Money-Saving Apps

I write a weekly guest column for the Standard Journal. The following article was first published October, 11 2014.

Technology has changed couponing from simply clipping newspaper ads to printing online coupons and redeeming rebates on the computer and through smartphone apps.  

There are tons of apps available that offer rewards for simple tasks like uploading pictures of your receipts or using your phone to scan the barcodes of things you buy.  Companies get very desirable consumer data and you get points to redeem for rewards, gift cards and even cash.

Two such apps that I find to be worthwhile are Receipt Hog and Smoopa.  Both of these are going to help my buy my husband a nice Christmas gift this year.  I have been using them for about seven months and will have saved up about $40 just in time for holiday shopping.

Other apps offer cash back on certain products after you provide proof of purchase by submitting a picture of your receipt, which doesn’t necessarily require a smartphone. So if you don’t have one, don’t worry!

There are also several of these apps available, but I only recommend a certain few.  If you were to try and use every app out there it would become confusing and far too time consuming. 

My favorites include:

-          Ibotta.  This app is the one that got me started.  I began using it back in August 2013 and have accumulated nearly $100.  This app offers rebates for a variety of things ranging from groceries and restaurants to photo printing services and movie theater tickets.  This app is store specific, meaning that in order to get the rebates you must shop at specific stores.

-          Checkout 51.  This is another great app that has earned me $21.50 since I began using it in January of this year.  I like this app because I can always count on it to have cash back offers on produce.  It is also great because it accepts receipts from any store, which is a perk in Rexburg.

-          SavingStar.  The best part of this app is that it has a Healthy Offer of the Week that gives you 20% back on the purchase of a specific fruit or vegetable, as well as a weekly Friday Freebie  that gives you 100% back on your purchase of a certain product.  I started using SavingStar in July and have earned $36.29 to date.

-          Snap by Groupon.  This is the newest of the bunch.  It was released in October and I have already claimed $18.75 back in rebates.  The app still has some kinks, but is getting better.

Check out my blog this week (under the “Tips” tab) for more details about each app mentioned.  Several of these apps offer referral bonuses, so feel free to use my unique referral links and then create your own to share with your friends and family!

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Receipt Hog: This is available for Android and Apple users.  Simply "feed" the pig by taking pictures of your receipts from grocery, supermarkets and drug stores and get Receipt Hog coins for it. As your coins add up you can cash out for an Amazon gift card or cash via Paypal. 

Use my promo code fint3902 when signing up and we will both get extra coins!

Smoopa: This app is also available for Android and Apple users.  You scan the barcodes of things you buy (either as you put them in your cart or as you are putting them away at home; it doesn't matter when) and enter the price. You can get rewards from 5 cents up to 20 cents per item. You then use your phone to take a picture of your receipt. As you accumulate money in your account you can cash out in the form of gift cards from several different stores, including Walmart, Target and Amazon.

Use the above link to sign up or input this referral code (498ba74077) and we both get $2!
Then after sign up you can get your own referral code and share with your friends as well.

Ibotta: 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's camera.  Once you have redeemed a minimum of $10 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.).

Use the above link or enter this referral code (dh5c4w) at sign up to join my Ibotta team. There are monthly cash bonuses if your team redeems a certain amount of rebates!

Checkout 51: Just like Ibotta, you create an 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 is updated weekly (on Thursdays), 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 in the mail.

SavingStar: This is a program that can either link to a store loyalty card or be used at certain stores by uploading a picture of your receipt.  Albertsons participates in the SavingStar program but recently did away with its loyalty cards, so to use it there you must request a Upromise card. It is very easy and I have detailed instructions on how to do it right here.  It is also possible to redeem offers other stores in our area that don't have loyalty cards. These stores include Walmart, Winco, Walgreens, and Target. The full list can be found on the SavingStar website. For these stores you buy the product and then take a picture of your receipt to submit with either your smartphone (through the app) or with your computer (through the website). 

You have to wait a few days for the savings to show up in your SavingStar account. Once you reach a minimum of $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!).

Snap by Groupon: This works like Checkout 51 in that you can redeem cash back offers from ANY store in the U.S.A. or Canada. Simply buy the product listed and "snap" a picture of your receipt within 2 days of buying it. Then, after your snaps are approved you will get the amount credited to your Snap account. Once you reach $20 you can "cash out" by requesting a check.

What makes this app BETTER than others is that you can redeem some offers multiple times. You just need to check the offer details to see if there is a limit. You can also get a referral bonus of $1 for every friend who signs up under your link and then redeems at least one offer. You can generate your unique invitation after you have signed up yourself.
This is my referral link. Please feel free to click it :)


For more detailed descriptions, including the pros and cons, scroll to the top of the page and look on the right side bar for links to my previous blog posts about how these apps work.