Week 4, Lesson 1: Combine Coupons with Rebates!

Now that everyone has a good foundation on saving with coupons, I would like to go over some other ways to save that can apply to any store. First is rebates. I am sure everyone has heard of mail in rebates, you buy something, send in a form and a few months later you get a check in the mail. Mail in rebates are still alive and well and you can find them in several places. Sometimes the rebate form will even be in your weekly insert. Keep your eye out for them and use them!!

With the advances in technology, there are even faster rebate programs. My favorite two rebate programs are phone apps most people can download. The first is Ibotta. I love Ibotta, I have earned several gift cards to Starbucks this way... gotta feed that addiction! Ibotta is a reward app, you pick the items you want to purchase and when you buy them, you take a picture of your receipt and the items bar code. Within 24 hours you have a rebate in your account. Once you reach $5 you can cash out! Ibotta only works with certain stores but there is a large variety. Target, Walmart and CVS all are stores that are eligiable. Click here to sign up for Ibotta. The items change every few weeks so add an item you want to buy when you see it.

The second app is called Checkout 51. It is very similar to Ibotta. You purchase certain items and get cash back for them. These offers change every Wednesday at midnight. The items you want to get a rebate for must be purchased in that week before the offers change. You can do both Ibotta and Checkout 51 on top of your coupons, extra bucks and store deals!! Checkout 51 also works with all stores.

As I mentioned before, I use Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a lot of things all rolled into one. It started as a search engine, much like Google. Except you get Swagbucks on random searches. Those Swagbucks can be redeemed for real rewards. You can also earn Swagbucks for Swag Codes issued on their social media pages. Swagbucks are awarded if you play games, watch videos, or shop from their site. All those Swagbucks add up to very real gift cards. To date I have earned over $500 with them, and counting. They are one of my favorite sites.

There are several other reward sites that you can use to earn gift cards, but those three are by far my favorite.