There are so many new ways to save money on your everyday purchases! Putting money back in your pocket (well, bank account, actually) is the goal of several new and popular apps for your smartphone. Don't have a smartphone? Don't despair! Several of the apps have the option to be used without a smartphone.
The apps by themselves are fun and useful, BUT the super savvy shopper will use the apps stacked with coupons to maximize the savings. This is the ideal situation... at least in my book. :)
Here is a rundown.
Ibotta
Chances are good that you have already heard of this app. It is becoming increasingly popular, and frequent updates and improvements are being made to keep it fantastic. This is one of the apps that can only be used on a smartphone (or iPod with a camera)
How it works: After downloading from your phone's app store (available for iOS and Android) and setting up your account, you will see a list of participating stores. Clicking on a store will bring up a list of "rebates" available at that store. The amount of rebates varies. In order to "earn" the rebates you must do the tasks that are associated with the specific product. These usually include watching a video clip, answering a survey question, or allowing Ibotta to share the offer via your Facebook or Twitter. After you have completed the tasks, you can redeem the rebate by buying the product (pay attention to any specific count or variety that is listed) and uploading your receipt in the Ibotta app with your smartphone or iPod's camera. Once you have redeemed a minimum of $5 you can "cash out" by sending your money to your Paypal or Venmo account (which you can then use to transfer to your bank account) or by applying it to a gift card (Redbox, Starbucks, iTunes, etc.).
Pros: There is a HUGE variety of rebates, from grocery to electronics, restaurants, movie
theaters and everything in between. There are bonuses for redeeming certain products' rebates or a certain number of rebates a week, etc. It is NOT rare for there to be rebates and manufacturer coupons available at the same time, which makes for great savings. There is a referral bonus ($5.00!) for any friends that sign up using your unique link. This is mine. :)
Cons: You must have a smartphone or compatible iPod to use the app. The list of participating stores is very long, but it doesn't include Albertsons, Broulim's, or K-Mart. The only Rexburg stores it has are Walmart and Walgreens, and often our much-less-than-perfect Walmart doesn't even carry some of the available rebates (this is a bummer, and does frustrate me sometimes, but is not grounds to entirely dismiss this app's usefulness... in my opinion).
Checkout 51
This program is much newer than Ibotta, at least here in the U.S. Its headquarters is in Canada. So maybe you Canadians know more about that. What I do know for sure is that this is another good way to cut the costs of things you buy all of the time.
How it works: Just like Ibotta, you create and account and then see a list of offers that you can redeem for cash back by providing proof (a picture of your reciept) that you bought the product. The list isn't nearly as long as Ibotta's but it does guarantee an updated list weekly, which does give you a frequent "change of scenery" but also requires you to act on an offer quickly. "Cashing out" is done with a good old fashioned check.
Pros: You DO NOT need a smartphone or any such device to upload your receipts! You can take a picture with a normal camera, save it to your computer, and upload it to the Checkout 51 website. You can stack the offers with paper coupons. You can purchase the product from ANY store you want. This is a huge benefit that I wish Ibotta had. This gives you much more freedom to find the absolute best price. I have seen a pattern of a weekly fresh fruit or vegetable offer. Coupons don't often come around for produce, so this is great!
Cons: The list of offers is small (around 15 or so). Before you can "cash out" you have to accumulate $20.00. This is a pretty big amount in my opinion and will take a while if you don't use it often. I have redeemed 3 or 4 offers since I started on January 12th of this year and have $4.00 sitting in my account. So at that rate it would take me until around May or June to get $20.00. It is more than worth it to me. You just have to decide for you!
SavingStar
This is a program that links to your existing store rewards program. All stores are not offered, and the only one that we have in Rexburg that is available is Albertsons. So, if you are an Albertsons shopper, this is for you!!
How it works: Go to savingstar.com and create an account. Link your Albertsons shopper card to your account by entering the numbers under the bar code on the back. (Albertsons no longer requires shopper cards for weekly grocery deals, but they still offer the gas program so I think you can still obtain a shopper card if you don't have one yet.) After your card is linked to your account, you can activate any of the offered deals. Then, go shop at Albertsons and don't forget to have them scan your card! They will probably tell you that it isn't required for the store sales anymore. I always just say that I do the gas program. NOTE: the deals you activated will not show up when you scan your card at the store! This is a cash back program, not an instant coupon. You have to wait 5 or 6 days for it to show up in your SavingStar account. Once you reach $5.00 in your account, you can cash out with either Paypal, direct deposit to your bank, an Amazon gift card, or Americanforests.org (I have no clue what that is!).
Pros: With a low cash out level, a weekly Healthy Offer, a Friday Freebie, and a large variety of deals, this is a great tool for us here in Rexburg. Albertsons often has good sales, so when you add SavingStar and coupons... you are going to save a nice little chunk of money. To give you an idea: I have been using it since January 18th and I have $4.65 in my account already. This weeks Friday Freebie is a free snickers bar, so you know I will be jumping on that! After that purchase, I will have the option of cashing out and either buying myself something as a reward for all my saving, or rolling it over for next month's grocery budget.
Cons: It usually takes 5 or 6 days for my savings to reflect on my online account. The website says it can take up to 28 days, but I thin that is an extreme and definitely hasn't been the case for me. The only Rexburg store it works with is Albertsons. Sometimes it is really hard to remember to have your store card scanned. If you buy the product and forget to have your card scanned to get credit... well that would stink.
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