On August 16 I joined ibotta, a cash back coupon app for your smartphone. And today it is sending me $16.03! Not too bad for 2 weeks. And all I did, was grocery shop. It's not a way to "earn money." It's not exactly "free money." It is virtual couponing. Here's how it works:
I found ibotta online and joined. Then I downloaded the free app on my phone (they email you the download link). I don't think I've had any kind of app that worked so flawlessly! Not every store or brand participates, but those that do are listed. You can search by store, or category. There's even a way to search for brands or specific products. If you want to know if this product has a rebate, you can scan the barcode, and the app will either show you the rebate, or say there isn't one.
All products and items (for some rebates, one specific product isn't available, but there is a rebate for the whole store) have a task to do. When you do the task (answer a question, take a poll, learn a fact, watch a video, etc) it unlocks the rebate. When you buy the product, scan the barcode then scan the reciept, and you earn the rebate! For stores with rewards cards, you can link it to your account. My husband shopped at our grocery store, and I got money back for that! Rebates are credited to you within 24 hours.
Something else it offers: Bonus money! It comes in different forms. For August, there were 4 levels of extra money. To unlock the 2nd level, I needed to have redeemed 8 rebates (I only made 7; the 8th one didn't go through until after the dealine... darn it!), and your team earns $10 in rebates (I am the only team mate so far, so it's all me, but I hit that $10 mark in 6 rebates!). The bonus for level 1 was $1. It may not seem like much, but that's an extra dollar on top of the other dollars I earned from rebates. Another example is the Choibani challenge where 6 rebates earns you an extra $1(or maybe it was an extra $1.50. I can't remember).
Ibotta also featured a $10,000 college scholarship challenge. Each qualifying rebate ($0.25 or more) is an entry into this drawing. Certain Bonus challenges earned extra entries into the scholarship drawing. I'm not sure how many entries I have in it, but I am excited to have the opportunity to earn money for my girls' education.
When you're ready to claim your rebate money, you can choose either PayPal, or gift cards to your favorite stores. I choose PayPal.
I was telling my husband the other day, that I love this app! It means not having to clip and sort through countless coupons (although there are a few I still keep with intent to use), like we've seen on the reality show where they go insane over couponing. It also means not really having to change the way we shop. Most of what I save to my shopping list on the app is stuff we would buy (which is why I unlocked those rebates). My huisband went to BestBuy and bought an external hard drive, and I scanned the reciept. The next day, I got $5 credited to my account! It wasn't for a specific product, it was just because he spent over a certain amount at a specific store.
So, if you want to get money back for the shopping you do everyday, consider ibotta. And if you join my team, we can earn more money back together! Here is the link to get started: ibotta.com