🌟 Editor's Note
Welcome to another issue of Financial Freedom Insights. This newsletter is full of financial tips, insights, financial news, announcements, a special treat for those who make it to the bottom, and more!
🤖 AI Note
NONE of this newsletter was written using AI. It was written by humans for humans.
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💸 Your 10 Second Financial Freedom Tip of the Week
It is officially summer, and vacation season! It is also a great time to start saving for NEXT years vacation. To do that, take how much you plan to spend, divide by 12, and put that amount into a High Yield Savings Account each month until you need it next year. By saving for your vacation ahead of time, and not funding it with debt, you will actually be able to enjoy the time away stress free because you know you won’t be paying for the vacation for years to come.
📢 Announcements
The importance of shopping around for insurance for Military and non military families
Military Wallet has a great news article about the importance for shopping around for insurance. This information is crucial for Military members but may also apply to non-military members. Also…. yours truly may or may not be in the article. Guess you’ll have to check it out to see - article here
📰 In the News
Financial Literacy Continues to Decline (Don’t be apart of this statistic!)
American Adults only answered about 47% of the financial questions correctly in a recent TIAA Institute test - article here
Trump Accounts are now live!
Trump accounts are a new child savings account that gets a free $1,000 seed fund from the government, has special tax advantages, and can be used in more areas than the typical 529 account - article here
The middle class Continues to feel squeezed
Proper financial planning is more important than ever as the cost of buying a home and child care has more than doubled over the last decade - article here
📈 Financial Freedom Insight
Credit Cards With Cash Back Rewards for Groceries: Are They Worth It?
Image Courtesy of iStock.com
Financial Freedom Insight: Table of Contents
Best Cash Back Rewards Rated by Bankrate and NerdWallet
What the Quora Community Had To Say
It’s All About the MCC Coding
Cash Limits on Rewards
Annual Fees Can Eat Up Any Gains
You Might Need Multiple Cards
The Bottom Line
As the cost of living continues to rise, many people are looking for ways to reduce their day-to-day expenses. Food and groceries are a necessity, and according to the latest Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices shot up more than 3% from late 2024 to late 2025.[1]
One way to reduce grocery expenses is to use credit cards that offer cash back on food purchases. Both Bankrate.com and NerdWallet highly rated the same four cards, and we’ve listed them in the table below. The table shows which retailers qualify for cashback with these cards, the annual fees, and what credit card users are saying about them on Quora.
Are they worth it? Here’s what we found.
Credit Card | Rewards | Annual Fee | Qualifying Sellers | Non-Qualified Sellers |
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
(Best for Cash Back)
| 6% cash back on U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year, then 1%).
| $95 | Albertsons, ALDI, A&P, Food Lion, FreshDirect, Gelson’s, H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Kings Food Markets, Kroger, Meijer. ShopRite, Smart & Final, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe’s (usually qualifies), Vons, Whole Foods, Winn-Dixie, Gelson's
| Target, Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s Walmart, convenience stores, (7‑Eleven, etc.), specialty food stores, and meal‑kit services (e.g., HelloFresh)
|
American Express® Gold Card
(Best for Maximum Rewards)
| 4X Membership Rewards® points on U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1X).
| $325 | Albertsons, ALDI, FreshDirect, Gelson’s, Harris Teeter, Hy‑Vee, Instacart (when the underlying store codes as a supermarket), Kings Food Markets, Meijer, ShopRite, Smart & Final, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe’s, Vons, Whole Foods, Winn‑Dixie, Kroger | Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, Convenience stores (7‑Eleven, etc.), Specialty food stores (bakeries, butchers, wine shops, etc.), Meal‑kit services (Blue Apron, HelloFresh)
|
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
(Best for Flat-Rate Cash Back)
| Unlimited 3% cash back
| No annual fee | Aldi, Trader Joe's, Kroger, Publix, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers, Wegmans | BJ's Wholesale Club, Costco, Sam’s Club, Target, many gas stations and convenience stores (unless they happen to code as grocery merchants)
|
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
(Best for Online Delivery)
| Unlimited3X Ultimate Rewards® points on most online grocery purchases
| $95 | Kroger, Safeway, Albertsons, Publix, Giant, Wegmans, Specialty food stores (e.g., local markets, organic grocers,) meal kit delivery services, (e.g., HelloFresh, Blue Apron), grocery delivery services coded as grocery (e.g., Instacart orders from grocery stores if the underlying merchant is a grocery store.)
| Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, third‑party payment processors (e.g., PayPal, mobile wallets (if the payment method masks the MCC, the purchase may not qualify)).
|
What the Quora Community Had To Say
It was clear from the Quora community's comments that many people enthusiastically and actively use credit cards to earn cash back on groceries. So, at least those people consider them worth the time and effort. However, that’s the key. To really save money takes work. You have to research where the cards are accepted, because it’s often not the bigger chains. Also, check for annual fees, and whether there is a limit on the amount of spending the card rewards.
