How I Saved $200 w/ Ibotta

By now, it’s very likely you have heard about IBOTTA or other similar apps to help you save while shopping.  I am coming up on using the app for a year and thought it could be helpful if I shared what I have found useful & some mistakes I have made missing opportunities to save even more money.  I used the app regularly, but I would say fairly conservatively and earned OVER $200 in less than a year using the app!

To get started DOWNLOAD THE APP HERE: IBOTTA 

This will direct you to my referral link.  This means that I may earn a bonus when you start using the app.  You will also have the opportunity to earn bonuses when you start using the app & sharing it with others!

PIN IT FOR LATER:

3 MAIN WAYS TO SAVE MONEY USING IBOTTA:

1.  Shop in-store and redeem savings after shopping by scanning your receipts.               This is the way people most likely think of using an app like Ibotta.  You go to the app and select the store you want to look for offers on.  You scroll through them and click on any that you think you might use.  This is my tip….add any you think you may use, that way you have less chance of missing an offer you forgot about.  Also, frequently offers can be redeemed up to 5 times, for example if there is a $.50 back offer on a jar of spaghetti sauce, you can buy 5 jars and get $2.50 back. Be sure to check the offer to see if it is for one item of if it can be redeemed multiple times. Also, be sure to always check the ‘any item’ category.  These can be used on any brand, even store brands.  Sometimes they will even match up with another offer. For example, maybe there is a $.25 back on any almond milk and there is also an offer for $.50 back on a particular brand of almond milk.  You can redeem both!  Another offer you want to make sure to get as frequently as possible, is under the ‘any item’ category and that is cash back for any receipt you scan.  After you use that, check back for your next shopping trip and it is very likely it will be there again.  I haven’t timed it for sure, but it seems like it may be refreshed every 24 hours or so.

2.    Shop online and save.     This is one I have admittedly missed the boat on and left a  good bit of money on the table unfortunately for a good part of the year!  It’s really easy to earn this way, too.  All you do is go to the IBOTTA app and select ‘Find Offers’ and then select ‘Online Shopping’. There are TONS of retailers that you can earn cash back from, even AMAZON!!      You will generally be able to earn a small percentage back on your purchase.  Please note the percentages and the categories for which you can earn them in do change.  You will scroll through the offers and then click on the one you want to shop for.  For example, there may be a 3% cash back on shoes. Click on that and it will take you to Amazon, you then shop there and complete your transaction as normal and you are able to earn that additional cash back since you initiated your shopping by going through Ibotta.  Online stores can also have specific offers on items that you can take advantage of, too, in addition to the percentage cash back, so be sure to check those out, too.

3. Pay with Ibotta In-Store.  This is the newest way to earn cash back with Ibotta and there are some great offers at quite a few retailers! At the time I am writing this there are over 30 retailers that are offering a percentage back when you pay in-store w/ the Ibotta app.  What you do is link a credit card to the app.  Then when you are checking out at one of these retailers you go to your app and select that retailer.  You enter the total for your order and Ibotta will generate a QR code for the person to scan to take your payment.  It is kind of like Ibotta creates a gift card for you to check out and then that amount will be charged to your credit card.  Just to name a couple of them currently being offered (Please note these can change without warning.): AMC Theaters- 5%, American Eagle- 5%, Applebees- 5%, Banana Republic- 6%, Chipotle- 2%, Express 6%, Gap- 6%, Lowes- 3%, Old Navy- 4%, Texas Roadhouse- 5%, Children’s Place- 5%, Ulta- 5%.

OTHER WAYS TO EARN CASH BACK: (These can change at any time.)

• Groupon
• Ebay
• Ticketmaster
• Restaurants
• Travel- booking.com, Orbitz, Choice Hotels
• many more!

DON’T MAKE THESE MISTAKES SO YOU CAN MAXIMIZE YOUR SAVINGS: 

• Don’t miss out on redeeming an offer multiple times. Some offers can be redeemed up to 5 times, so be sure to look out for that on offers.
• Don’t miss the ‘any brand’ offers.
• Don’t forget to check for offers on things that are on sale in your grocery store or other retailer.  When making your weekly grocery store list and going through the sales ad, have your app handy and take a peek to see if some of them that you plan to get have offers from IBOTTA.  If you use the Cartwheel app at Target, take a look to see if Ibotta has offers that match up with those deals to save even more!
• Be sure to link any Loyalty Cards that Ibotta has in their app for places you shop to help streamline your savings.
• For in-store shopping, be sure to click to add any offer that you think you may use at some point to help avoid you missing out on an offer.
• To save time when scanning a grocery receipt, empty all your groceries and then scan the receipt before you put items away. That way you can review what you got and you won’t miss any offers and also so you can scan barcodes of any items you need to do that for.

BONUSES:

• JOINING BONUSES- When you first join the app, you will have the opportunity to earn bonuses for starting to use the app.  This is a no-brainer!! Be sure to do this.  You should offered a $10 bonus as you start redeeming offers.  This is a bonus on top of the offers you redeemed, so it can really add up your savings right off the bat!
• SHARING BONUSES- When you share your referral link, you can earn even more bonuses.
• PRODUCT BONUSES- There are many product specific bonuses you can earn that change regularly from different companies.
• SPECIAL BONUSES- There is often a bonus for redeeming a certain number of offers in a period of time.
• TEAM BONUSES- When you link your account to your Facebook, you can earn team bonuses with your Facebook friends, too.

CREDIT CARD CASH BACK: 

While it can be easy to think of some of these cash back bonuses as small and question whether it is worth it or not, think about how you pay for these purchases.  I always pay with a credit card that gives cash back percentages.  So, if I am using that credit card to link to my IBOTTA app, you can really think of adding the percentage back that Ibotta offers with the percentage back that your credit card offers.  With places you shop regularly either in-store or online with these offers, that is where you will really see your cash back grow!

HOW DO YOU GET PAID:

• Paypal
• Venmo
• Gift Cards to a variety of retailers.

You need to reach a $20 or $25 threshold depending on which way you select to receive your payments.  I have chosen to get my money in gift cards, most often Amazon. I know I shop there regularly, so it works great for me.  Once I hit the threshold to cash out, I click on that button on the app and select my Amazon gift card.  I then receive an email with a gift card code and I enter that into my Amazon account and the money is there next time I shop on Amazon! It’s awesome!

I hope you got some tips here to help you get off to a great start to use Ibotta in all the various ways you can to get the most cash back for yourself!  Like I said, I made some mistakes not using it to the fullest for awhile, so I hope to help others not miss out! Happy saving!!

PIN IT!!

BE SURE TO ALSO CHECK OUT:

How to Save up to 10% at Favorite Stores & Restaurants

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