Gift Card Deal at A&P, Pathmark, Food Emporium: $60 in Free Groceries

There's a gift card deal at A&P, Pathmark, Food Emporium, Waldbaums, Superfresh and Food Basics: buy a $500 gift card (such as a $20-$500 Visa) with a $5.95 per card fee, and get $60 off grocery shopping, in the form of 3 $20 coupons. You could do this 2-3 times over the course of the promotion to earn $120-$180 or more in coupons for free groceries.

I'm in NYC so I pass Food Emporiums all the time, although I confess I've never gone inside one until now, after a friend pointed out this week's Food Emporium ad to me with the gift card deal. I usually do all my shopping at Whole Foods (especially now that I can earn 5X points on all Whole Foods spend) and at Trader Joe's. But Food Emporium, and no doubt A&P, Pathmark, etc. have the basics, so even if you just need to stock up on paper towels, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, batteries and the like, you can likely find a good use for $60 in free groceries. Of course, if you're feeling ambitious and want to cook something, feel free to check out some of my recipes.

Here are the details:

• Valid through Thursday 12/12
• Buy $500 in gift cards, receive $60 in coupons (3 $20 coupons)
• Buy $200 in gift cards, receive a $20 coupon
• Buy $100 in gift cards, receive a $10 coupon
• Buy $50 in gift cards, receive a $5 coupon
• Coupons may not be doubled, and there is no cash back (must spend at least the value of the coupon)
• Limit one coupon per transaction
• Exclusions apply

This is really the highest value use, if you're working on minimum spend for a good credit card signup bonus. For me, this was a new credit card which had a $5000 minimum spend. Also see Meet Minimum Spend on Credit Cards: Top 20 Tips