coupons

Rebate Apps are the new Savings Account Interest

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello readers!

Over the last few years, I’ve really developed an interest in saving as much money as possible, through any moral or legal means, after all I don’t want to do anything that is immoral, illegal or fatning 😜.

I began searching online for different ways to save money, especially through coupons; with this research I learned about rebate apps such as Ibotta, Saving Star, Checkout 51, Ebates, etc. I was very happy and surprised to learn that you can use all rebate apps together to gain the most savings, in addition to using coupons on the same products for the same shopping trip. As my mother said, rebate apps are a new form of interest on your shopping trips. Let me explain.

I was shopping at CVS and took advantage of a promotion on L’oreal hair products. I not only had manufacturer coupons to use, but there was a promotion in store wherein if you purchased three L’oreal hair dye products, you received $8 in extra care rewards (store credit toward future purchases). I was able to combine these savings methods, in addition to redeeming an Ibotta credit for $3; $2 rebate for one box of hair dye and $1 for root cover up (shameless plug for my YouTube channel, but I explain this exact shopping trip here. I highly recommend downloading the Ibotta app to your smart phone, it really does add up over time. I have earned over $160 in cash, just simply from taking a few minutes from each shopping trip and redeeming qualifying purchases. Use my referral code to get started on your earnings: gaotcgw!

I really like Saving Star because if you link up your grocery cards from Giant, CVS and Harris Teeter, and each week you look at the offers available for rebate redemption, all you have to do is select the product and then the linked accounts will do the work for you. There are a few retailers where you have to manually scan your receipt into the app to redeem for your purchases, don’t worry though, its very specific instructions in the app of what to do! I’ve only been using this app for a couple of months and have already earned back almost $20!

Checkout 51 is very similar to Ibotta, you do need to manually scan your receipts and select the items you want to redeem. It’s well worth it, I’ve already redeemed $25 since using this app.

Ebates you can use both in app for actual in store purchases but also on the website for your online purchases. Ebates is a very simple concept; if you are going to purchase an item, simply search for the retailer to see if they are offering a sale/cash back. I have used Ebates in store a few times now at Bed Bath and Beyond, the percentages are often small, but every little bit adds up! Simply link a credit card and each time you pay, you will be eligible for cash back and sales when promotions are available. Use my referral code to get started: https://www.ebates.com/r/AMANDA67032?eeid=28187.

If you are a skeptic, trust me, these apps really are great. Yes, like anything, it does take some work, but I’d rather be earning back a much as possible on purchases I’m going to be making anyways. Rebate apps won’t make you rich overnight, but every little bit will add up much faster than you’ll realize. Seriously, I had hit a slump when I was only able to redeem $0.25 here and there for items I was going to get, and the next thing I knew, I had $12 in my account…it adds up fast!

I hope this helps to anyone interested, might as well take advantage of cash back opportunities in this crazy digital age we live in.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe so you get awesome info right to your inbox 🙂

Thanks for reading!

xo, Amanda

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Frugality is Financial Freedom!

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment
Hello my darlings!
You may have noticed a theme by now, I really love to save money, who doesn’t?! I go online to YouTube and learn a lot from people who have mastered their techniques, so I will share many of the things I learned as well as my own general knowledge.

Lets dive right in!

1) Thrift Shopping
I’ve gotten many compliments on items that I have purchased from thrift stores, some of which would have costs up the hundreds of dollars to purchase that I got for at least 90% off!  I love to ice skate, in fact, I almost took up figure skating as a young girl. I also had an immense interest in dance so I had to choose between dance and skating; my dad was much more supportive of dance (cost less and wasn’t as potentially dangerous.) Well I was thrift shopping  and one day noticed a pair of lightly used white ice skates in the corner, just like professional females use. I thought there is no way they’re going to fit me, but the gods were looking down on me that day, a perfect fit! I then thought, well how much are they? Ready for it? A whopping $4!!! I showed them to my mom and she couldn’t believe it, given they were in such good condition, even had skate guard protectors on them.
Not only do I now own my own personal skates,  I’ve already saved money from not having to rent skates when I venture out to go skating!

Another fun purchase that we did thrift shopping is a pair of Gucci shoes. Gucci shoes can easily go up to the thousands of dollars. Well, once again, same thrift store and wonderful pricing…..$25. Goes to show you can find remarkable goodies for a fraction of the price.
2) Save in store and online without coupons
I learned that if you want to save some money online shopping, just put your items into the cart and don’t check them out right away. Wait at least 24 hours that way you a) know for a fact that you really want to purchase the item(s) but also, the software will often notice that you haven’t immediately purchased, so they may offer you a small discount to give you and incentive to purchase. Give it a try! All you have to lose is less money!

A way to save in-store without using coupons is to take advantage of the store brand and not the name brand. I learned online that many of the time the store brand is just as good as name brand, the only reason consumers pay more for the name brand is to finance for commercial advertising, as well as product testing. As a disclaimer, I have tested out the name brand vs store brand and have found myself favoring the name brand at times. To me the product is overall better, but that is just a personal preference. Point is, there are many times where you can still get good quality using store brand products vs name brand.

