I don’t spend a ton of time using apps to make money, but I had two different experiences this week that reminded me why I need to remember to check my phone before, and sometimes after, I buy things. The first, I’d purchased several things on sale at the grocery store that I noticed were in the Ibotta app and I could have gotten $15 cash back if I’d checked prior to throwing my receipt away. Epic fail. In the second, I’d come across a Fenty deal for the Mattemoiselle Plush Matte Lipsticks where they were on sale for $12.50, buy one, get one free, AND free shipping. I happened to have a $25 virtual Visa giftcard that I’d gotten from using Mypoints and I used it to pay for 2 new shades that I can’t wait to try. Score!
There are a handful of apps that I LOVE and have used over the years to make money that I usually reserve for travel but we’re not really going anywhere these days, so it leads to purchases like the Fenty lipsticks because I’m wanting to learn how to do my own makeup. I digress … the’re definitely not created equally and each one I use, I use for one particular reason.
Ibotta
There are many categories Ibotta can bring you cashback on but it’s my number one grocery app and the only thing I use it for at the moment. I originally signed up way back in November 2016 and took a hiatus from it because I started buying mainly produce and items that typically weren’t popping up in the app. In more recent months, I’ve been using various pre-packaged items for meal shortcuts to get food on the table faster.
How It Works
You select the store before scrolling through the various options and putting a check mark beside the things you plan to purchase or, if you’re not a planner, things you just purchased. Click “redeem”, scan your receipt, and they deposit whatever the assigned amount is in your account. Once it reaches $20, you’re able to remove the money.
The money adds up quick and you feel like you saved, for instance, my son likes the Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats. They happen to be on sale at Harris Teeter this week, buy one, get one free, making them $1.99 per box. The Ibotta app has a $1 cashback offer with a redemption limit of 5. They also have a Kellogg’s bonus where you get $2 cashback when you redeem 3 Kellogg’s product offers. Three boxes of cereal will cost $6 outright but I’d be getting $5 back through Ibotta, making it $1 for three boxes, no coupons necessary.
How Much I Make
I’ve gone back to my trusty grocery app to bring in an extra $20 or so a week that gets deposited into my PayPal account. They do offer direct checking account deposits, but I don’t like giving out my banking information.
Mypoints
Mypoints is another one I’ve been using forever … since July of 2017 to be exact … and typically in relation to grocery shopping. I’ve never been ‘Extreme Couponing’ status but there was a point in time after I first had my daughter that I was clipping coupons like it was my job. Clipping them, ordering them from eBay, taking my friends and families coupon inserts … it was all very extra and time consuming. After I got tired of tracking down Sunday newspapers and their rising cost spending money to get coupons, I started using Mypoints to print coupons instead. They now have an app (when I started using them it was just a desktop version) that makes things much easier.
How It Works
You go to “shop”, click the “in-store” tab, and select the items you’ll be purchasing. After you’ve purchased, you go back to the app and upload your receipt, and points are added to your account. You use the points to trade in for gift cards. They have all kinds and if you’re into giving gift cards for gifts, this is probably a great way to get them. I always get the virtual Visa gift card because I can use it on anything.
How Much I Make
I just started back using it, so I can’t give an accurate answer now. The last time I used it was at the beginning of the year when I remembered my daughter and I were going to Disney for the Festival of the Arts. It took me about a month to get a $25 gift card and I still have points leftover. I was a few shy of being able to get a $50 one.
Shopkick
This may be my favorite app but only because it’s the only app I have that offers Disney gift cards as an option. I use this one for Groupon purchases and scanning items at the store.
How Does It Work
Two ways: For the first way, you can just scan item barcodes in the store or, sometimes, when you enter the store you get kick points just for opening the app in the store. No purchase necessary. For the second, you can either purchase things through the app at participating retailers and the kick points will be added to your account, usually in 30 days. At the grocery store, you scan your receipt after purchase of eligible items and the designated amount of kicks will be added to your account, usually within 24 hours.
How Much I Make
With the pandemic happening, I haven’t gotten out to stores much for the scanning portion or purchased many Groupons, so not much recently. I’ve only been on the app for about a year and I’ve traded in my points for several virtual Disney gift cards. I transfer the funds to my registered, physical Disney gift card to use at the theme parks for food when we go.
Rakuten
I definitely use Rakuten the least because I don’t shop at stores like that. I will if there’s a really good sale and I’m buying a staple piece or something to add to my capsule wardrobe for that particular season but that’s still limited.
How Does It Work
Before you shop, click in the app to see if the store is a partner. If they are, go to the site through the app and you’ll receive the noted cash back percentage. For my Fenty purchase last night, it was 2%.
How Much I Make
Hard to say because of how little I use it, so it’s safe to say not much. The last time I received a check was in May of 2018 after buying something from Express and a pair of super cute Keds x Forestbound hiking boots … that last purchase happened in November of 2017 and the check was only for $11.20. Prior to that, the last check was for $20.02 in May of 2016 after I purchased my Red Entrepreneur Carry-On Luggage from Neiman Marcus and even then, it was only for $20.02. It’s definitely not a money maker if you’re not a big/regular shopper.
Have you been using apps to make money during the pandemic? Do you thinking using apps to make money is a good little side hustle or a waste of time and more effort than it’s worth?
