How I Earned $160 in 4 Months Using Apps
Reading Time 4 mins
UPDATE: I ended up earning $475 during my 12 month experiment of using these apps religiously! I did NOT look for coupons or discounts and base my shoppng list around them. I spent money as usual, and got $475 back on that year's spending. I love that!
I’ve earned almost $160 in the last 4 months ($159.93 to be exact) with money earning apps. All I did was use my smartphone when I made everyday purchases (mostly food and gas).
Some of the links included in this post are referral links. If you click the links and sign up for the apps, I’ll earn cash or points at no cost to you. I only recommend products and services that I already use and love.
I’m going to share which apps I’m using, how I use them, and how much money I’ve earned so far on each one. The app hierarchy will be based on how much money I earned with each app.
Honestly, I would have earned more if I’d remembered to use the apps for every single purchase made in the past 4 months. There was definitely a learning curve for me to learn about and remember to use the apps. At the beginning, the amounts I earned seemed negligible and I wondered if it was even worth the effort. But the nickels and dimes sure do add up over time! Now that I’m in the habit, I’m earning a bit of cash almost every day.
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$73.00
PayPal or gift card
Click here to join my team on Ibotta!
Let’s start with the winner. There are plenty of ways to earn money with Ibotta. Earn cash back when buying groceries, eating at restaurants, or making purchases at certain stores. They are partnered with so many major stores and restaurants, such as Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Academy, Amazon, Office Depot, Whole Foods, Nature’s Grocer, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Grub Hub, Door Dash, Costco, and Sam’s Club. There are way too many to list, and they are adding new partners all the time. Once you’ve earned over $20, you can redeem your cash through PayPal or by choosing a gift card to one of their many partners.
How I Use Ibotta
Shopping for anything. Before going to any store, I check the app to see if any coupons are available to buy the items I need. It is VERY IMPORTANT to follow these steps in order–write a list of only the items you need, then find coupons only for those items. If you buy unnecessary items just because you found coupons, you will overspend.
Instacart. Since I’m so busy (and hate shopping), I usually have my groceries delivered to my house through Instacart. I open the Ibotta app, choose Instacart, and do my grocery shopping on there. I get the coupons plus earn 1% back on the entire order. FYI: Currently, an Instacart membership costs $99 a year, and I get groceries delivered weekly. Unlimited deliveries, which I usually receive within an hour or two of ordering. For $1.90 a week plus tips for the delivery drivers, this is worth it for me! Sign up through this link and get $10 off your first order. You will also earn cash for every friend you refer who signs up.
Pay with Ibotta. If you use the Pay with Ibotta feature, you can earn even more money back. For example, before buying items at Walmart, I check for coupons on the items I plan to purchase, shop, scan my items at the self-checkout, then pay with Ibotta. (You just enter your purchase amount, then scan the bar code as a gift card). By doing this, I get my coupons and earn 1% cash back. It gets even better at other stores: Home Depot and Starbucks give you 2% cash back, Chili’s gives you 6% back, and Office Depot gives you 9% back.
Bonuses. There are some bonuses that can be earned by buying so many units of a certain product, by redeeming so many offers within a set time frame, and earning so much money within a set time frame. I have earned some of these bonuses. However, I mostly earn them by accident. If I purposely make a lot of unnecessary purchases to earn a $5 bonus, then that defeats the purpose. Think twice before making these bonuses your goals. For me, they are just nice to have when earned by accident making my normal purchases.
2) GET UPSIDE
$71.68
PayPal, gift card or check
Use this link or enter my promo code 4H8G9 to get an extra 15¢/gal cash back on gas on your first fill-up:
The very close runner up is Get Upside. This app lets you earn money from pumping gas, restaurants and grocery stores. (I haven’t found a participating grocery store yet, but perhaps you’ll have some in your area.) Once you’ve earned over $10, you can redeem your cash through PayPal, a gift card to one of their many partners, or if you’re old school they will even mail you a check.
