We always ask ourselves how we are supposed to find the money to take a vacation. Sometimes money can be tight and finding a way to take your time and enjoy something special might feel like more cutting back than you feel comfortable doing.
But what if I told you that you can actually save money buying groceries and put it back for your dream vacation?
I didn’t believe it myself when I first heard people talking about it. I had been looking into couponing and kept hearing you could make money back on your groceries and purchases by using two apps. I was of course hesitant, thinking these apps must be a scam or that I would have to purchase the apps themselves. But then I decided to read a little deeper and realized this was a legit couponing method. So naturally since I have a Try Channel on Youtube, I decided to give it a go and see if it really would work.
Let me just start by saying, this costs you nothing to do! Absolutely nothing!! In fact all you need to do is simply shop how you regularly would at your local stores.
What Apps You Need:
IBOTTA & FETCH
FETCH is an app which allows you to scan your receipts from retailers and gas stations. Once you have scanned the receipts the app analyzes your purchases and based on brands which work with the app they reward you with points for your receipts. Top brands you can find working with the app include Doritos, Aquafina, Berry Crocker, Cottonelle, Dove, Pepsi… and the list goes on and on.
After points are awarded you can flip them into gift cards for your favorite places. If you have a grocery store you enjoy shopping with chances are they have a gift card you can redeem and when you do that you are spending less and less out of pocket. If you would rather invest it otherwise there are dozens of brands you can redeem your credits with including Amazon, leading restaurants and even as regular Visa or Mastercards.
One of my favorite aspects if you are using your savings for travel is that the rewards you receive can additionally be redeemed for travel. Companies such as Uber, Southwest Airlines, Princess Cruises, Orbitz, Celebrity Cruises and Airbnb have $25 and $50 cash out options while Delta and Hotels .com have $10, $25 and $50 cash out options.
Redemption for FETCH is a very easy process. I decided to try this for 1 month in January just to see if it was in fact doable and I quickly amassed 5,000 points. This is equivalent to one $5 gift card.
Points vary of course based on the brands you purchase but a basic receipt scan with no products (like a gas receipt) give you 25 points. I noticed that when using the app following a grocery visit with my normal purchases I could earn up to 1,000 points or a single trip.
Then I started to get creative and really look into the program more. It was then I learned just how much pay off potential FETCH could have if you planned your shopping based on items which you might already use but also are a part of the app. You could get bonus bucks for purchasing certain items together and those bonus points added up quickly. Before the end of a month I had $15 in gift cards I could cash out just having learned how the app worked.
This gave me promise that this figure could continue to grow the more I learned about using the app properly.
IBOTTA is a bit different than FETCH in that you get immediate cash back on your
purchases. Retailers on this app are a bit different as well, you find the places you go and open them to see which items you might need can give you cash back.
In addition to weekly items which allow cash back anywhere between $0.10 and $5 you also are given weekly “ANY” items which let you purchase any form of a special kind of product mentioned. For example it could be ANY Cheese, for you which could get any brand and any style and be rewarded $0.20 just for making your regular purchase.
The real power comes when you can combine your ANY item with an already on the list item and get maximum cash back!!
After finding all your items which you are purchasing you can make a redeem list by selecting each. Then when shopping you can use this list to assure you select the right item and just for an added assurance can scan the items barcode to make sure you will get credit following your purchase.
After you checked out you simply log onto the app again and hit the redeem button and then scan your receipt with your phone’s camera. Immediately it will recognize the scan and proceed to your screen for cashing out.
In addition to cashing out on items you are purchasing, the app also rewards you for continued use and creates bonus cash which you can achieve through different tasks.
Monthly they offer a bonus just for purchasing a certain amount of merchandise or number of items as well. They do have an option to complete tasks as teams, which just means you add your amount of purchases to other friends who might also use the app and you get bigger quicker bonuses.
I started using IBOTTA at the same time as FETCH and would scan my receipts side by side, because YES you can use both!! I noticed that the mix and match style was a bit more work to set up my purchases initially but it is a very easy to learn process and I saw results pile up to around $40 within my first month of use. I wasn’t even aware I could link my friend for the team challenge until about mid month so I did miss out on some bonus offers because of that, so I definitely recommend teams!!
Again within only a month I was more than satisfied with my earnings and since this one can be immediately cashed out it was very nice to know that just within moments of my purchase I could have a refund or I could let it stack up and cash it out when it comes time to plan an adventure.
Breakdown
If during a single month I was able to accumulate $40 on IBOTTA and $15 on FETCH that is $55 a month in savings just for doing my regular shopping. Though I do predict this will grow as I become more well versed in the apps and the best ways to use them, if I made no additional efforts and just continued as is I would be able to save $660 in a year just for scanning my receipts. That can be a nice trip for a vacation if you plan it right.
Who doesn’t want to have a little stash back that doesn’t make them have to modify any of their regular monthly spending? We could all use a vacation and if that can be achieved through doing something we do regularly already why not??
Referral Codes For Team & Bonus Cash:
If you would like to join IBOTTA and be a part of my personal friends to assure you are not without a team when you download the app use code: FFXLJSX
If you would like to join my FETCH friends you can do so by downloading the app and entering code: BC8W2
If you download either I do not make a commission however with FETCH they do reward YOU 2000 points for signing up with my referral. Literally that is $2 right off the bat!!! Already you are making money toward your personal vacation!! Happy Travels!!!