Best Shopping Apps for Saving Money

I grew up in a household with a mother who was constantly bargain hunting. She'd only get certain things if they were on sale and she had a coupon. She would take advantage of double coupons, price matching, and using a manufacturer and store coupon at the same time. Some people may think this is a waste of time, but it's basically free money, at least to me! I caught on to the thrill of the hunt, and my boyfriend thinks it's silly that I look at the online ad, gather up my list and my coupons, and then go to the store. But I think it's smart. We can spend our money on other things if we save it where we can. Some of my friends have also noticed all the great deals I get, so I thought I'd write a post about a few tips and also a couple apps that I use to stretch my dollars further.

shopkick is a free app that turns shopping into a game. When you enter certain stores (Target, Best Buy, and Macy's to name a few), you open up the app and a bubble comes up that you pop to get your "kicks." When you've reached a certain number of kicks, you can exchange them for a reward, like a gift card. There are also coupons within the app, lookbooks to browse, and you can earn even more kicks by looking for specific items in the store and scanning them. Yes, it takes a little extra time, but don't most of us go to Target knowing that we won't quite stick to our list anyway? I haven't redeemed my kicks yet, but after using the app for a few months mainly just when I go to Target, I have enough for the $5 gift card rewards.

Endorse is a really cool app, that I'm able to take advantage of maybe once a month or so. Endorse gives you about 15 or so offers each week - like 10% off fast food or 20% off Nature Valley Granola Bars. If you buy those items, you upload a photo of your receipt to Endorse. Then they give you some money back. It's that simple. They also have a component where you get points that equal money for charity. Just now as I was reading the site, I realized that you get charity points for every receipt you upload, even if no offers are involved. I wish I would have realized that sooner! Some examples of offers I've gotten - 50% off champagne or beer (around New Year's) and 10% off any brand of pet food. You should definitely download the app. Once you hit $25 you can get a check, otherwise you can have your earnings put in your PayPal account. Very cool and super easy way to save money!
Disclaimer - the link above is a referral link - please use it : )

I was going to talk about Meijer's app, but I know that's sort of a midwest thing. If you do shop at Meijer though, make sure you sign up for their mPerks program.


So what apps do you use or tricks do you have to save money? I'd also love to know which stores are worth getting a credit card at or signing up for their email list. I may do another post about that and also one about getting the most free stuff around your birthday! Happy Saturday! I cannot believe there is snow on the ground here...

Earth-Friendly Tip!

Happy April! I am all for making the whole month about the earth instead of just one day, so I'll try to share some sustainability tips with you. Here's my first helpful hint!

Don't you hate the way some things are packaged? Like at some point I can't get anymore toothpaste/shampoo/body wash/lotion out of its container, and I feel like I've been cheated. And more than I hate wasting money, I hate waste in general. So I have a nifty little trick to share (you've probably already thought of this, but in case you haven't)! 

I use a pan scraper, or if you don't have that, something with a flat edge that's somewhat thin and sturdy. Starting at the end furthest from the opening, use the scraper to push whatever's left to the other end. Then find some sort of handy container and both your hands' squeezing power to empty the contents into your container. With toothpaste, you can't really empty it into anything else, but at least you can squeeze more out of it! 

Then find a cool store near you like Tree Huggers or participate in Terracycle to be even more earth friendly and recycle your tube! 

What tricks do you have for reducing waste or making life easier? I'd love to hear!

Living the Frugal Life

This post is brought to you by CampusBookRentals.com! I'm personally done with school, at least for now, but I know many of you still are at it, so here's another resource when looking for affordable textbooks!

CampusBookRentals.com provides lots of great perks:
-save 40-90% off of bookstore prices

-free shipping both ways
-can highlight in the textbooks
-15 days grace period
-flexible renting periods

Campus Book Rentals also recently launched a program to rent your old books to other people. They've found that you will make 2-4 times more than if you sell your book back to the store (and in my experience, the store won't even buy it back half the time). Learn more about this at RentBack.com!

Couldn't find straight up photos of me with textbooks, but here is a flashback - studying for my first set of college finals! Seems like forever ago...

So before I let you go, let's talk about Operation Smile for a minute! Did you know that a cleft palate can cause ear disease and dental problems? It can also impair speech and make it difficult to eat and drink. Approximately 1 in 500-700 births result in a cleft palate.


Operation Smile mobilizes a world of generous hearts to heal children's smiles and transform lives across the globe. They believe that all children deserve to live their lives with dignity, and that for those suffering from cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial deformities, dignity begins with a smile. Driven by a universal compassion for children, they work worldwide to repair childhood facial deformities by delivering safe, effective surgery and related medical care directly to patients.


Campus Book Rentals donates to Operation Smile with each book rented!

Not only are you getting a great deal on an originally overpriced book, but you're donating to a great cause. As you start looking at books for summer classes or selling back books at the end of the spring semester, consider CampusBookRentals.com so you can spend your hard earned money on other, more important things!