These are all the ways you can save money shopping at Publix

Shop the loss leaders and meal plan for the week

Loss leaders are the items advertised on the front of the sales circular. Typically, they’ll be meat or poultry along with some produce. The loss leaders change each week and they’re advertised and sold as a discount to get you in the door in the hopes you’ll buy other things at full price.

So the really smart shoppers might only buy what's on sale. With a little meal planning savvy and some Instant Pot expertise, this is a great way to save big money at Publix!

Shop the BOGOs

Publix has introduced more buy one/get one free offers across its stores to offset the effect of eliminating double coupons in late 2016 and doing away with the weekly Penny Item.

So get out in the stores and look for the BOGOs. In some states, you can buy only one (instead of two) and pay half price. That’s how to really minimize your shopping budget! But in other states, you’ll have to take both items and you’ll wind up paying full price.

Use digital coupons

Publix offers manufacturer’s coupons that you don’t have to clip; all you have to do is enter your phone number at checkout!

[ Register here and start saving today. ]

Use grocery store savings apps

Apps like Ibotta and Checkout 51 actually make clipping coupons a moot point. Just use these apps and you'll be rewarded with money for the kind of purchases that it's often difficult to find a coupon for, such as fresh produce.

Read how our own Michael Timmermann earned $1,500 in cash back rewards over a period of three years using these apps!

Buy the store brands

Publix has three levels of store brands: The Publix brand offers entry-level products that are comparable to name brands in terms of quality. Look for these products marked by a black circle with white letters that spell Publix.

Higher-end store brands include Greenwise, which offers healthy and organic products in tan packaging. There’s also Publix Premium, which offers quality that’s better than national brands and is typically packaged in black.

Shop the clearance rack

You’ll typically find items Publix is trying to clear out at a two-for-one kind of price. Don’t forget the frozen clearance area, too! Look for it on the end cap of the frozen aisle.

Try breaking packages

Sometimes, you don’t want to or can’t wait for your favorite cut of meat to go on sale. If that’s the case, the Publix meat department will gladly “break the package” for you.

Here’s how this works: Say you see a package of Italian sausages that contains six large links and is sold by the pound. But you’re a single person and maybe you only need two or three of those links.

Maybe you don’t want to buy too much because you’re a little tight on money this week. Just go to the window at the meat department and ask them to break the package for you.

That means they’ll open it up, take out the three links you want and repackage it for you on a new styrofoam tray. Then they’ll shrink-wrap it, stick the new price tag on it and hand it back to you.

You’ll have a smaller package that you’ll pay less for vs. the original package!

Publix offers free antibiotics

Here's one parents can really love: Publix offer free 14-day supplies of common antibiotics with a prescription. These include:

• Amoxicillin
• Ampicillin
• Ciprofloxacin (excluding Ciprofloxacin XR)
• Penicillin VK
• Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP)

For adults with diabetes or high blood pressure, you can also get a free 90-day supply of metformin, Lisinopril or amlodipine with a prescription.

Get 90 days of generic meds for just $7.50

A lot of retailers offer a 30-day supply of select generics for $4 or a 90-day supply for $10. Well, Publix has lowered that price to only $7.50 for a 90-day supply.

That’s just $2.50 for a 30-day supply — way cheaper than Walmart or Target!

[ See the complete list of available medications here. ]

The “Publix Promise” means you could get free stuff

Do you check your Publix receipt before you leave the store? You should, because if you find something rang up at the wrong price, Publix will give you that item for free!

"Our Publix Promise guarantees that if during checkout, the scanned price of an item (excluding alcohol and tobacco products) exceeds the shelf price or advertised price, we will give the customer one of that item free," the company writes in its customer service FAQs.

If you’re buying more than one of whatever rang up wrong, Publix will charge the lower price for the remaining items. Just ask at the customer service desk.

Buy gift cards in bulk

This one’s geared more toward businesses rather than individuals…but did you know that if you buy a gift card valued at $3,000 from Publix, you’ll get a 1% discount?

That might only be $30 off a gift card with a $3,000 value, but the discounts go up from there. Buy more than $3,000 and you can earn 2% or even 3% off your total gift card purchase!

This is a money-saving idea that might work if you're into zero-based budgeting. With zero-based budgeting, every dollar is given a job to do at the start of the year. It has a destination before it even hits the bank account, helping you to minimize money waste and maximize wealth growth.

So in theory, a zero-based budgeter knowing he or she spends $3,000 at Publix a year could get the 1% discount and only pay $2,970 for $3,000 worth of groceries!

Again, this might not make sense for average shoppers, but if you’re a business, consider if it would work for you. You can call 1-800-830-8159 with questions about bulk buying your gift cards.

Orders that are $5,000 or greater are available by phone only. See more info here.

Buy previously owned Publix gift cards at a discount

This is a trick that can be used by the average shopper and applies to pretty much any store that offers gift cards!

Sites like CardPool.com and GiftCardGranny.com will resell them at a discount from their face value. The sellers are people who have the gift cards but don't want them.

You can typically save between 2% and 6% off the face value of a Publix gift card by doing it this way.

Use the 6% cash back card from American Express

If you have a larger family you can put hundreds of dollars back in your wallet every year just by changing the plastic you use at the point of purchase.

The American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card offers 6% back on groceries up to $6,000 each year, though there is a $95 annual fee.

Any spending past the annual $6,000 threshold earns just 1% cash back.

Of course, this tip is only for those who pay off their bill in full each month. If you don’t, you’ll pay more interest than you’ll get back in rewards.

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