First, I would like to talk about some free library apps.. I work there, so I have the hook ups! All you need is a library card and you are good to go!
Overdrive: This is an app that lets you check out books and audiobooks to your device. It's great for ereaders, smartphones, laptops/computers. A great way to access books without going into the library. You don't even have to worry about late fees! They will expire and you don't have to "return" them.
Freegal: You log in with your card information and you have access to thousands of music downloads. Your library will have a set number ranging from 3-7 downloads per week. They reset every Sunday at midnight. You can download the allotted amount each week and these are yours. You download them to your computer, can transfer to phone and they are yours forever.
Zinio: This is another app strictly for magazines. It works the same was as the books but for magazines!
Cash back apps that WORK!
Ebates: This is just an amazing app. This is how this works... You download the app and when you purchase things only, buy through the app. You can also use it on your desktop but I have found that usually they give you 1% more back in the app. Not always the case, but double check before you purchase on your desktop. Anyways, you get back a % of whatever you spend. For example, I want to get a pair of new tennis shoes from Kohl's. I open up my Ebates app, find Kohl's (Saved in my favorites, of course), notice that they are doing 8% back (awesome!) and hit shop now. It opens up the browser for kohl's, in the app. You then shop and once you have completed your purchase, exit the browser. That easy! Usually, it takes a few hours to a few days to show up in your "cash back activity." So, if I spent $52.10 and get 8% back, that's $4.17 cents! You might not think that's a lot but it adds up fast. I've received back a total of $210.59 since November of last year-2015! That's pretty significant. You also get money for having people sign up with your link. After they make your first purchase, you get the money in your pending cash. They do pay you every 3 months. I'll post the schedule below. If you sign up with my link, you also get a $10 gift card with your first purchase. Here is my link:
| Purchases Posted Between | Big Fat Check Sent |
| Jan 1-Mar 31 | May 15 |
| Apr 1-June 30 | Aug 15 |
| July 1-Sept 30 | Nov 15 |
| Oct 1-Dec 31 | Feb 15 |
Receipt Hog: This is a newer app for me. I've been using it since January and I've already hit the first tier. How this works, is that you get money back for sending them pictures of your receipts. THAT IS IT! So easy. You shop anyways, so before throwing out the receipts, send them to receipt hog. This is a bit more complicated but I'll do my best to inform you how it works. Obviously, you download the app. Once you sign up, you start sending them your receipts. Different receipts for different categories, get you different earnings. Yeah, I know, confusing! You have two weeks to send snap a pic and do a star rating, after your purchase. They then will approve it for coins, entries to the monthly sweepstakes, or spins on the slot machine. You can only do up to 20 receipts a week too. There are levels and challanges that you can climb too. Anyways, the rewards.. You have two options: Amazon gift card or Paypal.
Amazon & Paypal:
1000 coins = $5
1800 coins= $10
3200 coins = $20
4500 coins = $30
Ibotta: This is an app strictly, for your grocery shopping. They also have some small categories for household items. You can sometimes get lucky and they will be running a special for Sephora. Anyways, onto how this works... Once you get home from grocery shopping, open up your app and select the store you were shopping at. They will have a lot of categories and you go through them to look for items that you have purchased. Sometimes you can only unlock the item if it's a specific brand, of say, juice. There are other times that it will be a general picture and you can use any brand. You then have to watch a small clip or answer one question to unlock the price. Then you scan your items from the store, which you have unlocked. Don't cheat, it knows! After it accepts your items, you have to upload your receipt. Just an FYI, you can't use the same receipt twice, if you have two of the same items. You then earn cash and are able to cash out at $20. It's another way to earn cash, even though it can take a while. It's worth it. They have started linking loyalty reward cards to your account. Then all you have to do is use your card and it figures it out for you! Unfortunately, they have a small amount of stores on the list at this time. Here's my referral link & code. It gives you a $10 credit when you use my code and redeem a rebate! I only get $5, so it really helps you out more than me! :)
Ibotta Referral Link Here's the code, just in case you need it: rumjlus
Shopkick: This app rewards you for shopping! You get "kicks" aka reward points for walking into a store and scanning products. To be honest, I usually don't have time to scan the products but I do try to turn it on just to get the "walk in" points. There's a ton of participating stores and the amounts you can get for walking in vary, day by day. You then turn those kicks/points into gift cards to your favorite stores! I need to be better with this one. I do have a $10 Sephora gift card sitting in my account that I could redeem. You can also get kicks for your receipts and for Credit card purchases. You can link your cred it card, I have not done this yet. Here's my link, we each get $2 in kicks for signing up with my referral!
Cartwheel: This is an app that is through Target. They have a lot of different sales and % off items and they add new ones frequently. Some sales last a few days, some a few months. You start with I think 2 open slots and then unlock badges for more slots. If you buy certain items or hit certain goals, you get more slots. It's really easy to do. I know there has been a time when they have had 50% off all TV shows at Target. I've also used it for an extra 20% off clearance prices. It really does add up and they have some great deals sometimes! It's definitely worth it, if you shop at Target a lot. Along those lines, Target offers a debit card **NOT A CREDIT CARD** that gives you 5% off every single purchase you make. You also get free shipping online and an extra 30 days for returns. It has saved us a lot of money over the years! I highly recommend the debit card.
