Shopping is a lot of people’s favorite activity. I’ve known people who literally shop till they drop. However enjoyable it is, shopping can cost a lot.
You are going to have to shop for the rest of your life, so why not make that activity work for you? I’m sure, like the rest of us, you are trying to save money while you shop so you stick to the basics.
There is one thing that is very difficult to limit – grocery shopping. (We all need to eat)
It is estimated that the average American household spends over $7000 a year on groceries.
If only you could get paid to grocery shop…It turns out, you can! Instead of paying for the items you need, you can actually get paid to go shopping – you can do it in your spare time or as a part of your normal purchases.
Be a Secret Shopper
If you have some time on your hands, becoming a secret or mystery shopper can bring you free items plus some money on the side! If you are not aware of what are mystery shoppers, you might be in for a very pleasant surprise!
Mystery shoppers or secret shoppers get paid to shop. The method is used by research organizations or watchdog websites to get honest reviews on businesses in different areas.
The organization hires individuals to go to a certain business and shop there and later file a report on their experience. Secret shoppers normally get to keep what they bought and are reimbursed by the company that hired them.
There is also a small compensation – depending on the gig, you might get between $5 and $25. But hey, free products and a bit of money – what’s not to like about that?
To get paid to go shopping as a secret shopper you would first need to do a bit of research and find some local opportunities. Go on Google and search for secret shopper gigs in your area. There should be more than one opportunity – register on all mystery shopper networks you can find and keep an eye out on the tasks that become available.
Use Ibotta
If you don’t have time to get involved in mystery shopping activities, then you can earn while doing your grocery shopping!
Meet Ibotta – your new favorite shopping app. Ibotta is technically not paying you, but it is rewarding you for your regular purchases in a form of cashback.
In simple terms, you are spending the money anyway, so why not get something back by using Ibotta?
How Does Ibotta Work?
Ibotta is kind of a coupon app, but instead of receiving a discount at the register, you are getting money back on the purchases that you can withdraw to your account. When you register with Ibotta, you will get to see their coupons and offers.
You can use Ibotta both for online shopping and in-store shopping so whatever your preferred shopping method is this app has you covered. On the app, you will find digital coupons.
To redeem the coupon, you will need to press the “+” button. This will now give you two options: watch a short ad or answer a question.
The questions are not of the intrusive type but related to the coupon you have chosen. For example, if you are buying pastries, you might get a question about which of the given flavors is your favorite.
As simple as that! Once you’ve added the coupon to your account, you can get paid to go shopping. After visiting the website or the store you have chosen the coupon for, you would need to save the receipt to verify the purchase. This can be done by scanning the QR code on the bottom of the receipt.
If there is no QR code, don’t panic as you will just need to snap a photo of the entire receipt to verify your purchase. You will receive cash back from Ibotta within the next few hours depending on the coupons you have selected. Coupons can give you back a fixed cashback on a certain product or a percentage of your overall shopping in the selected store.
Don’t miss the chance to get money back – start using Ibotta today!
How Will You Get the Money?
Ibotta will accumulate the cashback you receive from your purchases on the app. Once you’ve earned over $20, you can choose to withdraw the amount onto your bank account or buy vouchers.
The vouchers are usually discounted, so if you want to buy a $25 voucher, you may only need to pay $20. Cash withdrawals are made through Paypal, so after you reach $20 on your Ibotta account, you are free to withdraw them at any time. Or you can simply choose to forget that the money is there and let it pile up.
Is It Worth It?
Ibotta will not make you a fortune, but it is sure worth it. This app has regular cash back on everyday items such as bread, milk or eggs. You normally get $0.5 cash back on such purchases.
If you buy milk every day (which you probably do!), that’s 365 days you can get $0.5 back. Easy math – that’s $182.5 you can get back from grocery shopping. Different offers are available at different times, but the essentials are normally covered.
You can also set up local alerts and you will receive a notification every time you are in a shop that has a coupon on offer. And the best part is, with Ibotta a dollar is a dollar.
There are no points that you will need to exchange for money – everything you see on the app is in dollars so there is no room for confusion. Ibotta gives you back part of the money that you would’ve spent anyway – why not start using it?
Plus, you can also join challenges for extra earning! One of their recurring challenges is the Weekend Warrior – you need to redeem three coupons on the same weekend and you will earn $5 extra.
That is a double win – you get your discount and you get paid to go shopping with Ibotta!
Since we are already spending the money anyway, why not use the opportunities and get something back. You might think it is only pennies but over the course of a year, you are looking at some decent amount of money you can earn by being paid to shop!
Even if you don’t have enough time to go around looking for secret shopper gigs, using Ibotta doesn’t cost you anything nor it takes a lot of your time!
Be smart and start small – use Ibotta and use the money you will earn to treat yourself!
