percentages for getting a gift card with your credit card rewards (particularly Discover).

One disadvantage of using gift cards is that you may not qualify for points/rewards the retailer's loyalty program for portion you use your gift card on.