Not Your Mom’s “Mail-In” Rebates – The Best Apps To Save Money

Hi, lovely ladies! This is Kimber again, back with a new way to teach you how to save money (and even make money) using your smartphone!

Have you ever done a mail-in rebate before? It’s a nice idea – it’s always cool to get money back for something, especially when it’s a product you were going to buy anyway. But do you know what’s even easier? Rebates on your phone! You save an envelope and a stamp, and they process much more quickly! Today I’m going to share a few apps that will help you do that – and hopefully you’ll find ways to easily start earning money back on products you’re buying anyway!

(Note: This post contains a referral link. If you are not comfortable using it, you should be able to find these apps easily in the App store. To those of you who used my Shopkick referral link with my previous post, thank you so much! I was able to earn enough in Target gift cards to put together 20 blessing bags to help serve the homeless people in my community! I greatly appreciate it!)

Three of the BEST apps to save money:

The first is Ibotta, my favorite! Here’s how it works:

• Log into the app, or go to Ibotta.com, to set up an account. (If you’d type in my referral code, gsfrka, I’d really appreciate it!) You can login using your Facebook account or your e-mail. I’d recommend using Facebook. It automatically puts you in a “team” with all of your Facebook friends who are already using the app, and there are occasionally team challenges. (For instance, in August, if you redeem 3 rebates and your group redeems at least $5, everyone who participated automatically earns an extra $.50. Free money!)
• Click on rebates and see what’s available in your area! At the time of writing, there were 79 Walmart rebates, 67 Target rebates, and many more available to me. One thing I love about Ibotta is that, while there are often brand-specific rebates, there are also usually rebates for things like milk, eggs, or bread.
• When you find a rebate you’re interested in, click on it and see what you have to do to “earn” it. (This sounds a bit complex, but it’s not. Options to “earn” your rebate may be things like doing a one-question poll or watching a short ad.)
• Once you’ve unlocked your rebate(s), time to shop! (That’s the fun part!)
• When you get home, to redeem the rebate, just click on “redeem”. It will pull up the rebates you’ve unlocked. All you have to do is use your phone to scan the barcode of your item(s), and then take a picture of receipt. Submit, wait 24 hours (often less), and boom! Your money shows up in your account!
• When you have at least $5 in your account, time to cash out! As of right now, you can cash our using Paypal, or if you have at least $10 in your account, you can get a Starbucks, Regal, or iTunes gift card.

That’s Ibotta for you! It will take you just a few minutes to get the hang of – it’s pretty straightforward. Before each grocery trip, I take a few minutes to see what the available rebates are. For the 15-ish minutes I probably spend per month using this app, I get roughly $5-10 back in rebates. And if you love it, share it with your friends! You get $5 for each referral, they get to save money, and you get to be on their team! :o)

Our next app is called Checkout 51. It doesn’t have as many earning opportunities as Ibotta does, but it’s even simpler to use.

• Install the Checkout 51 app and set up an account.
• Look at the rebates available. They change every Thursday and they are sometimes limited in quantity, so if you see one you want, act fast!
• Make your purchases at any store.
• Click on the item you’d like to redeem, and take a picture of your receipt.
• That’s it!! (See, this one is very fast!) When your account reaches $20, request a check.

Since this app has a lot less earning opportunities than Ibotta, I’ve only earned $7 so far. But they have all been for items that I was going to buy anyway (last week, for instance, it was bananas). So I’m saving up my points and one of these days I’ll get $20 in “fun money”!

The last app for today is SavingStar. It’s actually very similar to Checkout 51. Click on your coupon, take a picture, and submit your receipt! There are a few differences though:

• If you have participating stores near you with store cards (for me, CVS and Kroger), you don’t have to worry about submitting a receipt. You just link your store card to your account, and when you purchase items that you have “clipped”, the money will automatically be added to your account.
• If your store does not have a store card, just take a picture of your receipt as with the other apps.
• Every week there is a “healthy offer” – usually 20% cash back on a fresh fruit or vegetable (recent examples include plums, cherries, and bananas).
• Every Friday there is a “Freebie Friday” offer – a small item (usually worth around $1) that you get for free after rebates. (Recent examples are Jello, Rolos, and Mentos.)
• SavingStar also has a “Cashback Mall” option. If you are making online purchases, so to SavingStar.com, click on “Cashback Mall”, find the store you’re going to be shopping at, use their link, and earn a percent back!
• Once you’ve earned at least $5, cash out into your Paypal account (or directly to your bank account), purchase an Amazon gift card, or donate your rebates to charity!

That’s it for today. I hope you’ve learned a new way to save some money! Now go and have a WONDERFUL day with your little people!

I invite you to check out Kimber’s new blog Let’s Do Some Good Today. She is seriously AMAZING and I feel so blessed to call her my cousin! She has the biggest heart in the world and her new blog is truly inspiring. She shares fun challenges for you and your family to take part in, that will make a difference in other people’s lives – there isn’t any better time to start teaching our children to serve, than TODAY! Check it out here and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram!

Danielle is the owner of Today's the Best Day. She strives to provide creative and uplifting content in order to enrich the parenting experience for women everywhere. Danielle hopes to help you and your family to make every day the best day!

September 4, 2014 by Danielle Davis | 7 Comments