One of the most made new year's resolutions is to save money. I've pinched pennies my entire life, and here are the apps and savings sites I plan on using in 2021! I used to keep a great notebook of how much I saved, how much I spent, and what I got in the mail each day. I think I'll start that again in 2021 as I love reading back through past
notebooks from the 1990s!
1. Ibotta. This is super easy to use, and I especially love using it with grocery store pick up because I don't have to hunt for the items needed for the refunds. Please use my code of mtgkg when you sign up. What I like about this app is they often give small savings on "any brand" items, and are having more and more totally free items. For Thanksgiving 2020, there was over $20 of items including a 3 pound turkey breast you could get full purchase price back on. These savings CAN be combined with other savings app.
2. Fetch. You can download this on the app store or Google play. Please use my code of NP7PE when you sign up. This is simple, you just scan your receipts and they will give you money back based on what you buy. I never buy anything out of the way unless there is a full purchase price back on an item. You can even connect your Amazon account and earn points from your Amazon purchses.
3. Rakuten. This was once called eBates. Start your shopping through here and you can earn cash back. In the years I have been a member, I have gotten hundreds of dollars back on stuff I would have purchased anyway!
4. TopCashBack I tend to use this a little more than Rakuten because there is cash back for sites I often order from that Rakuten doesn't have. Examples are eBay and ThriftBooks.
5. I use Swagbucks as my main search engine. I earn about $25 a year just using it for my normal searches. Also, if you print coupons to use, you can go through swagbucks first to print them, then earn points in your account for ones you redeem on top of using iBotta and Fetch for rewards!
These are the apps I use the most. With most things, once you get too many apps it takes more time than the savings it creates, so the only one that I have to pick from each time is when ordering online who gives better savings? TopCashBack or Rakuten. It's been so much easier for me as I have gotten away from paper coupons and just am using store apps to download coupons to my card, and a few savings apps.
I've been a coupon queen for almost 30 years now, and I have to say that my savings isn't what it was in the 1990s, but it doesn't take nearly as long now, either. :)