3) Online Rebate Sites

I have talked about these rebate sites before, like www.retailmenot.com, www.ebates.com. Consumers can save even more online using different websites like these. Ebates includes not only coupon codes but a percentage cash back. I actually received my first check today, it wasn’t huge, just a little over $6, but its a start. This was simply just from some online shopping. There are several ways to save, you just have to learn how to do it.

I hope these few tips are helpful. Leave a comment on how you save money!

A Good Money Saving Habit

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello readers!

I have an addiction–couponing! I’ve always been very budget conscious, but now that I’m a young adult working for my own money, and live in a very expensive real estate area, every money saving tip and trick I can do, I take advantage of!

We all know about the good ol’ fashion coupons that you can cut out directly from the weekly paper, but did you know that there also other ways to save money– digitally and rebate apps?

Digital coupons are now available through different website links. The main one that I use is directly from www.coupons.com. Here you can find manufacturer coupons that work just the same as the ones that are printed in the weekly paper, the only difference is that you can clip the coupons that directly relate to your purchasing habits (coupons are based upon availability). Once you clip all of the coupons that you need, print and go shopping. Its that easy!

Most people have a smartphone. Most retailers have their digital app you can download directly to your phone and you can use coupons that are only available through the app itself. Technology does pay off at times!

Ibotta–this is a great app that you can download to your smart phone and get cash back on everyday purchases from grocery to apparel as well as your favorite dining establishments. All you need to do is select the rebate for the specific product based upon the category of retailer you are shopping from, and then provide proof of purchase and you are set! You are not going to get a ton of money back in a quick amount of time, but it does add up. I’ve been using Ibotta for just about a year and have earned $100 back! That’s $100 just from taking a few minutes from each shopping experience and seeing if I purchased any qualifying rebates. Not bad, right?

Checkout 51 is another app very similar to Ibotta. You provide proof of purchase and then select the items you would like to have your cash back from.

One trick that many people may not know about is that you can use all of these ways to buy an everyday item for a much reduced cost. How? For example, I buy Woolite when I wash dark or delicate clothing items, to keep their dark fabric and shape. There have been times where I have a manufacture coupon, a store promotion, as well as the digital coupons available through the retailer app as well as rebate apps. I’m not saying this will work every single time, but sometimes the stars are aligned properly, and you can combine many of these money saving ways to reap the most in savings.

I think most can agree that this is a good habit to have.

Limited Income….Love Coupons!

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I last blogged, my apologies! A brand new hobby that I’m proud to say I’ve become addicted to is couponing, which will explain my title. I am in my late 20s, on a limited budget and live in a very expensive zip code at home helping a family member with health issues. How do I do it over and above a straight job?  I COUPON to save money, and I’m proud of it. Let me explain how I saved around $100 on groceries and gas this week. Yes, $100 saved.

My family does the majority of our grocery store shopping at Giant for two reasons, its our closest grocery location with great deals, and also gas points at participating Shell stations. For every dollar you spend at Giant, you earn a point, get 100 points, you earn $0.10 off per gallon of gas, 200 points, $0.20 and so on…reach 1000 points, $1.00 off each gallon. Certain items have deals each week, if you buy 5 of the participating items (shampoo), you then earn an automatic $0.50 per gallon, along with all of the other points earned based on the dollar amount you spent for that particular grocery shopping trip. For example, you spend $50 on groceries, and also purchase the participating products for gas that day ($0.50 additional gas points) then you earned a total of 1000 points, or a $1.00 off per gallon. Make sense? It is a bit confusing at the beginning, but it becomes pretty routine and easy once you get the hang of it. Now people have pointed out to me that I’m still spending that money on these items, in order to redeem my gas points, so isn’t it a waste? I say no. My logic is, if I’m going to use the item anyways and it won’t expire  (non perishable items) or pantry goods that have a long expiration date, it really in the end evens out because you are saving at the pump, the same dollar amount you spent at the grocery store.

My most recent triple saver was one I am especially proud of. It was on shampoo. I had a manufacturer coupon for $2 off two bottles of a specific brand of shampoo. The store had a promotion of not only 2/$6 but also, if you buy 5 of them, then you earn $0.50 additional gas points. Bam! I was able to combine all 3 promotions. I ended up saving $20 on gas with previous points earned.

Let me just say this, I’m not a crazy coupon hoarder, I don’t just take items out of the store I don’t need just because I can get them for crazy cheap, or free, I use all of my items. I also don’t store 25 bottles of laundry detergent, I store 20…..kidding! But in all seriousness, I use commonsense when it comes to deals, and have not built any additional storage places in my house, so I have keep in mind the amount of room we have to keep everything.

Last bit I will say on this, as you can tell, I am really passionate about saving money. Go onto different coupon apps, they are a money saver….Ibotta is a major one I use, it ranges from $0.25 off of bread, to $3 off detergent, every penny adds up! I also go to coupons.com and print out deals. Check with your local stores policy, many times they will allow you to stack coupons. Good luck!