3 Apps You Should Use to Shop and Save
Are you a smart shopper? Do you get excited when you find a great deal? Being a smart shopper is easy and I have 3 apps you should use to shop and save like a pro!
Rakuten
First things first, Rakuten, formerly known as Ebates. It is my FAVORITE. This app allows you to earn a rebate, or a cash back reward, on your online purchases.
A rebate is a partial refund of the total sum someone pays. So unlike coupons and promo codes, rebates come after the purchase.
To use it is to love it. All it takes is signing up to start earning. There are browser plug-ins available which are absolutely fantastic. These plug-ins will pop up with a message whenever the site you are on has cash back offers available for your purchase. Like this...
Once you activate the offer, all that's left to do is finish your purchase.
You can redeem your cash back by check or gift card.
Rakuten is available on desktop and mobile, so there's no excuse why you shouldn't be using it!
Honey
Honey is similar to Rakuten in the sense that you can earn cash back. However, the cash back is in the form of what they call "gold". After you meet a certain threshold, you can cash in your gold for a gift card.
It's important to note that the feature that makes this app worth the download is actually the promo/coupon code generator.
If you download the browser plugin, then while checking out online, Honey will pop up with a notification that says "Coupons found!". There is then an option to hit the "Apply coupons" button. That's when the magic happens.
Honey takes over your screen for a quick second to automatically apply all the coupon codes it knows to find you the best deal.
This app has eliminated the headache of hunting down promo codes anytime I want to make a purchase. I know I can be confident in it to find me the best deal.
Trust me. You're going to want to install this app before you make your next online purchase.
Ibotta
Finally, we have Ibotta. Ibotta is a mobile app, available on IOS and Android. It is more for cash back on groceries.
How does it work? Simple. All you have to do is check the app for available offers, load them to your account and upload your receipt to redeem. The offers range from Any Brand to specific name brands. Sometimes, you can redeem receipts for ANY one grocery item - guaranteeing cash back no matter what you bought that trip.
Once you have earned a minimum of $20 using the app, you can cash out. You can be paid via Paypal or by choosing a gift card to your favorite retailer or restaurant.
While it takes longer to earn and cash out on this app, it's still worth it in my opinion. Why? Because it's free money.
In this blog, I only list 3 apps you should use to shop and save. While there are a few other perfectly good options out there, the apps I've chosen to list consistently prove to be the most valuable to me.
Do you use any other apps? Did you try one of the apps I listed? Let me know in the comments!