Frugal Friday: ibotta

Who doesn't want to trim their grocery budget?  For about 9 months, I've tried many different coupon apps and only one stands out as being worth using. The ibotta rebate app.

Ibotta.com

I downloaded the ibotta rebate app for free from the itunes app store onto my phone; it is also available on android devices. The app lists rebates available by store and by category. Categories include groceries, movies, home improvement, clothing and more. Once you see a rebate you want, you will "unlock" it by answering a quick question or watching a short video. After you purchase that item, you scan the UPC and snap a photo of the receipt. The receipt is approved within 24 hours and the rebate is added to your ibotta account.  Once you have accumulated at least $10, you may "cash out" by transferring the money to your paypal or venmo account OR requesting a gift card from a list of stores (Starbucks included). Since last July, I've received $179 in rebates.  Every little bit helps, right?

To increase your rebate opportunities, ibotta offersbonuses. There are Teamwork bonuses and product bonuses.  Teamwork bonuses change monthly but no matter how large the bonus is, it requires that you and your team reach a certain threshold on rebates. For instance, the Level 1 Bonus this month is for the team to accumulate $10 in rebates and the individual to accumulate $6 in rebates. I almost always get the level one bonus but it just depends on what rebates are offered.  

You build your ibotta team by referring friends and by connecting social media accounts such as facebook, twitter and google.  If you decide to give ibotta a try and you use my referral link, which is embedded here, I will receive $5 after you redeem your first rebate! Pretty cool huh?  

A product bonus occurs when a particular brand has multiple items listed and you purchase a combination of those items.  In that case, you receive the rebates on each item PLUS the bonus rebate.  For example, this month there is a bonus on a brand of greek yogurt that I enjoy.  If I but three single servings, I will get a 75 cent rebate, if I buy a 32oz container, I'll receive $1.00 rebate and if I buy the 4pack that would give me another 75 cent rebate. However, if I purchase ALL three of those items before the rebate/bonus expires, I'll get an additional $1.00 bonus.  Pair this with traditional coupons and/or store coupons and sometimes items end up being free.

Connecting the social media accounts automatically places your social media friends, who also uses ibotta, on your team, provided they have also chosen to connect the account.  This is true no matter if they use your referral link or not.

Why do I prefer this over other apps?  I've tried Checkout 51, SNAP and a few others. These apps offer fewer rebates and lower rebates making it very hard to reach the $20 accumulation threshold needed to 'cash out'. In the time I've used ibotta to accumulate over $100, I only accumulated about $5.00 on the other two.  That just isn't worth my time. 

If you want any more info or know of another worthwhile app to try, I'd love for you to comment.