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Saving money on your regular purchases is essential for climbing out of debt, becoming financially healthy, and growing your net worth. Cash that you save today multiplies if you use it to pay off high-interest debt or put it in a high-yield account or investment.
Thanks to modern technology, you can say goodbye to coupon clipping to save a few cents or scouring the web for hours to find the best deal. Now, earning cash back and saving money is as simple as swiping a barcode, taking a picture, and just doing your ordinary shopping.
Following is a list of the most awesome apps for earning cash back at popular online stores and retail outlets – like Amazon, Walmart, CVS, and Target – and other products you’re most likely spending too much money on.
Online Shopping
Swagbucks
Earn cash back for shopping online at favorite retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target by collecting SB points that can be redeemed for gift cards or Paypal cash. You can also rack up SB points for taking surveys, watching videos, searching the web, and playing games.
Honey
Do you like free money? If so, then install Honey on your Firefox browser and it will automatically search for current coupon codes and apply the best one to your cart when you’re shopping online. It costs nothing and you instantly save money on your regular shopping.
Major Retailers
Cartwheel by Target
Browse Target’s hundreds of daily deals and scan barcodes while you shop to add offers, plus get exclusive coupons for app-only users. Scan your phone at the store to apply all of your savings at checkout and save big on your purchases.
Ibotta
Ibotta makes couponing a click and a snap. Get special offers for the products you need and purchase them at participating retailers including Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens. Simply snap a picture of your receipt and the Ibotta app automatically matches your offers with your purchases and refunds you cash back in 2 days.
Checkout 51
Like Ibotta, with Checkout 51 you scan weekly product offers and select the ones you want. After purchasing, use the app to take a picture of your receipt and your account gets credited with cash back. The advantage of Checkout 51 is that you can purchase at any store, so this app is a good option if you don’t frequent the other participating retailers or have one near you.
Shopkick
Shopkick is similar to Swagbucks except you can rack up points, called kicks, online and in stores. You can earn kicks for scanning barcodes, submitting a receipt, purchasing with a linked card, entering a store, visiting online stores and viewing products, shopping online, and watching videos. Kicks can be redeemed for gift cards from popular stores like Target, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBay, and more.
Banking and Gas
Chime Banking App
Need a bank without outrageous monthly fees, overdraft charges, and account minimums? Chime’s got you covered. In addition to saving you a ton on banking fees, this online bank has some pretty cool features like an early payday with direct deposit and automated savings to effortlessly pile up money in your account.
Gasbuddy
Chances are the gas station isn’t your favorite store but it probably ranks as one of your most frequented stops, and Gasbuddy will be, too. Its main feature is a map of real-time gas prices by location, so you are guaranteed to find the cheapest station to fill up and instantly save money. For additional savings, you can join Pay with GasBuddy to save anywhere from .05 to .20 a gallon as cash back – plus get a ton of other perks like towing and jump starts.
Apparel
CoSign
Love clothes shopping and taking selfies? Though technically not a savings or cash back app, CoSign is an innovative tool that shopifies the clothing items in your photos on social media so you earn cash whenever someone purchases directly from your pictures. As your followers and interactions grow, so does your commission rate and earnings potential. Not a bad side gig if social media and fashion are your thing.