If you’ve been a long time reader, thank you, and you may know that I used to be an avid couponer. I’ve actually met some of you in person while out shopping and getting the deals 🙂 But I don’t coupon anymore. Not because I don’t love the high of saving money, but because couponing takes a lot of work and time. If you’re looking to save money in a major way I am always going to recommend couponing first. But there are other ways to save money and today I’m going to share with you my favorite savings apps.
*this post includes affiliate links for your shopping convenience, you can read more about affiliate links by reading my Disclosure*
How to save money without coupons
Here’s the thing, I have tried to get back on the couponing bandwagon so many times. Especially since moving to Raleigh. I have used coupons here and there but nowhere near on the level that I used to. Even still, I have managed to save a good amount of money.
So how do I save money without using coupons? First things first, I shop the weekly ad. This is the same thing I would tell you if I was teaching you how to coupon. When you’re couponing, you match the coupons with the weekly sales ad in order to get the most savings.
For example, a box of cereal is $5 and you have a coupon for $1. So you saved $1 that’s good. But if you waited for the item to go on sale and the cereal on sale is now $3 and you use your $1 coupon, then you saved $3 which is great!
When you’re shopping without coupons, but you’re shopping the sale ads you’re still able to get a great savings. I usually save an average of 40% by shopping the weekly sales ads. It takes some time to learn your stores sales cycles but once you do, you’ll find that you can really cut down your grocery bill.
I do still shop at Walmart, although it’s not where I shop first. I shop at Harris Teeter first because of their weekly sales. Then if I need any filler items for the week, I’ll shop at Walmart. Sometimes I shop in store but most of the time I shop using the Walmart grocery pick up.
My Favorite Savings Apps
I’ve shared some of the savings apps I love to use before but I’ve added a couple to the list and want to share my favorite apps.
Ibotta – I love to use Ibotta when I shop. Ibotta is a free cash back rewards app that gives you cash for your purchases when you shop and pay through the app. They’ve grown a lot since I last shared about them. You can now earn cash back online and in-store at thousands of retailers including grocery and clothing stores, pet shops and more.
As you can see I hadn’t paid attention to my savings apps for a while but I’m back at it now 🙂
The main way I’ve used Ibotta is by scanning my store receipts. I add offers in the app before I go to shop and then after I purchase those items I upload my receipt and the cash back is added to my balance. I also link my loyalty accounts for some of my favorite stores, then when I shop and use my loyalty card at checkout, I earn cash back that way too.
The newest way that I’m trying out is to pay with Ibotta. It’s where I link my credit or debit card and shop at one of the retailers they support and I earn a percentage back on my total purchase. Another way is to look up a store, say Home Depot, and I can say I’m going to spend $50. I’ll load that to a gift code and then pay using that code and get the percentage back.
With Ibotta I usually cash out to my PayPal account. Thanks to Ibotta I’ve been able to buy my Erin Condren Life Planners for many years now. If you’d prefer, you can cash out to lots of different gift card options.
You can download Ibotta here and use my referral code td9hla to get started.
Fetch Rewards – Fetch Rewards is the newest savings app I’m using. I don’t know why I didn’t know about this sooner but on New Year’s Eve I was scrolling through IG stories and someone was sharing how they used a gift card they earned with Fetch Rewards and saved $50 at Walmart. I downloaded the app and earned $2 worth of points and scanned my first receipt.
What I like about Fetch Rewards is that I earn points on every receipt. Then there’s bonus points based on what I buy. Plus you can gift cards to so many places like Nordstrom and Pottery Barn! Be still my bougie heart!!
When you download the Fetch Rewards app and use my referral code BWP7T you’ll get 2,000 Fetch Points ($2.00 in points!) just for starting!
I know that I’m focusing a lot on saving money with groceries today and that’s because I think one of the biggest areas where money is wasted is on food. Whether you eat out a lot or you’re constantly throwing out expired food (I’ve been guilty of both) saving money with food is a great place to start.
Rakuten – When it comes to online shopping I never shop without going through Rakuten. I’ve shared about them so many times, especially when I post my gift guides. Because why shop and leave money on the table?
It’s a no brainer to me to have Rakuten installed on my computer. When I visit a site, Rakuten lets me know if I can receive cash back and it will also find any available coupon codes They also have an app that I use when I need to buy something on my phone and can’t wait to get back to my computer. Or you can shop in store and there’s cash back options to use that way.
If you haven’t used Rakuten, sign up here and when you spend $25 you’ll earn $10!!
Shopkick – Another savings app that I use is Shopkick. It’s mostly for shopping in retail stores but it can work for grocery shopping too. It works in a few different ways. The easiest way to earn kicks (points) is to walk into stores that the app says will offer points. For example, walk into Target and earn 10 kicks. Easy right?
The kicks add up and you can redeem them for gift cards. I use them to help with Christmas shopping.
Another way to earn kicks with Shopkick is to scan items in stores. If you want to kill time, or if you’re already in the store shopping, whip out your phone and scan selected items to earn kicks.
The last way to earn kicks is to link your debit or credit card to the app and shop in store. For example, at Ulta I would earn 3 kicks for every $1 spent right now.
There’s always different promotions and bonuses on the app. Sometimes you can get really large amounts of kicks for walking into stores. Or sometimes they have special items in store that if you purchase them you can get more kicks.
Shopkick is a super easy way to save money towards things. You can download Shopkick here and use code DEAL700712 to get points toward a free gift card!
Hopefully I’ve been able to introduce you to a few new savings apps that can help you save money this year without clipping coupons. If you want to save even more, you can check out how to coupon here . I’ve decided to focus on using my savings apps more and more, but I also am trying to get back to using coupons more often. It may take me a while to get back to how I used to coupon before, but I am willing to put forth the effort.
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