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Over the past couple years, tons of apps have popped up promising you cash back on everything you buy—but half of them are more of a pain in the ass than they're worth. Here are the ones you should actually look at (and the ones that'll just waste your time).
The Apps That Can Save You Money
The apps below have a wide enough range of cash back offers that are actually useful, not to mention savings that are actually significant. If you're looking to put some extra money in your pocket, these are worth checking out.
SavingStar
The SavingStar app (Free for iOS and Android) lets you link your grocery store loyalty card to your account and search for cash back offers to use on your next trip. Once you buy a cash back eligible item, you use your loyalty card at checkout, or submit a photo of your receipt, and get money added to your SavingStar account. Once your account reaches $5, you can request payment via PayPal, bank transfer, or an Upromise account. The SavingStar web site also allows users to shop online and get cash back at popular retailers.
While the app has a large list of grocery items available for cash back, if your go-to grocery store doesn't use a loyalty or rewards card, the app is useless. Or in my case, you might shop at a regional grocery chain that offers a loyalty card, but it's not a participating grocery store.
BerryCart
If you shop regularly for organic, gluten-free, or non-GMO foods, the BerryCart app (Free for iOS and Android) is worth installing. The app lets you browse grocery items that offer cash back, many of which you're probably buying anyways. Cash back offers vary from fifty cents up to a few bucks depending on the item. After you buy your groceries, simply submit a picture of your receipt and they send you money via PayPal or various gift cards. The app can be used at any store that provides you with a valid receipt.
Before you get paid, you'll have to tolerate what BerryCart calls "Bite-sized insights about each product". These include short fun facts, quizzes, and testimonials. If you're into the healthy lifestyle, these "insights" are probably easy to swallow and can provide useful information.
Ibotta
The folks at Ibotta (Free for iOS and Android) claim to be "Better than Coupons", and I think they may be right. Ibotta picks up where many of the other cash-back apps leave off. They offer cash-back and rebates for grocery stores and retail stores. You unlock cash-back rebates before you go shopping by completing simple tasks. For example, I was able to unlock a $5 rebate for Aeropostale by answering one simple poll question and reading one fact about the company. It literally took less than 30 seconds. Then after I shopped at Aero, I snapped a pic of my receipt and got $5 added to my Ibotta account. Once your account balance reaches $10, you can redeem via PayPal or various gift cards.
Also, by connecting with Facebook, you can create or join a Facebook team with friends who also use Ibotta. By doing so, you can net even bigger bonuses. For example, everyone on my team just received a $10 teamwork bonus because for our increased rebate redemptions.
Ibotta doesn't have a lot of negatives. The biggest complaint from users is the difficulty in scanning a receipt into the app. The app now provides the ability to scan QR codes which should make the process of submitting receipts easier.
The Apps Not Worth Your Time
Of course, for every great app out there, there's another that just doesn't hit the mark. Here are a few apps that have gotten some hype, but fail when it comes to offers you'll actually use.
CartSmart
The CartSmart app (Free for iOS and Android) lets you create a "Smartlist" for your next trip to the grocery store. When you buy products on your list that qualify as "Smart Deals", you'll get money back on them after your receipt is verified. Current Smart Deals include popular items like olive oil, salad dressing, and produce. Your payment is sent via PayPal with no minimum balance required. The coolest feature of the app is the store flyers available to you when planning your next trip.
The number of products available for cash back just isn't big enough to make this worthwhile, though. It's a waste of time to spend more for a few select items just to get a small kickback on your order. When we checked, there were less than twenty products available. Ain't nobody got time for that. Also, while the store flyers feature is a good idea, in reality the stores available is very limiting and currently only includes Safeway and Kroger's.
Checkout 51
Checkout 51 (Free for iOS and Android) allows you to browse grocery offers and coupons and pick the items that you'd be buying anyways and get some money back on them. In my local area, the app offered $0.50 back on a gallon of milk, $1.00 back on Clorox wipes, and $3.00 back on a bottle of Advil. You can request payment via check when your account reaches $20.
The app falls short to me when you analyze the available cash back offers. Many are on products I'd never purchase and they seem to never be replaced with better offers. While new offers are updated every Thursday, the app would be more useful if there were simply more of them. Also, if Checkout 51 increased the number of staple items available for cash back, the app would really be a must have.
Snap by Groupon
Groupon (Free for iOS and Android) entered the cash back app field last year with their Snap app. The app gives you money back on grocery items independent of what store they were purchased from. You simply scan your receipt, tell the app what cash-back eligible items are on the receipt, and they credit your Snap account. Once your account reaches $20, you can request a payment via check.
The usability of the app makes it worth a look. Unfortunately, the limited number of grocery items available for cash back keeps me from truly recommending it. The app currently only has 40 cash back items available. For a company with large reach in the coupon market, you'd think Groupon could do much better than this.
In terms of usability and features, some of these apps are clearly better than others. For me personally, I find the Ibotta and SavingStar app to pack a great one-two punch. They have a wide variety of cash back offers, and they both do exactly what they claim in an easy to understand way. But more importantly, the savings they provide easily outweighs the time they take to use.
from Lifehacker http://ift.tt/1FZjlIV
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