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Grocery prices remain one of the most significant expenses in household budgets. Food costs can fluctuate for many reasons, including supply disruptions, labor shortages, transportation costs and changing consumer demand. Even when certain price spikes ease, grocery bills often remain elevated compared with pre-inflation levels.
Today, the average American household spends roughly $270 per week on groceries, or more than $1,000 per month, based on estimates that align with spending patterns reflected in U.S. Department of Agriculture food cost reports. Costs can vary widely depending on family size, dietary needs, location and shopping habits, but food continues to be a major and unavoidable expense for most households.
While shoppers can’t control broader food pricing trends, they can take steps to reduce how much they pay at checkout.
Use your card's cash back incentives
Some credit cards (listed below) offer cash back incentives on grocery or dining out purchases. By maximizing these to your advantage, you can earn a healthy cash back bonus that offsets some of the higher costs incurred.
The key is to make sure these rewards work for you. Start by shopping for a credit card that helps you save on everyday purchases, like groceries, dining out or food delivery services, like Uber Eats. And make sure to pay off your balance every month, or else the interest you pay negates some of the incentives these cards offer.
With this in mind, here are a few cards that can help you save on food costs:
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express helps you get 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in eligible purchases (then 1%), 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% cash back at eligible U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more) purchases and 1% cash back on other purchases.
Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit and at Amazon.com checkout.
You may be eligible for as high as $300 cash back after spending $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in the first 6 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Cash back is received as Reward Dollars, redeemable for statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout. Terms Apply.
There is a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 annually. Even still, with the savings you'll gain on groceries, it can outweigh the annual fee and still help you save.
See rates and fees.
A tip: Usually, I'll just alter my spending and charge everything to a new card, from utilities to regular shopping trips, to make sure I'm hitting that intro bonus. It's essentially free money for everyday purchases you were going to make, as long as you pay off the statement balances.
American Express® Gold Card
If you plan to spend a lot at the grocery store, the American Express® Gold Card is a great fit. You'll earn four points for every dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets, with a $25,000 cap annually. If you exceed that amount, your rewards after $25,000 are one point per dollar charged.
You'll also earn four points per dollar on restaurants worldwide, with an annual cap of $50,000. Once you reach the $50,000 threshold, the rewards revert to one point per dollar charged. The Points Guy notes the grocery and dining out benefits equal up to 8% cash back, based on their valuations.
And you can earn up to 100,000 Membership rewards points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first six months of card membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
The only drawback is there's an annual fee of $325. However, the higher caps on dining out and groceries makes this card a must-have for foodies.
The bottom line
Food prices continue to rise due to the bird flu, inflation and possible tariffs coming down the road. While you can't do much to control food costs on their own, having the right credit card can cushion some of those higher expenses.
These credit cards come with generous cash back incentives at supermarkets to help you save more on everyday goods. And you can save even more by meeting those intro bonuses.
Related content
- Best and Worst Grocery Chains in the U.S.
- These Grocery Tips Can Save You Money
- The Best Cash Back Credit Cards
As an independent publication dedicated to helping you make the most of your money, the article above is our view of the best deals and is not the opinion of any entity mentioned such as a card issuer, hotel, airline etc. Similarly, the content has not been reviewed or endorsed by any of those entities.
