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Guess what? It’s only five months until Christmas. With five kids and a large extended family saving for Christmas is definitely on my mind. While I will put back money out of our regular checks from our jobs, I also try to incorporate some other strategies that easily allow us to save money and increase our Christmas budget. Here are some of my favorite ways to painlessly save money for Christmas or any other goal you might have.
1. Ebates
I have been a member of Ebates.com for several years and have earned over $1,200 in cash back on purchases I already make online. To use Ebates, you simply sign up for an account. When you are shopping online, check Ebates to see if the store you are shopping at is part of their program. If it is, go to that site by using the link on Ebates. When you make a purchase, a percentage of your purchase will be credited back to you. There are tons of stores and companies that are part of the Ebates program and we use it for just about everything. We even bought a riding lawn mower once through Sears.com and Ebates in order get a percentage of our purchase back.
Ebates pays you the money that you have collected via PayPal four times a year. My next payment from Ebates will be paid on August 15 and I’ll get another payment on November 15! There is also a handy browser button that you can install if you use Google Chrome that allows you to activate an Ebates shopping trip without ever going to the actual Ebates website.
2. Ibotta
Ibotta is a nifty app that allows you to choose items from their list to receive a rebate from. Once you purchase that item from a participating store, you just take a picture of your receipt and you are credited for that rebate. Ibotta also pays via PayPal but you choose when you are paid. As long as you have $20 in your account you can cash out. I cashed out over $100 in May. I currently have $18.55 hanging out in my account and I don’t intend to cash it out until I’m ready to start Christmas shopping. Since I started using Ibotta, I have made over $300.
Ibotta is also unique in that you can build a team and work together to complete bonuses. By completing bonuses you get extra money credited to your account. I would love for you to join my team! You can use this link and receive a $10 welcome bonus!
3. Checkout 51
Checkout 51 is another app that I use to collect rebates on items we buy. It is very similar to Ibotta. However, I don’t tend to earn as much on Checkout 51 as I do on Ibotta. I currently have about $7.25 in my Checkout 51 account. Like Ibotta, I won’t be able to cash out via PayPal until I hit the $20 threshold. Sometimes the rebates on Checkout 51 and Ibotta overlap which means that I earn double rebates on the same items.
4. Fetch Rewards
Fetch Rewards is also similar to Ibotta and Checkout 51 but you don’t collect cash. You receive points for scanning your grocery receipts. You can then use the points that you accumulate to get gift cards to various places. There are gift cards available for everything from Sephora to Best Buy. Using gift cards to help with you Christmas shopping cuts back on the amount of cash you have to spend so I love collecting gift cards to help me save for Christmas. Use code TT0AM when you sign up for Fetch Rewards to earn an extra 1,500 points when you upload your first receipt.