Saving/Making Money with Apps & Websites??
I hear of these rumors of people saving and/or making money with apps and websites. I always wonder if there is any truth to these claims and how much effort does it take. I have decided to try out a few for myself and post the results here. I have included a few different types to see how they work.
1.) Shopkick – This is an app that I downloaded for free on my iphone. It was simple to download and easy to set-up. The basic idea here is that you collect kicks to redeem for awards such as gift cards. You earn the kick points by checking in daily, turning on the app right before you walk into certain stores, scanning certain items in stores, and looking through mini catalogs. Also if you are invited you may start with a 50 kick bonus and if you invite people who join you get a bonus for the kicks they earn for a limited time. At this point I have only checked in, invited 1 person, and looked through a few of their look-books (mini catalogs). These were easy enough. I will write a post with updates about checking into stores, scanning items, and especially redeeming kicks for gift cards.
2.) Kroger – This is a store app for Kroger. I have been using this for quite some time. You put in your store reward card number or phone number if you lost your card years ago like I did. You can add ecoupons straight to your card! This is great because you do not have to remember your coupons. I have found this helpful for those quick stops and for when my husband goes shopping. All you have to do at check-out time to redeem your coupons is scan your reward card or enter your phone number. Other features of this app include the weekly ads, rewards, a shopping list, Rx refills, and a store finder. When looking at the weekly ads you can click on wanted items to add them to the shopping list. This is a nice time saving feature and reminder when you are in the store that you wanted to pick up a sale item. I highly suggest this free app to all Kroger shoppers looking to easily save some money.
3.) UPromise.com – This is a website where you can sign up to save money for your kids college fund or pay back your student loans. This was easy to sign up for and completely free. There are a few different options on this site. You can link it to shopper reward cards from Kroger, CVS, and Remke/Biggs. You can also link it to your credit cards to take advantage of the dining option where you earn money for eating at certain restaurants. You can also earn on your online shopping. I chose to only link my store reward cards. This seemed like a safe option to start with.
4.) Checkout 51 – This is a free app that works somewhat like a rebate. After you sign up, you will receive a list of rebate offers for the week. If you buy any of those items than you can get back the listed amount. To get money back on this app you submit a photo of your receipt with a redeemable item on it. This entire process was easy to do. It says that you can cash out when your account balance is over $20 and that you will receive a check in the mail. I will write a post on how the cashing out process works when I get enough in my account to do so. I currently only have $2 in my account.
5.) Bing Rewards – This one is great because I can earn gift cards for doing exactly what I was already doing! I love using Bing to look things up! I’m a little too curious about things, all things, sometimes useless things. I am always Binging something. I honestly cannot believe I didn’t do this one earlier. It was so easy! If you sign up for a rewards account with them you can earn free gift cards while searching. It took about 5 minutes and required minimal information. Their gift cards are only for $5 a piece but free money is free money. I’m saving points for an amazon gift card.
These are the ones I am currently focusing on. I will write updates about the ease or difficulty involved in redeeming rewards as it comes up. Wish me luck 🙂