Get free money when you shop using Ibotta

It's been forever.  For-ev-er.  I feel like I constantly apologize for my absences, but it is what it is.  I'm a working mom with a full time 9-5pm and a side hustle, so needless to say I'm busy AF.  But I have my eyes on the prize and I'm ok with this chaos (for now).

Ibotta... I've blogged about it before (here).  It is one of my favorite money savings phone apps and no they are not paying or giving me some incentive to blog about them, although Ibotta feel free to.  Ibotta gives you cash back on everyday purchases from places you shop at like the grocery store, drug store, liquor store... you get the picture.  The app is super easy to use and all you need to do is make sure you keep your receipts to claim your cash back.  Sometimes I check out the rebates before I go to stores, which I would recommend if you have any on the fence purchases like buying one brand versus another.  For example, if one item has a $1.00 cash back, but costs $0.10 cents more than the competitor then I'll pay the extra $0.10 to get the $1.00 back.  Common sense.  Most of the time, however, I search the rebates after I've already completed my shopping trip and generally I get lucky with at least one item offering cash back with purchase.  Yesterday I went grocery shopping and without even checking the rebates first ended up getting 5 rebate offers on items that were already on sale.  Score!  And anyone who knows me knows I love a sale / deal and free money!  Go get Ibotta, but use my referral link at the end of this posting.  The app is already super easy to use, but for you, I'll break it down (like a shotgun).

How to find rebates:

1. Download the app on your phone from the app store
2. Open the app (I told you I'd make this easy)

3. Find the grocery store you plan to shop at or just shopped at and click the icon.  You can search in the search box or if you are like me the app recommends which stores I shop most at.  And yes, Walmart is number 4.

4. Scroll through the categories to see what items are on rebate.  I personally prefer to scroll through each category such as "Dairy & Eggs," "Pantry", "Breakfast," etc. as it is easier for me to make sure I didn't miss a potential item for rebate.  Plus, it helps me remember what is on rebate before a shopping trip because mom brain.

Note:  Make sure you choose every item that you want to claim rebate on.  The app will not give you credit for items you didn't select that are eligible for rebate.

To claim items for rebate:

1. Click the plus sign to add an item you purchased for rebate. 

2. The app will either make you watch a video (generally 30 seconds or less), read an advertisement (see below), or answer a question before you can claim rebate credit by clicking the blue box at the bottom of the screen.

3. Once you have selected all your items for rebate click the "Redeem" icon at the bottom of the screen.

4. This will prompt you to take a picture of your receipt.  Receipts must be redeemed within 7 days so make sure to do this ASAP unless you like missing out on free money.  But since you are still reading this I'm going to assume free money is your jam too.  With receipt in hand press the blue bottom on the bottom of the screen that reads"Continue."

5. Take clear pictures of your receipt.  If you have a long receipt press the "Add Section" icon and keep taking pictures of sections of your receipt until your entire receipt has been captured.  When done press "Finish" button in the bottom right corner of the screen.
6. The app will find and automatically match eligible offer from the rebates you selected. Remember if you didn't select all rebates prior to scanning your receipt the app won't find them for you!  Every now and then the app misses an offer selected.  In that case click the white button towards the top of the screen that says "Add Offers."

7. A screen will pop up with offers you selected, but that the app didn't think were eligible.  But don't fear.  In this case I got deli cheese that the app missed.  Simply click the missed offer and tada...it gave me credit.  Just note that sometimes the app won't automatically give you credit in which case you will need to scan the items bar code.

8. When all the items you purchased are verified click the bottom blue button to claim your rebates.

9. And within 24 hours you will get that sweet, sweet cash in your account, which you can redeem in various ways such as via PayPal, Venmo, or gift cards.

I received an email a few hours later notifying me that the cash back had been added to my account.

Today I save $4 on items that I would have purchased regardless if they were on rebate.  Plus some of them were already on sale.   And while $4 is not a lot of money to some, I firmly believe that every little bit adds up.  I currently have $155.50 in my account that I can withdrawal at any point for whatever I want. 

So now please tell me that every little bit doesn't add up.

I hope that after you read this review you'll consider joining Ibotta and use my referral code j6igsw when you sign up.  If you use my code the app will credit me $5.

And then you can refer all your friends and get $5 every time someone you refer uses the app.  It's a win win for all of us who love free money.  Now go download the app and get that money.

If you liked this post please leave a comment below to let me know what you plan on buying with your cash back.  

Free Money

The number one way I get paid to shop is through Ebates, which I have talked about many times before.  To read my last post about Ebates and how I get free cash back when I shop online click here.  Yes, it really works.  I have currently received $916.55 from Ebates and no I don't shop that much online.  Sign up for Ebates here through my referral link and get $10 bonus cash when you make your first purchase.

Today I want to tell you about one way I get free money when I shop in stores with an app called Ibotta.  I mainly use this app when I shop at grocery stores, big box retailers, convenience stores, and pharmacy chains such as ShopRite, Target, Walmart, Costco, CVS, Wawa, 7-11, etc... you get the idea.  Each week participating stores offer different cash back incentives off various items they sell from fruits and veggies, to wine, to household cleaning supplies.  Additionally, most stores offer a $0.25 cash back rebate on any item.  Yep, that's $0.25 for simply shopping in a store.  As far as I'm concerned every quarter adds up.

The Ibotta app is super easy to use and I will give you a quick overview of how it works.  Normally I would recommend looking for rebates at participating stores before shopping, but let's be real... I often forget to do this.  Follow along to see how I redeem a receipt for cash back from my recent shopping trip to Costco.  I find it easiest to manually search for stores, but scroll through the long list if that is your thing.

Nothing I bought at Costco was on rebate and that's when I appreciate the $0.25 on any item cash back rebate!   To add the rebate to your account click the "+" and then "redeem."

This will take you to a new screen that makes you read or watch an advertisement or answer a survey question.  In this case it was an advertisement for Amazon.

After clicking the link for "Add $0.25 Cash Back" I was directed to a screen instructing me to take a picture of the recent Costco receipt and confirm which incentive I was redeeming.

Sometimes you have to scan the barcode to confirm that you bought a specific item, but not in this case.  So collect that money!

And within 24 hours your account will be credited with cash.  

Ibotta is literally the second easiest way to get free money for shopping.  If you can use a smartphone, shop in a store, and follow directions then you can use this app.  Before this current rebate I had $67.70 in my account.

And after my Costco shopping trip I had $67.95.  Get it!

I am on a mission to get to $100 so I can buy groceries without having to spend anything other than cash from my Ibotta rebates.  That would be awesome and I hope to reach this goal by the end of the year.

This is honestly an extremely user friendly app and I would encourage you to sign up for Ibotta.  If you sign up by my referral link here you will receive a $10 welcome bonus for free after you redeem your first rebate.  So what do you have to lose?  Get that money!