Ever since I was a teen, the idea of saving whenever and wherever stuck with me. Whether I’m buying groceries, beauty products, or household products, I always like to check first to see if there’s a sale going on and find out how to get the item for the lowest price possible. Why not save money and get stuff for cheaper if that’s an available option, right?
In comes Ibotta! If you’re a person who hates couponing but you love getting cash back and rewards, you definitely need this shopping app in your everyday life. I’ve been couponing the old school way since I was a teen and first knew that couponing even existed. Now with Ibotta, I no longer have to bring a ton of coupons with me whenever I go shopping because it’s so easy to redeem my rebates right on my phone with this convenient shopping app. I save so much time and can totally skip the hassle of having to scour through different flyers to cut out individual store coupons.
And now, on to the basics of how you can save your money with this lovely little app!
How Ibotta Works
- First, sign up with Ibotta. Right now, you can click here to try Ibotta for free and get a FREE $10 welcome bonus that will be added to your account.
- Once you download and open the app, you can choose from a list of rebates that are available in your area.
- Add the coupons for products that you’re interested in purchasing. You can do this by pressing the plus sign (+) next to the coupon.
- All the coupon offers that you add to your rebates list will appear under the “My Rebates” tab.
- Purchase all of the items you added to your rebates list at the respective stores.
- Upload your store receipt through the app using the “Redeem” button.
Rinse and repeat until you’ve reached a minimum of $20 to cash out! It’s really quite simple but you can save a lot of money each month if you religiously use the app and check for rebate opportunities regularly.
How To Cash Out
There are 3 methods of cashing out your earnings once you have reached the minimum $20 threshold to withdraw.
Paypal: This is my preferred method of cashing out. You just have to go to your “Accounts” tab in the app and it’ll take you to the Paypal website to link your account. Once you reach the $20 minimum to cash out, just request your payment and you should receive it in your Paypal account within a day.
Venmo: This is another method you can choose to cash out with. I’ve never personally used this method as I’ve always just stuck with Paypal.
Gift Cards: You can also choose to receive a gift card that you can spend at other stores if you don’t have a Paypal or Venmo account. They have a variety of stores you can choose from!
Tips And Tricks To Save Even More
Now that you know the basics of how Ibotta works, here are a few tidbits you might find useful that will help maximize how much you can save each month with the app.
1. Make full use of all bonus rebates
The great thing about Ibotta is the number of bonus rebate opportunities you can get, which means even more savings on top of the regular coupons. For example, you can often earn an additional rebate for redeeming 2 or more rebates for a certain brand or product so definitely take advantage of these.
2. Buy the smallest available option
Some coupons don’t have specific requirements to redeem them. So if it says you can purchase the product in any variety or size, purchase the smallest option you can find in the store. This will maximize the savings you get from the rebate.
3. Purchase from a store with the lowest price
Again, if the coupon doesn’t state any specific requirements of where you need to purchase the item from, find a store that offers the product at the lowest price. This will again help maximize your savings. I recommend using an app like Reebee to get the lowest sale prices around you. You can find out more about Reebee in my post here.
4. Combine Ibotta rebates with current sales and other coupons
If there’s another coupon that you have from another source, you can always redeem the coupon in the store along with using the Ibotta app. Double the savings!
5. Read all of the fine print carefully
Don’t forget to read the fine print of each rebate carefully. They’re all different and some of them are VERY specific (as in you have to purchase a specific variety of the item at a certain store or you need to buy a product that has a certain barcode) so be sure to not double but TRIPLE check before buying the product.
6. Scan and redeem your receipts with other shopping apps
A lot of times you can get away with scanning the same receipts to multiple apps that offer the same rebates. Take advantage of this if you have other shopping apps to get double the savings by just shopping once! For example, another great shopping app that I would recommend is Checkout 51. They also allow you to upload your receipts to save offers rebates on groceries, household products, beauty, even pet food, and alcohol (although they do have fewer offer opportunities than Ibotta). You can read more about Checkout 51 here.
7. Save your receipts for 7 days
Ibotta allows you to redeem your receipt on the app for up to 7 days after you have purchased an item. So if you purchase from a store, file your receipt somewhere safe because you never know if a future coupon will show up that you can redeem right away from something you bought days ago!
8. Connect your Facebook account
Once you download the app, don’t forget to connect your Facebook account. Once Ibotta sees which of your Facebook friends also use the app, they will be added to your team. The more people you have on your team, the more you’ll help each other out and rack up more team cash rebates, which are rewarded each month.
Conclusion
Couponing has never been this easy and even beginners who have never dealt with coupons will find this awesome little app pretty straightforward! I hope this helps some of you who want to save money each month. Don’t forget that when you click here and sign up with Ibotta, you’ll get a FREE $10 welcome bonus. If you aren’t using Ibotta, you are missing out on free cash!
Looking for more ways to save money and make extra cash? Check out my other posts!
- 7 Awesome Shopping Apps That Helped Me Easily Save Over $500
- 19 Effortless Ways To Make Extra Money In Your PJ’s
- 13 Easy Ways To Save Money On Groceries Each Month
- 30 Amazing Side Hustles You Can Start Right Now To Earn Extra Cash
- Save Money Every Time You Shop Online And Get A $10 Free Giftcard
- 10 Simple Ways To Save Money On Utilities Each Month
- 28 Ways To Save Money & Cut Down Your Monthly Expenses
- How To Make Up To $22/Hour Teaching English Online At Home
- 10 Tips On How To Survive A Shopping Ban
- 50 Fun And Frugal Date Ideas To Save Money
- The Best Dollar Tree Essentials Every Household Needs
Emily says
I love Ibotta! It’s a great way to save money on groceries, but I have so much trouble remembering to scan my receipt before throwing it away! Oops!
Grace says
I sometimes forget to scan them too ahh!!
Tami - This Mom's Delight says
I deleted this app to make room for a game for my son. I then forgot all about it! I’m really aggravated about all the money I’ve lost by not using it. Downloading it now.
Grace says
You definitely need to re-download it!
Marcie says
I need to get better about using Ibotta! I feel like we waste so much money!
Grace says
Yes, it can surprisingly save you a lot of money if you use it!
Gillian says
I love Ibotta! I use it all the time and have gotten so much cash back!
Grace says
It’s so awesome! 🙂
Keating | Mainely Keating says
I love Ibotta! I always have it open whenever I’m out grocery shopping. But lately they’ve had next to no offers for me. It’s so sad lol but it’s still my favorite app for coupons and discounts!
Grace says
That’s strange!! It might just be the time of the year.