How not to waste money with Ibotta: Found Money #7

There are so many apps that pay you to scan your receipts…you have to draw the line somewhere if couponing is not your favorite hobby. I chose Ibotta, and I’ll explain here how I use Ibotta to save a little money without:

Screwing up
Spending time
Buying crap I don’t need

This post includes affiliate links.

If you’re just looking for an Ibotta referral for the free $10, here you go. Read on for Ibotta tips.

First, realize what Ibotta and similar apps are designed for: data mining.

You think you’re “proving” that you bought an item by scanning your receipt.
What’s actually happening is that companies are buying your receipt info.
- If you’re cool with that, and the ridiculous permissions you have to grant these data mining apps (sure, you can have access to my contacts, camera, and please take my bank password too so I can save 50 cents on Cheerios!), great: download Ibotta.
- If you are annoyed that you “have to” give your name/phone number/address/app permissions to every stinking store that exists so they can track your purchases, know that you can opt out by simply refusing to give them any info. (Also, it’s quite fun to watch the cashier’s brain explode when she asks for your phone number or email and you say, “I would prefer not to.”)

OK, so you decided to use the Ibotta app even though it’s creepy. Here’s how to maximize your Ibotta savings:

Do not buy crap you don’t normally buy just because it’s “free” or cheap.
Do not forget to immediately submit your receipt. You only have one week from date of purchase to claim Ibotta rebates.
- And, don’t throw out the packaging on any item before you scan the barcode.
Know that you will indeed buy crap you don’t normally buy just because it’s “free” or cheap with Ibotta—it’s almost impossible to avoid. Try asking yourself, “Would I buy this if I didn’t get a rebate?”
You need to decide how to account for your initial spending, and what to do with your Ibotta rebate.

#4 is the hardest to deal with.

This is how I think of the purchases I make to get Ibotta rebates:

You can cash out of Ibotta whenever you hit $20. I don’t have a lot of faith in Ibotta lasting forever, so every time I hit $20 I cash out into my PayPal account.

I transfer the Ibotta money from PayPal into my checking account and transfer that into my vacation fund.

I count Ibotta rebates as Found Money—that’s money I can access outside my regular income. Anything from coupons to credit card points to cash I earn selling my clutter counts as Found Money.

Here’s the hard part: I don’t think of the price less the Ibotta rebate when I make purchases. For example:

I’ve saved an Ibotta rebate for $1 off 1 Philadelphia cream cheese brick.
Philadelphia cream cheese bricks are on sale for $1 each at Fry’s.
I count buying one Philadelphia cream cheese brick for $1 at Fry’s as $1 total out of my grocery budget.
I do NOT count it as $1 minus $1 Ibotta rebate = free Philly.

If I don’t count the Ibotta rebate as part of the sale, I keep my Ibotta money separate from my grocery budget and it is Found Money.

If you just want to save money on groceries using Ibotta (instead of counting your Ibotta rebates as Found Money), you’ll need to figure out how to use your Ibotta rebates as grocery money.

You could transfer your Ibotta money into PayPal, then transfer that into your checking account, and:

Pull out that amount in cash if you use the envelope system for groceries.
Pay that amount at the grocery store with your debit card.
Pay that amount at the grocery store with your American Express Blue Cash Preferred card to get 6% cash back, then pay that amount against the credit card from your checking account.

Earn a $300 statement credit when you spend $3,000 in 6 months on a new American Express Blue Cash Preferred credit card: Apply for an American Express Card for the $300 bonus with my link here. Amex Blue Cash Preferred gives you 6% cashback at the grocery store, and 3% cashback on gas.