It’s all About the MCC Coding
One major issue is how retailers or grocery providers qualify for cashback rewards. That depends on a merchant’s category code, or MCC. Some retailers are coded as “supermarkets,” “general merchandise,” “retailers,” “superstores,” “discount stores,” the list seems endless. So, it’s critical that you make sure that whatever card you choose offers cashback rewards at the grocery store you use.
For the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express and other Amex cards, grocery stores must be coded as “supermarket.”
For the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, grocery stores have to be coded as a “supermarket,” “specialty food market”, “meat locker/freezer,” or “dairy store.”
For the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, grocery delivery services must be coded as a“grocery.” Also, how you pay matters for this card. In-store at the register pays 1X rewards, whereas paying online or through the store’s mobile app pays 3X (even if you pick up in person).
In many cases, large, popular retailers like Target, Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s are not included in cash-back programs because they are coded as warehouse clubs. Walmart does not qualify as it is coded as a superstore/discount store. So, if you regularly shop at these outlets, you’re not going to get rewards unless you buy into their proprietary rewards programs.
Convenience stores, specialty food stores, and meal‑kit services (e.g., HelloFresh) also do not qualify for cash back on many cards because they are not coded as supermarkets.
Cash Limits on Rewards
One of the biggest complaints was that the credit card rewards were limited regarding spending amounts. For example, Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express limits its 6% reward rate to $6,000. American Express® Gold Card limits its 4X Membership Rewards® points to $25,000 per year, after which they revert to 1X. The Capital One Savor Cash Rewards card offers 6% cash back with no limit, unlike the Blue Cash Preferred card from American Express, which caps cash back at $6,000. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card also has no spending limit.
Annual Fees Can Eat Up Any Gains
No pun intended, but the annual fees charged by some cards gnaw away at your grocery rewards. Some consumers in the Quora community were creative and found ways to avoid fees. For example, the $95 fee charged by the American Express Blue Card Preferred can be avoided by downgrading to the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card.
The Every Day card gives 3% cash back on up to $6,000 of grocery spend, so the rewards are less.
When you do downgrade, apparently, American Express refunds the $95 annual fee. The card user can then upgrade back to the Blue Card Preferred when American Express invites them to do so, which happens within a few weeks.
You Might Need Multiple Cards
Many people shop at large grocery chains, such as Walmart, Target, and Costco. It’s frustrating that many credit cards don’t offer cashback on groceries purchased at these stores.
To get around this, many people use multiple credit cards, including the proprietary cards offered by big-box retailers. The Capital One Walmart Rewards Card offers 5% cash back on Walmart.com purchases, and you can earn cash back from Costco through the Executive Membership and the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card.
There is a drawback to a multi-credit card strategy, however: your credit score can be affected if you apply for too many cards. Also, it takes work to research which credit cards qualify for cashback rewards where. If you collect multiple cards, it will take time to keep on top of them all and pay off the balance each month to avoid high interest charges.
The Bottom Line
Judging by the Quora community, cashback rewards cards for groceries can be worth it, but they require research, significant work, and organization. It’s best to find a card, or cards, that fit your lifestyle and buying patterns. Try using cashback apps with your card to double your savings. Keep an eye on the fine print, because it changes.
Done well, you might save a few hundred dollars a year using cashback rewards credit cards for groceries. Just make sure you pay the balance off each month, because if you start paying interest, your savings will really be eaten up.
Sources
[1] The Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 21, 2026. “Consumer Price Index: 2025 in review,” https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/consumer-price-index-2025-in-review.htm. Accessed May 21, 2026.
[2] Garrett Yarbrough, May 12, 2026. “Best Credit Card for Groceries for May 2026,” Bankrate. https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/rewards/best-groceries/. Accessed May 21, 2026.
[3] Jae Bratton, May 15, 2026. “6 Best Credit Cards for Groceries of May 2026,” Nerdwallet. https://www.nerdwallet.com/credit-cards/best/groceries Accessed May 21, 2026.
📙 Nathan Haas’s Scripture of the Week
Romans 13:8 (ESV)
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
Thanks for reading!
Haas Trade Financial Freedom Insights
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Nathan Haas, Founder & CEO, Financial Advisor & Coach
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