Couponing Rebates - Who Knew?

I'm going to be honest.  There are a LOT of pictures in this post but it is for a good reason.  I am going to try and explain as briefly as possible so that you can get the jist of Coupon Rebates with the help of my lovely visual aids but with as little text as possible.  My main goal is to get you to make money on things you already normally buy - not on things you don't need or will never use.  I never buy anything I don't need NOR do I ever buy anything just because it is cheap.  If it's something I don't use, I won't even look at it.  And since it is down to my husband and just one daughter for now, we don't really need much so I'm not bulk shopping either.  I am just trying to save on things I need to buy and usually only 1 or 2 items.  That's all

Today I am going to be sharing with you 4 rebate apps that give you rebates for purchasing things at your local grocery stores.  They are mainly based on grocery items but there are others that help you save on household items, furniture, clothing, travel, etc. I just want to eat so that is what I am going to focus on today. Oh, and they are all absolutely FREE of course or I wouldn't have anything to do with them. Here we go!

ibotta

ibotta is a great app that allows you to get a rebate on items that you buy at the grocery store and the process is very simple.

Rebates - The Rebates screen lets you choose where you want to shop.  You can click on the HOT items, see what's recommended or choose a grocery store to shop at. 

When you click on a store name ibotta opens up the list of their rebates or items that are on special for the week and all you have to do is scroll through the list, tap on the items you want to verify and complete fun tasks like answering a question, watching a very short video or learning a fun fact and you unlock the rebates that go along with that item.   So for example, on the milk above you would just tap on the bottle of milk and it would open up a question. You answer the question and it unlocks the rebate.  This literally takes like 4 seconds and the questions aren't really questions - they are just trying to find out what you know about their product.

Activity - The Activity screen lets you know when there has been a change to your account and what items you need to pay attention to.  There are bonuses and extra things you can earn money on so pay attention to these!

Redeem - If you have the geo code tracking device on in ibotta it can tell you which stores are closest to you that participate in ibotta and how much you can save at that store if you purchase the items that are located at that store. In the Redeem screen you pick which store you want to redeem rebates for and the app will open up a screen that will let you verify your purchase by scanning the barcode on the item AND taking a picture of the receipt.  If you have purchased several items on the receipt you can take one picture of the receipt and then mark each item in the item that is the receipt.  You then simply submit the receipt to ibotta and it takes about 30 - 40 minutes to approve or disapprove your submission.

Cash Out -  As you can see at the top of my screen shot here I now have $5.25 in my ibotta account!  I earned this buy only purchasing things that I really need and honestly I believe I spent about $1.50 because I was trying to test the system and it truly works!  Once you get to $5.00 in your ibotta account you can either transfer it into Venmo ( a service that will transfer money into your bank account usually for free), into your PayPal account or into gift cards!  Any way you choose to do it, you are making money off the purchase of things you would normally buy.

Bonuses - The last tab is the Bonuses tab and I really haven't spent much time in here.  There are tasks you can do but there are also reminders in here of bonuses you will get just for your activity.  This is a great app!

One other thing to remember about ibotta is that if you have a store rewards card for the store you are shopping in, make sure you give them your rewards card on checkout.  If they are an ibotta Preferred Partner, they are hooked up already and will save you time by sharing your shopping information.  WIN!

Shopmium

Shopmium is another great rebate app that works similarly to ibotta in that you check the app before shopping and mark the items you are looking for that day. Buy the product and KEEP your receipt!

Orders - In order to receive your rebate you have to scan the barcode on the product and take a picture of the receipt and submit it to Shopmium, for most purchases.  Once your rebate has been approved it will go directly into your PayPal or bank account. I just have everything funneled into PayPal because it is free, secure and it just makes it easier.  I don't like to give banking information to anyone!

Stores - Like ibotta, Shopmium has the geo codes for store locations near you so if you have this turned on on your phone, the app will be able to tell you where the good deals are.