Now... there are some websites that you can join and get free items to review. The catch is that you don't always get items and you have to be patient. When you do get items, you will have your work cut out for you. Essentially, it's not free when you realize the amount of time you put into reviewing and so on.
BzzAgent: They were really giving me campaigns that I could hardly keep up. It's been 7 months and I haven't had a thing. So I'm not sure if I should be more patient but I'm hanging in there. In my opinion, this one takes a lot of work. You have to do several reviews, photos, tweets, pinterest boards and instagram posts. There's a lot of work but it's worth it. I've received so much free food (meals even) and even some makeup and a razor! If you have some free time, check it out!
Influenster: This one is even harder to get boxes from but when you do it's amazing! There's also a lot to do with them but you usually get a ton of items in some of their boxes. I've received 4-5 boxes in the last two years and it's been worth it. I just finished up one for deodorant. It's really worth it but you do have a lot of wait time in between boxes.
Pinchme: This can get really frustrating at times. I've received quite a few boxes and this is just samples. They will release samples every month on a Tuesday, at noon. You have to be on the site at noon or you will miss out. It can be frustrating because the site will not work correctly or they just constantly tell you that you do not qualify for samples. It's been a while, since I've received a box because I just forget. So if you are up for a challenge, this could be a box for you!
Some rewards cards/accounts you most definitely need to have.....
Kroger Plus Card: This is a rewards card at Kroger. If you shop there, you should have one. You get better prices with it and even better bonus points. For example, on certain weeks, they have 4X bonus points on gift cards. A few times a year, it's only for those who have downloaded the coupon to their digitally. Another huge perk, is the free Fridays! Every Friday, they have a free item. Sometimes it's not much, like a piece of candy. Other times, there's a meal or something more significant. A lot of times, it's something newer and that's nice to get to try out for free!
Yes2You Rewards (Kohl's): If you shop at Kohl's, this is a must have. For every $1 spent, you get 1 point. You then get a $5 reward for every 100 points. It might seem like it's not the best deal. I promise, they add up quickly. I've received a lot of $$ from these rewards. I usually get at least $5 every month. I think the biggest reward I've received was $45!! That was around Christmas and Black Friday time. We shop at Kohl's a lot. Although, not as much now because they have seemed to really lower their customer service. That's another story. Now, back to the rewards. They do send you a $10 coupon for your birthday with the rewards and offer bonus points. Some times when they are having a sale, they will send out certain items with bonus points. The last one I remember, was Christmas time, they offered 3X bonus points on the toys. They also offer more coupons too. It is a must have if you shop at Kohl's regularly. If you would like a referral, please send me your email!
Sephora: Even if you don't buy makeup at Sephora, you need this. You get 1 point per $1 spent. If you reach $325 a year, you get VIB (Very Important Beauty Insider) status, which is much better than BI (Beauty Insider) status. If you spend $1,000 you will be a VIB Rouge. You can use your points towards different items in their points shop. They have rewards at 100 points and up. You can get some good things but not the greatest rewards system. Another great thing, you get a birthday gift in your birthday month. You don't even have to buy anything! Nada! That's where not buying anything doesn't matter. You at least get a free birthday gift every year! It's usually a deluxe sample of something pretty good. You also get to buy new items before everyone else if you have VIB/VIB Rouge status.
Ulta Rewards: There's two different stages: Regular and Platinum. If you spend more than $450 in a calendar year, you become Platinum. Platinum is AMAZING. You have some awesome perks. They will frequently do special promotions "21 days of beauty" during a couple months a year. With platinum, you get free shipping, no minimum! That's huge because shipping is always free, if you spend $50. That can be a lot. Anyways, you also get a lot more emails of bonus point days and cheaper items on sale. The beauty about their point system is that you can get a ton of points on their bonus days. If you get 5X points on a certain brand or on certain days, it really helps you rack up those points quickly. You get to cash in your points for $ off amounts for anything in the store/online. Huge deal!! You can save up your points and wait to cash them in, which I'm currently doing! You also get a gift on your birthday but you have to have made a purchase that year, before your birthday. You do get 2X points for your whole month on every purchase, regardless of your status. If you are Platinum, you get a bonus gift. Below, I posted a picture of their points for $ rewards.
**There's also a Bing account that you can get and when you do a certain amount of Bing searches in a day, you get points. You can use those points towards items and even a full month of HULU Plus free! My friend has started it and I just couldn't commit to it. It's a lot of searches and I don't like Bing, no offense. It's a lot of points you need to rack up. So I will update and let you know how my friend does with it! **
This is pretty long. I think I will do the Birthday freebies at a later date. Maybe after I get all mine and I can tell you what exactly you get from where. There's a lot! So be on the look out for that. :)
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