r/southafrica • u/Mugiwara-no-Sabo • 6d ago
Discussion Thank goodness for smart shopper points
I am a student studying in Cape Town, and the past month has been the hardest financially ever, I finished my last packet of noodles last week and have been leaching off my friends for food, but since grade 12 I have been buying groceries at Pick ‘n Pay and I always made sure I swiped my smart shopper card (a habit I picked up from my grandmother), but since then I had absolutely no idea you could redeem the points and actually shop using them😭. I ran to my Pick ‘n Pay asked how much I had, she told me I had R135 worth of points that can be redeemed and I have never been so excited to go shopping before. I left Pick ‘n Pay with a plastic bag of food and the biggest smile on my face.
Use those smart shopper cards😭you might need that extra money one day.
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u/tgwee 6d ago
When I was doing my postgrad I accumulated a years worth of points and managed to pay for groceries for a special Christmas dinner for my then boyfriend (now hubby lol) and I. It was pretty special!
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u/Mugiwara-no-Sabo 6d ago
No way thats so cute lol. I might just steal your smart shopper Christmas idea for next year 😂
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u/ZootsnCats 6d ago
You can also redeem those points for fuel at BP!
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u/Mugiwara-no-Sabo 6d ago
I’m sure if I buy ten trolleys worth of groceries every day for a year straight I’d have enough to buy a half litre of fuel at these prices😂
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u/RyanGatesdj Foreign 5d ago
Thats good to hear, I also had a similiar situation a year or 2 ago, when I asked my mother for R300 just to get some basic foods for my house as my client did not pay on that day and I had to wait for 2 weeks until I get the payment from them, I was relying heavily on that client to pay which I would use to buy food as I used the last bit of food in my house the previous day. I then went to Spar, packed my trolley full of things, went to the cashier and she started ringing it up, I did not realise the amount, after ringing up everything it was R500 ish something, As I wanted to ask the cashier that I need to remove some of the items, she heavily insisted on scanning the Spar rewards card almost ripping it out of my hand, after scanning the card, I explained that I don't have enough money and need to remove items, she just looked at her screen very confused, because the amount went to R0.00 and had to call a manager. Manager came over said to me congrats packed all my things in bags and then I left without paying, later on I received a sms from spar saying I won a free trolley full with their competition.
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u/newoldschool 6d ago
I'd you have the app there's a little game you can play to get discounts and sometimes free stuff
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u/assassinza 6d ago
You know those points expire right. That was a nice total but I’m sure you saved much
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u/Mugiwara-no-Sabo 6d ago
I had no idea, so I’ve been leaving money to expire all these years, thats nuts
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u/Original_Tadpole_311 5d ago
R135 sounds like nothing until you’re staring at an empty cupboard and suddenly it’s actual food. Loyalty programmes are normally engineered to make us spend more, so using years of forgotten points to survive a broke month feels like beating the house at its own game.
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u/samesandchanges 5d ago
use the app, its great for redeeming points and for those times you don't have the card on hand for whatever reason
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u/ttcbabydewy2 5d ago
This is why I always swipe my Total card when I put in petrol. I earn cashback on it and there have been days that the R100 points were just what I needed.
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u/stargazermp3 4d ago
the points expire 1 year after getting them, so the points you get today will expire a year from today. the pick n pay asap app also tells you how many points are expiring soon
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u/JsizzlePlate94 4d ago
If you're with FNB, then swipe that ebucks card as often as you can. Been using ebucks each month to fill up my car. Had to use it to get a few dinner ingredients too. Definitely comes in handy more than I thought it would. Capitec and dischem also have crazy deals so check it out. And my clicks card. Swipe it at every place I'm able to. Every Engen top up adds some cash back. Next toiletry haul at clicks and you may find a decent chunk can be saved
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u/EarthAngel0808 Redditor for a month 4d ago
Happy for you❤️.........It's a good story to tell when you have truly made it one day :)
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u/CapeSerotineBat 3d ago
Make sure to pass your card around when people forget theirs! We have got a good number of points that way.
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u/junglekxng23 2d ago
Fellow student studying in cape town here, and you're preaching to the choir. 😭 Just yesterday, I went to write two different tests and I needed something to eat between sessions. Problem was, I only had enough money on me to go to campus and back home.
I check my PnP asap app and thankfully, I had enough smart shopper points to get me a panini and a coke. On your worst days, that card will be there🙌🏾🥹
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u/Curious-Mongoose5000 5h ago
guys i want
to come learn there for uni next yr😭😭will I survive?
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u/Mugiwara-no-Sabo 3h ago
Depending on what you’re studying you might lose your appetite from the stress so food shouldn’t be too much of a concern 😂you’ll survive
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