ebates

Phone Apps That Get YOU Cash!

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello everyone!

As we enter into the second month of 2019, (can you believe it?!?!?)…..where does the time go? I have learned that with all of the apps that come with our phones, why not make them work for us, and get us some extra money? I am going to share with you many of the apps that I utilize to in order to bring in small, but definitely nice little bits of change. You can use my codes (pretty please!) to get started, I will explain how each of them work.

1) Job Spotter: Job Spotter is an app brought to you by Indeed.com. I have only been using it for a few weeks, but I’ve already earned over $20, so not a huge amount, but every little penny adds up!


The process is super simple. When you find a place of business that is hiring, you take two photos: one of the actual hiring sign, and one of the store front. Make sure the two pictures are as close up and clear as possible. The better the submission, the more points you earn. You can earn up to 150 points ($1.50) per post. Every post is different, some will earn you higher points while others will earn lower points. 

You are able to see all of your submissions in one nice page to keep track of your points!
One of the ways to earn points is through verifying submissions. You are given two photos, one of the hiring sign and the other of the store front. The app will ask you if they are clear photos of the hiring sign and you either say yes or no, and then will ask if the business (it will tell you what the name of the business should be) and you either say yes or no. These submissions are worth 10 points per round of verification. You can complete a bunch of entries in one day, but you will reach a daily limit and have to wait for it to reset to resume verifying. 
2) GetUpside: With the prices of gas, groceries, and restaurants, the smallest amounts of cash back add up really quickly. I personally have only used this app for gas cash back, but there are other options as you will see. Again, you won’t make a huge amount back in a fast amount of time, but say it with me….every penny adds up. In the few months I been using GetUpside, I’ve earned $12 back already. You CAN use this in conjunction with fuel points that you earn from your local participating grocery store, however, if multiple discounts are combined for one entry, the amount of cash given back is lowered….just fyi. Once you determine which deals you want to claim…in this example gas, you simply click on the claim button, and then you upload your proof of purchase between the hours given, and then boom, wait for approval and the cash comes in. Use my referral code: AMANDA145 to get started, and get earnings from referral friend purchases as well! 

3) Ibotta: I have been using Ibotta for a couple years now, and have earned back over $200! Ibotta is also super simple to use. You can earn cash back on groceries, shopping– especially online. You can customize the retailers you use on a frequent basis, and then claim products, and redeem all by uploading the receipt. Cash will be added into your account after the software approves your submission. 

And yes, you can invite friends with your referral code and earn $5 when they sign up and use Ibotta. SO….my own plug– use my code gaotcgw to help a sister out!

 4) Ebates: Ebates—if you shop online, and of course in store, you HAVE to download this app and use the website. Seriously, I’m not kidding, hundreds of retailers will give you cash back just from going through their links provided on retail purchases you are going to do anyways. Not all categories within a retailer (ahem Amazon) qualify, but there are so many different options, that I guarantee you that you will make cash back. Because my purchases aren’t always qualifying, my cash back is low, but I still have earned back almost $30! Use my referral code link to get $25 when your referral signs up and spends $25 and they earn $10!  https://www.ebates.com/r/AMANDA67032?eeid=28187

I will be offended if you don’t use my referral codes to get started on getting cash back on your own purchases. Ok not really offended, well kinda, sorta. Just do it. You’ll thank me later 😃😃

As always, please subscribe (top right) so that you can get content delivered right to your inbox. Let me know what topics you’d like me to talk more about. Thanks loves!

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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.

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Thanks for reading!

xo, Amanda

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!

It Pays to Shop Online

/ Amanda Hodson / Leave a comment

Hello readers!

Do you ever feel guilty about shopping too much? I know that for me, I need retail therapy, it really does work. You know what also really helps, knowing that I’m saving as much money as is possible. If you’ve read my previous posts, then you will know that I am a coupon fanatic, I will not pay full price for something, if I don’t have to.

My friends know my need to stay on budget, and they have introduced to me to two amazing websites, that maybe you have heard of as well, they are called “Ebates.com” and “Retailmenot.com.”

From what I have seen, they both are pretty similar in their overall missions to save money for consumers, the only difference is that Ebates may provide a slightly higher percentage in money back. From what I have seen thus far, Ebates provides you links to items on sale through different retailers, and additionally offers a small percentage back on that same transactions through the Ebates website itself. For example, through Ebates, if I was looking for Ralph Lauren items, if I click on the accompanying link, I can not only save up to 40% off of my purchase, but Ebates itself will also reimburse me 15% cash back. That’s a pretty good deal, simply for shopping through a discount website.

You might be thinking if Ebates provides that additional cash back and Retail Me Not doesn’t, why would you bother shopping on Retail Me Not. Well, here’s how I look at it. Not every website will provide the discount that you are looking for, so even though Ebates might have the additional small money rebate back, if they don’t have that discount listed, but Retail Me Not does, well, you are still saving money, regardless. Beggers can’t be choosers after all. I personally have shopped from both discount websites and am very happy that I’ve stumbled upon both money saving tactics.

I sure hope that I’ve helped you with another money saving strategy. Happy (less guilty) shopping!