There are some exciting new ways to save money on your favorite products. Two relatively new sites/apps (SavingStar and Ibotta) are offering an opportunity to double your coupon power by saving additional money on products you purchase.
SavingStar isn't that new but it's still a relatively new concept to the coupon mentality. SavingStar is a website that allows you to enroll your loyalty card for dozens of different stores with their program. Whenever you use your loyalty card at your favorite stores, SavingStar receives information on the products you purchased. On their website (also available as an app) you can select various virtual coupons for different products you are interested in. If SavingStar receives notice that you purchased one of the items you had selected the money on that "coupon" is added to your bank on the site. Once your bank hits $5.00 you can cash out and have the money sent to PayPal or an Amazon gift card, among other options. It's easy and the genius part is that you can stack these savings on to your paper coupons with no problem. I have personally cashed out twice so I can definitely vouch for this program.
Now there are some cons. First of all the coupon selection is very limited although the product variety is growing. Many of the coupons available are similar to what you will find in your Sunday paper or online. There is also the element of having all of your purchases tracked. Now personally, I don't worry so much about this. If they want to track my purchases and start providing coupons for more of the products I buy or more vegan friendly choices, I am all for that. Other people may feel differently about the tracking aspect.
If you are interested you can sign up here: https://savingstar.com/
Ibotta is a new app that can also help save you some money on items you purchase. After you download the app, you can select different products from a list that you think you might purchase. Each product will have several activities that will earn you a certain amount (usually $0.25) if you buy the product. After you've gone shopping you use the app to upload photos of your receipt and scan the barcodes of the items you've purchased. Ibotta reviews the receipt and if it checks out they add the appropriate amount for that product to your bank. When your bank reaches $5.00 you can cash out or donate the money to United Way or a select school. I'm still relatively new to Ibotta so only have $2.75 saved up so far. I found the app to be really user friendly and uploading my receipt with my phone was not as hard as I thought it would be.
The downside of course is that Ibotta will see your receipt and everything you purchased much like the tracking of SavingStar. So if that's something that concerns you, you may choose to skip these programs. Their coupons are still very limited and very specific although I think this will change over time. Several times I thought I bought the right item only to find it is was a different product by the same brand. There is a feature on the app that lets you scan the barcode in the store to make sure you are buying the right thing but I've never used it.
If you're interested you can check out the app online or if you'd like, use my referral link here: http://ibotta.com/r/8aUGoA
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