Last Updated on October 6, 2020 by Gopal Gidwani
More than 25% savings on regular monthly purchases
In this article, I will show you how I saved more than 25% on my regular monthly expenses including groceries and daily use household products in September 2020. I prefer to purchase my monthly groceries and daily use household products online from Amazon and Bigbasket as both of them have good discount and cashback offers. Sometimes, I do make offline purchases from Star Bazaar and Big Bazaar as they too come up with good offers.
25% savings on regular purchases from Star Bazaar
Star Bazaar usually has very good offers in the 1st week of every month. They give good direct discounts on MRP. I made purchases worth Rs. 4,912 and got the following benefits for that order.
| Gross order value | Rs. 4,912 |
| Direct discount on MRP | Rs. 1,266 |
| Total savings on gross order value of Rs. 4,912 | Rs. 1,266 |
| Total percentage saving on the order | 25.77% |
I got a total savings of Rs. 1,266 (25.77%) on a gross order value of Rs. 4,912 as explained above.
36% savings on Bigbasket groceries order
I placed an order of Rs. 4,545 for monthly groceries and daily use household products on Bigbasket and got the following benefits.
| Gross order value | Rs. 4,545 |
| Direct discount on MRP | Rs. 1,634 |
| 15% discount on American Express Membership Rewards credit card | Rs. 500 |
| Total savings on gross order value of Rs. 4,545 | Rs. 1,634 |
| Total percentage saving on the order | 35.95% |
I got total savings of Rs. 1,634 (35.95%) on a gross order value of Rs. 4,545 as explained above.
27% savings on Amazon groceries order
The third order that I placed during the month was on Amazon for Rs. 4,625. I got the following benefits for that order.
| Gross order value | Rs. 4,625 |
| Direct discount on MRP | Rs. 575.75 |
| Amazon Pay cashback on Amazon Pantry for Prime Day offer | Rs. 150 |
| 5% discount on Amazon Pay ICICI credit card | Rs. 202 |
| 5% value back in the form of reward points on Amazon Pay ICICI credit card | Rs. 192 |
| Cashkaro cashback | Rs. 137 |
| Total savings on gross order value of Rs. 4,625 | Rs. 1,258 |
| Total percentage saving on the order | 27.19% |
I got a total savings of Rs. 1,258 (27.19%) on a gross order value of Rs. 4,625 as explained above.
33% value back on recharges and bill payments
The HDFC SmartBuy 10X program offers up to 33% value back or 5% cashback on Instant Gift Vouchers depending on the credit card that you own. I own the HDFC Diners Black credit card on which I get 10X reward points (33% value back) on purchase of gift vouchers of various brands.
I buy Amazon Gift Vouchers worth Rs. 5,000 every month from the HDFC SmartBuy website and use them for monthly utility bill payments like mobile recharge for all family members, DTH recharge, electricity bill payment, LPG cylinder payment, insurance premium payment etc. Any amount left in the Amazon wallet, after monthly utility payments, is used for regular Amazon orders.
Using my HDFC Diners Black credit card, on purchase of Rs. 5,000 Amazon Gift Vouchers from HDFC SmartBuy website, I get 33% value back in the form of reward points. I get 1,650 reward points which are equivalent to Rs. 1,650 (1 reward point = 1 Rupee). In this manner, I get 33% savings on my utility bills every month.
13% savings on Amex Membership Rewards Credit Card (MRCC)
I use my American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card (MRCC) every month for doing 4 transactions of Rs. 1,000 each. Each transaction of Rs. 1,000 gives me 20 reward point (1 reward point for every Rs. 50 spent). The monthly spending of Rs. 4,000 (4 transactions of Rs. 1,000 each) gives me 1,000 bonus points over and above the regular 80 rewards points (1 reward point on every Rs. 50 spent, so 80 reward points on total spend of Rs. 4,000). So, I earn a total of 1,080 reward points (worth Rs. 270 as each reward point is worth Rs. 0.25) every month on spending Rs. 4,000 on this card. This gives a return rate of 6.75% (Rs. 270 reward rate on Rs. 4,000). As and when these points get accumulated, I can redeem these points for paying for transactions or redeem them against gift vouchers. The normal redemption value per point is Rs. 0.25. But, I accumulate these points.
When I accumulate a total of 18,000 points, I can redeem them for a higher value of up to Rs. 0.50 per point instead of regular value of Rs. 0.25 per point for:
- Statement credit of Rs. 6,000 (1 reward point = Rs. 0.33) or
- Amazon voucher of Rs. 7,000 (1 reward point = Rs. 0.39) or
- American Express Domestic Travel e-voucher worth Rs. 7,000 (1 reward point = Rs. 0.39) or
- Taj Hotels voucher worth Rs. 9,000 (1 reward point = Rs. 0.50)
By spending Rs. 4,000 every month and earning 1,080 points every month, I can earn 18,360 points by spending overall Rs. 68,000 over 17 months. I can then redeem these 18,000 points for a Taj Hotels voucher worth Rs. 9,000. This will increase my return rate from 6.75% to 13.23% (Rs. 9,000 return on a total spending of Rs. 68,000).
I use my Amex MRCC credit card for loading Rs. 4,000 (4 transactions of Rs. 1,000 each) into my Paytm or Amazon wallet every month. I then use the wallet balance for routine transactions like paying for milk and vegetables, filling petrol, or for any small-small transactions at general stores. The usage of this wallet money for general purposes gives me a reward rate of 6.75% to 13.23% as explained above. To know more about the MRCC card, read my detailed review of American Express Membership Rewards Credit Card.
Summary of total savings for the month of September 2020
| Merchant | Gross order value | Total savings | % savings |
| Star Bazaar | 4,912 | 1,266 | 25.77% |
| BigBasket | 4,545 | 1,634 | 35.95% |
| Amazon | 4,625 | 1,258 | 27.20% |
| Amex MRCC | 4,000 | 529.20 | 13.23% |
| HDFC SmartBuy | 5,000 | 1,666.67 | 33.33% |
| Total | 23,082 | 6,353.87 | 27.53% |
For the entire month of September, on all regular expenses of Rs. 23,082, the total savings were Rs. 6,353.87, thus translating into savings of 27.53%.
Total savings for all months
I have started tracking my monthly savings from August 2020. So here is a record of savings for all months from August 2020.
| Month | Gross order value | Savings (Rs.) | Savings (%) |
| August 2020 | Rs. 20,096 | Rs. 5666.87 | 28.20% |
| September 2020 | Rs. 23,082 | Rs. 6,353.87 | 27.53% |
| Total | Rs. 43,178 | Rs. 12,020.74 | 27.84% |
Every month, I keeping shopping from different merchants, using different credit cards, depending on who is giving the best discounts and cashbacks. I am always on the lookout for offers. If you are also looking for guidance on how to save money on your regular monthly expenses, you can write to me at [email protected] and I can guide you about the best available offers.
You can read my article on how I saved more than 28% on my regular expenses in August 2020. To know about the benefits of various credit cards, you can read my article on comparison of 15+ credit cards from 12 banks on fees, reward points, and other benefits.
Also, check this article to know about how I saved Rs. 50,000 on monthly groceries and daily use household goods in Financial Year 2019-20.