How I Use Get Upside
Pumping gas. I’ve earned by far the most by pumping gas. I open the app before getting on the road to see which gas station near me is offering the most cash back. Some participating gas stations offer 1 cent per gallon, while I’ve earned up to 23 cents per gallon at others. Just check and claim the offer BEFORE you drive to a station! You have up to 4 hours to get to the station and pump your gas.
Restaurants. I haven’t found many participating restaurants in the areas I travel to most frequently. I have used it at Wendy’s (20% back) and La Madeleine (10% back). Some McAlister’s Delis offer it.
$5.00
Amazon and retailer gift cards
Download the app and start earning rewards.
This app is simple to use. Just take pictures of every single receipt from any store and gas station and earn coins. Once you earn 2200 coins, you will get a $5.00 credit.
How I Use Receipt Pal
I take pictures of ALL receipts, including my receipts from pumping gas.
Sometimes there are short consumer surveys, so I go ahead and fill those out.
Sometimes I’m entered to win sweepstakes for free groceries for a year. I haven’t won yet, but that’s something to look forward to.
Sometimes cartoon balloons appear, and I have to choose which one to pop. The balloons have different coin values assigned to them.
$5.00
PayPal, Amazon or Visa gift cards
Like Receipt Pal, just take pictures of all your receipts to earn points. 1000 coins will earn you $5.00 in cash or a gift card.
How I Use Receipt Hog
I take pictures of ALL receipts, including my receipts from pumping gas.
Every once in a while, there are some plays on a slot machine that can earn me more coins.
$0.25
PayPal or check
Get a $30 welcome bonus when you use my invite link to join and spend $30.
I just downloaded this app a few weeks ago, so I haven’t had much chance to use it. Usually, when I compare its offers to Ibotta, Ibotta has higher discounts. Rakuten just doesn’t seem to be in cahoots with the stores and restaurants that I’ve personally frequented over the past several weeks. The exception to this would be Amazon.com. I have ordered several items on Amazon, but completely forgot to order through the Rakuten app. ☹ As with Ibotta and Get Upside, the hardest part is getting into the habit of checking for offers BEFORE making the purchase.
How I Use Rakuten
This is how I earned the 25 cents: I was eating at Olive Garden. I checked the Ibotta app to see if there was a Pay With Ibotta option or any discount, but there was no offer at all on Ibotta for Olive Garden. So I checked Rakuten Ebates, and they currently offer 1% back on Olive Garden gift card purchases. So when the server gave me my bill, I purchased a gift card through Rakuten for that amount plus the tip. It took about 10 minutes for the gift card to arrive in my e-mail, but I wasn’t in a hurry. In the future, I will estimate the cost of the meal and purchase the gift card ahead of time so that it won’t take me so long to pay my bill.
In Summary:
Check Ibotta for coupons or opportunity to Pay With Ibotta before making any purchase.
Check Rakuten Ebates for coupons before making any purchase, and compare with Ibotta to see which one offers more cash back.
When you need gas, check Get Upside before going anywhere to see which gas station nearby offers the most cash back per gallon.
Take pictures of receipts and load them on ReceiptPal and Receipt Hog. Every single time.
Conclusion
I’ve earned about $160 so far just by using these 5 apps. I do not spend any more money than I would ordinarily spend just to get extra bonuses; that would defeat the purpose of what I want to accomplish—a little passive income.
If the trend continues (that is, if I earn $160 every 4 months), I will earn about $480 by the time I’ve reached my 12 month money saving app-iversary.
I will practice patience and self-control and not withdraw any of the money I’ve earned until the 12 month mark. I am doing this for 3 reasons:
This will make it easy to see how much money I earn during my first year using the apps.
Seeing my earnings grow each week is exciting and motivates me to continue saving money where I can. It’s a great reminder that saving a penny here and 75 cents there REALLY adds up over time.
The money I earn from these apps is pure lagniappe. It doesn’t require hard work, lack of sleep, or more than seconds of my time each day. I can do whatever I want with it.
