The first thing I did was visit Swagbucks. This site is free to join and gives a variety of ways to earn some gift cards to some of the most popular sites. You could even redeem your points for cash that can be deposited into your paypal account! Here's what a lot of people don't know. Swagbucks has a section full of coupons! Best of all, you get 10 Swagbucks for every coupon you redeem. I printed a few I knew I would be able to use and took them with me.
Ibotta is a smartphone app that saves you money in the form of rebates. They offer a variety of products ranging from paper towels, to shampoo to orange juice. After you buy the item, you upload the receipt to prove your purchase. The money you save is added into your account. Once you reach $5. you can transfer your money into your paypal account. What makes this smartphone app so amazing is that you can get bonuses when you buy several items. For example, they had a list of products and if you purchased 10 of the items on the list you got an additional $20 in your account.
Before I left the house, I checked two smartphone apps I use to make quick cash. FieldAgent and Zappidy pay you to perform tasks at businesses. The best way I can describe it is mystery shopping. You don't actually shop, though. You are getting paid by companies to make sure their product displays are up and running. You may also get a task that asks you to take pictures of shelves in supermarkets, so that companies see if their products and marketing are being used correctly. They take a few minutes to complete. I've received payment very quickly, sometimes within 20 minutes.
Here is the breakdown of what I earned and how much I spent.
Coupons + Smartphone Apps 37.75
Groceries 27.87
My Profit! 9.88
My shopping trip earned me $9.88 on top of all the stuff you see in the picture!
The total price of all the products I purchased was $27.87.
I used $2.50 in coupons I printed from Swagbucks.
I received $17.75 from the smartphone app Ibotta.
I earned 13.50 from the smartphone app FieldAgent.
I earned 4.00 from the smartphone app Zapiddy.
Here's another plus. Swagbucks has a local deals area that offers printable coupons you can use at business in your area. The three coupons I used will get me 30 swagbucks! That's enough to take my son to the movies with their bogo movie theater offer. It will cost me $5 for both of us to go to the movies. YAY!
I am currently using other sites and smartphone apps that I will be sharing with you soon. Just wanted to show you what can be done with a few apps and a little creativity!
