How I made $451 in cash back this year (so far)
Who doesn’t like free money? I love a good deal, and I’ve been using a few apps religiously that give me cash back for things I’m already doing or buying. I’ve used or looked into just about every app for this type of thing, and these are my favorite apps that I’ve stuck with and ended up making nearly $500 this year!
I’ve been using Rakuten since 2017 and have earned nearly $800 in total, and this year, I hit a record $282.23 in cash back. That is 100% FREE MONEY for buying things I would buy online anyway. This used to be eBates and is a completely reputable company. Every store/brand sets the amount of cashback they want to offer for purchasing through Rakuten. It varies from 2% up to 20% sometimes. Download the app on your phone or add it as an extension to Google Chrome, alerting you when there’s cashback on a site you’re browsing. You’re buying directly from the site you usually would, but going through Rakuten first adds a little “tag” of some sort and rewards you for going through them first.
One of the ways I get large amounts of cash back is to book all my travel and concert tickets through Rakuten.
Sign up for Rakuten here, and you’ll get an extra $30 back after your first purchase!
Stop trying to make fetch happen - probably my friends to me because I ask them every time they get a receipt if they’ve uploaded it to Fetch. I got Fetch last year, and it’s an app where you literally take a photo of your receipt — ANY receipt — within their app, and at a minimum, you’ll get 25 points. Some brands, mainly big-name brands, can give you thousands of points per purchase. You can cash the points in for rewards once you reach enough points (5,000). So far this year, I’ve cashed in $45 in Amazon gift cards and $25 in Sephora. I’ve got ~7k points in the back now, adding up!
The best part is you don’t need to do any prep. You can go into the app and see what items or brands offer many points, but you don’t HAVE to do anything. You open the app, snap your receipt, and BOOM! Free money!
You can join Fetch using this link (and if you want to use my code VVXKCY you’ll get extra points on your first snap!)
If you purchase gas, you should absolutely be using Upside. Although it also works for restaurants and groceries, I tend only to remember to use Upside when I’m going to buy gas. Before I get gas each time, I open the Upside app, look at all the gas stations around me, and compare which offers the most cash back. I usually get 15-20 cents cash back per gallon. This year, I’ve earned $69.20 just from getting gas.
To earn cash back, you “Claim” an offer from the station or store you want and then confirm in the app once you’ve paid. An easy peasy way to earn money.
If you sign up with my link, you’ll get an extra 15 cents the first time you use the app. Also, if you want to pass it along to your friends, you earn 1 cent back for every gallon they buy in the future.
OneKey is the rewards program shared by Expedia, Hotels.com, and VRBO. When possible, I book all my flights, rental cars, and hotels through these sites. Again, I start with the Rakuten app if I’m on my phone, and it redirects me to the Expedia app, for example.
Not only do you get cash back for all purchases, but you also collect trip elements for every purchase and quickly move up in a tiered system.
My favorite thing about this rewards program is that once you book through a OneKey eligible service, you get a percentage off all other travel needs (flights, cars, other hotels, etc.) until the last day of your booked trip. You also get VIP perks at some hotels during your stay.
I am big on loyalty because it adds up, and this is a good one, in my opinion! This year I’ve earned about $100 in OneKeyCash, which can be applied directly to bookings.
You can sign up for this program directly through Expedia, Hotels.com, or VRBO next time you’re on the site.
This one was a random download for me while doing 75 Hard. This app connects with your Health app (if you have an iPhone) and gives you points for doing daily activities like exercising, taking steps, tracking your weight, etc. You can also take surveys within the app for more points. You earn $10 for every 10,000 points you rack up, which is honestly pretty easy when you don’t even have to do anything! You can download the app and get to tracking here.
What are your favorite apps for cash back?
Thanks for reading :)