Purchases - The purchases tab let's you keep track of your purchases and if they have been validated or not.  I have to explain my first purchase listed above on Shopmium. Now, I NEVER buy this Naked drink stuff but my daughter said it was good and she would like a bottle of it so to test out the system, I bought it because I had a $1.00 off manufacturers coupon for it.

Now the great thing about some of these apps is that you can stack your coupons and rebates so that is what I did here.  This drink that normally costs $2.68 for a 15.2 oz. bottle at Walmart (I know, way too expensive but again, this was a test) I received $1.00 off from a internet coupon from the NAKED website and printed it out and that made the drink $1.68.  I then applied my manufacturers coupon for $1.00 and that made it $.68.  Then I received a rebate from Shopmium for $1.00 as you can see above making the drink .32 cents.  Then I submitted a rebate from ibotta who also gave me $1.00 and that meant that I actually MADE $1.32!  I kid you not.  Isn't that exciting?!!!!!!!!!!!

Checkout51

Checkout 51 is an app that actually changes each week at 12:00 a.m. on Thursdays in each time zone and they expire the next Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. so you have to be on the ball with this one and watch so that you don't miss any of their deals.  The time period is important because you have to submit your receipts before the expiration time or you miss out on the deal.

Like ibotta and Shopmium you browse the offers on Checkout 51 and buy your products at the store. Upload your receipt using the Checkout 51 app and they will confirm your purchase and credit your account.

You will receive notification from Checkout 51 whether your receipt has been approved or not and they will tell you why it was rejected if that is what happens. If it is a problem with the picture you took of the receipt you can resubmit it.

Once you have received notification that your purchases have been accepted you will start to see your account balance grow in the app.  When your account reaches $20 you can cash out your account and Checkout 51 will send you a check for your balance.

SavingStar

The last app I want to show you is SavingStar.  Now this app is an eCoupon app that allows you to earn cashback into your SavingStar account when you shop at local stores and on line.  First you need to register your rewards cards on the app so that your local store can let SavingStar know when you have purchased items on their list. 

Offers - Click on the eCoupons you want and they will link them to all of your registered store rewards cards.  It's as simple as that!  

List - When you click on the items you are creating a list in the app so that when you go to the store, you have a list of SavingStar items to look for.  

SavingStar also has Friday Freebies so once a week you can look forward to something fun to pick up once a week that won't cost you a dime!  

Stores - There is also a tab that shows you the stores that participate in SavingStar.

When you use your rewards card at the checkout like you normally do, your savings are automatically added to your SavingStar account within 2 to 22 days depending on when the store sends SavingStar the information.  Again, you will not see the savings at the checkout but rather you will receive cash back a few weeks later.  The pro to using SavingStar is it is just like using a coupon but you don't have to mess with them at the checkout.  The con to using SavingStar is that you don't see the savings immediately.  If you aren't in a hurry but are happy with a slow build up, this is a great app for you.

Just a few key points for most of these apps:

1.  Receipts must be computerized receipts with the name of the store, clear product details (like dedicated product line with the name of the product), and the date and time of the purchase.
2.  You can only claim the rebates on one item.  In other words if you are trying to stock up you can't use a rebate on several items to stock up but you CAN stack coupons and rebates to get that extra savings.
3.  You can let the cash build up in these accounts if you don't need it right away and save it for Christmas and request the money then or cash it out immediately when you have met the required minimum.

I apologize for being heavy on the text when I said I was going to give you a break this time but there is a lot of detail to these rebate apps.  Once you learn it though, it becomes second nature and you get excited about the money you are saving and making.  You won't get rich over night (I wish!) but any time you can save money, you are having a good day!

So let me know what you think.  I would suggest that if you are looking for savings at the grocery store that you try out at least one of these free apps and see how it works for you.  When you match up manufactures coupons, store coupons and rebates, you can save a lot of money.  If you have suggestions or questions, I would love to hear them.

Happy Rebating!