Learn How to Use Apps to Earn Gift Cards
We covered the importance of putting God first and giving him what belongs to him in my first post, “Financing a life through God: Part 1.”
We also covered the importance of finding stores that best fit your needs and using them to your advantage in my second post, “Financing a life through God: Part 2.”
By planning your shopping trip you can Save more through sales, coupons, and memberships. It has all saved me thousands of dollars each year.
“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5 NLT
If you’ve thought about signing up for advertised apps to get free gift cards but have been afraid they are a scam, I am here to share with you the legit apps I use to save hundreds of dollars a year.
These apps are a marketing tool for marketers to collect data and improve on marketing strategies. You submit receipts, play games, take surveys, and earn points for gift cards. They collect data on customer preferences and behavior to influence future sales.
Below are lists of the apps. I’m going to explain how each one works and how I use them to save money and receive gift cards.
Apps I use weekly
- Ibotta
- Receipt Hog
- Frisbee
- Coin Out
- Pogo
- Fetch
- Shopkick
My favorite apps for finding deals and sales
- Flipp
- The Karzy Coupon Lady
Ibotta
Let’s start with Ibotta, it’s free, easy to download, and all you do after you create an account is select your favorite stores so they show up on the home screen when you open the app. With Ibotta you have the in-store shopping option and the on-line shopping option.
For In-store purchases:
- Select the store you plan to shop at or have already shopped at.
- Scroll through the offers and click the plus+ symbol to add the item to your “list”.
- When you’re done scrolling, select “Submit receipt”, take a picture of the receipt and submit. It should show you the eligible offers and the dollar amount for each item. Sometimes items don’t show up and you can go to “Missing cash” to scan the barcode and find the item. If the item is found it will add the amount to your “Earnings”.
For On-line purchases:
- Start a purchase through the app by selecting the store you wish to shop at on the Ibotta app.
- Add offers to your list by clicking the plus+ symbol.
- Tap on “Shop” so that all selected offers are activated.
- Complete your order on the selected store website.
- The selected offers should come off adding the dollar amount to your “Earnings.
You can “Cashout” at a minimum amount of 20$ with the options of receiving a gift card of your choosing or the amount can be added to your PayPal account. I always choose the Amazon gift card just because I can add it to my Amazon account so its there whenever I make an Amazon purchase.
Receipt Hog
Receipt Hog is another app I use and its free to download.
- Set up an account.
- Take pictures of your receipts.
- Collect coins to redeem gift cards.
- Every receipt submitted enters you in their monthly sweepstakes.
- You can also get chances to win more coins by playing the slots game, taking surveys, and linking your account to your email or other store accounts (wal-mart, Amazon, Chewy).
It’s pretty simple and fun to use!
Fetch
Fetch was the first receipt app I ever started using and it is still one of my all time favorites. And it’s free!
- Download the app.
- Set up your account.
- Link it to your e-mail account and other store accounts so your E-Receipts are automatically submitted.
- Add products and deals by selecting the “heart” icon on the right of each item.
- When you submit a receipt each receipt is worth 25 points.
- If you buy an item with additional points, you will get those points after the receipt is submitted.
- Check how many points you need for each gift card because some require more than others.
I usually get the 5$ Chewy gift card for 6,000 points and add it to my Chewy account after its been processed. The 5$ Amazon gift card is 6,500 points. By getting the Chewy card instead of the Amazon card I’m getting the same amount of money but saving 1,000 extra points to use for another gift card. Always look for the best deal.
Frisbee
Frisbee is another cool rewards app that’s free to use.
- Download the app.
- Set up an account.
- Scan physical receipts.
- Link other store accounts to upload e-receipts.
- Play games, enter sweepstakes, and take surveys to earn more points.
- After accumulating points, redeem gift cards or transfer funds to PayPal or Apple Pay.
Also simple and fun!
Coin Out
Coin Out is a free app that lets you earn gift cards. The process is similar to the others.
- Download the app.
- Set up an account.
- Scan physical receipts.
- Link on-line store accounts for e-receipts.
- Collect points with receipts and complete “Missions” (taking surveys) to redeem gift cards or transfer funds to PayPal.
Pogo
Pogo is another free app I use. It’s newer to me and I’m still learning how it works. Its the same concept as the others.
- Download the app.
- Set up an account.
- Scan physical receipts.
- Link other store accounts to upload e-receipts.
- Play games and take surveys to earn more points.
- After accumulating points, redeem gift cards or transfer funds to PayPal or Venmo.
Shopkick
I’m still learning how to use Shopkick. This has been a trickier app for me to figure out. One of the reasons I haven’t achieved as many gift cards with this one is because I forget to enable the app when I’m in the stores and forget to use it when I’m shopping. It offers “kicks” as rewards toward gift cards.
- Download the app for free.
- Set up account.
- Look for your stores.
- Enable bluetooth and location services on your phone, this lets you earn “walk-in” points by walking into participating stores.
- Scan barcodes for products featured in the app to earn “kicks”. You don’t have to buy these items to get the points.
- Scan receipts after buying participating items to get extra points (If you decide to buy the items you already scanned in the store).
- Link your Visa or Mastercard to the app to earn passive kicks (I don’t do this just because I try to limit how many apps have my card information).
- On-line shopping with the app is an option but I have not tried this yet.
- Discover is a tab in the app where you can watch videos and look at advertisements to earn more “kicks”.
- When you get enough “kicks”, use your points to get gift cards or add the amount to your PayPal account.
Those are all of the apps I am currently to get gift cards. It seems like a lot but I have learned to use them one at a time. Trying to download them all at once might be overwhelming so my first suggestion would be to start with Ibotta and Fetch. After learning those then continue to add others to your weekly routine.
Next I want to share my favorite apps for finding good deals.
Flipp
The Flipp app is basically like have the entire Sunday paper in your hand. You add your location and it gives you current sale adds for your local stores. Give you favorite stores a “heart” and they will show up on the home screen when you open the app. It is so much easier to look for sales in one place than to open all the different store apps.
- Download the app (it’s free).
- Add your location.
- Choose your favorite stores.
- Look at store ads and plan your list according to the sales.
The Krazy Coupon Lady
The Krazy Coupon Lady app is amazing for finding good deals. It gives you on-line and in-store deals. For each item it gives you instructions on how achieve the best deal, for example… if you see something you want and its on Amazon, it will give you a link to the item and if there is a coupon available it will provide a code that you copy and paste into the “use a gift card, voucher, or promo code” option when you checkout.
- Download the app (its free).
- Scroll through the deals.
- When you find something you like, follow the instructions on the item post and enjoy the savings!
Remember anytime you plan to buy an item on-sale or with a coupon make sure to read the fine print to understand the conditions. If its buy one get one free, for a single item or multiple items, if its for one size or any size. Some stores don’t have good cell service inside, so I started taking screen shots of items on the apps that way if I can’t remember the conditions I can just look at the picture and not have to wait for the app to load.
“Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.” Proverbs 13:11
I hope you enjoyed learning my secrets for saving money each week on groceries. I am always looking for new ways to save and expand my knowledge. There are still many more apps I haven’t tried and I encourage each of you to do your own research and find what works for you. I am not an expert in finance or these apps but it has helped me through the years.
In my next series of posts I would like to share some of the ways I have saved money by switching from disposable items around the home to reusable items. Not only is it better for your bank account but its better for the environment too.