Money-Making Shopping (and/or Watching TV) Apps!

Whether you're a couponer or not, you still shop.  Whether shopping for groceries, clothes, books, or whatever, you're spending money.  Wouldn't it be nice to make a little money in the process?  Even if you don't feel like you have the time to clip coupons to save the money in advance, you can still get a little back in the end... very easily!  Basically, these apps are offering you FREE MONEY.  That's not something you want to pass up.

Here are some of my favorite websites/apps for making a little money while you spend.

Endorse

This is my absolute favorite money making app right now.  Over the course of the last several weeks I've gotten close to $15 back from purchases I've made.  I've gotten 100% back on coffee, 50% back on pull-ups, 10% back on any brand crackers, 10% back on any brand ice cream.  All I had to do was make the purchases, upload pictures of my receipts, wait a couple of days for them to process, and pick my payout method.  You can get paid via paypal or check.  You also get points for every receipt you upload, even if it's not one you get money for and those points can be redeemed for charitable donations.  They post new offers weekly (on Thursdays) and not everyone gets the same thing.  They sometimes offer you a higher percentage back on offers that you are willing to share with your friends on facebook.  For instance, if you go to my facebook page today, you'll see that today I shared an offer for 100% back on any brand coffee, up to $3 (weirdly, the picture is of a cat).  You can claim that and it will get added to your account.  100% back!  See what I mean by free money?!  And free coffee?!  You also get bonuses for referring your friends to Endorse.  So if you sign up through my link, I get credit, and if your friends sign up through your link you get credit!  You can sign up for Endorse here.  If you feel totally overwhelmed with the options out there and want to pick one to start, I would choose Endorse.

Ibotta
With Ibotta, there are little tasks you complete in order to get money back for purchasing items.  For instance you might earn 25 cents for watching a little video, another 25 cents for taking a poll, and another 25 cents for sharing the offer on facebook.  After you purchase the item you'll upload a picture of your receipt and scan the product's barcode to confirm your purchase.  You can get your payouts via paypal or school donation.  Like Endorse, one of the payout options is paypal but you have to have a balance of $5 to cash out with paypal whereas Endorse does not have a minimum cash out balance.  Also, similarly to Endorse, they offer referral bonuses.  You can sign up for Ibotta here.

Savingstar
I've gotten some really great payouts from Savingstar.  You have to accrue $5 in your account before you get paid out but some of the offers give you $5 (for instance if you spend $20 on french fries you get $5 back) so it can add up quickly.  With this program, you just register all of your store cards and when you make the purchase in the store, using your card, it automatically registers in the Savingstar system.  No receipts to upload!  I typically activate ever offer they have just in case I end up buying something unexpectedly.  You can sign up for Savingstar here.

Shopkick
Sadly I always forget to use this app!  With this one you just check in when you're actually at a specific store and you earn "kicks" for shopping, scanning items, making purchases, etc.  You also may get offered special discounts or coupons while you're actually in the store.  You can redeem your "kicks" for giftcards and that sort of thing.  You can sign up for Shopkick here.

Now, if you really don't shop, you can also just stay home and earn rewards for watching TV... NO JOKE!  Check out the Viggle app here.  I'm a big fan of this one as well!

Also, keep in mind that many stores have rewards cards that often offer you special discounts and sometimes even coupons you can load to your card from their website.  All you do is scan your card at the store and your coupons come right off your order!  Look closely at what your stores have to offer!

And if you're making online purchases, of course, always use Ebates.  I have a blog post on that here.