Frugal Friday - Use the App!

The other day I was at Joann , waiting in line with my 50% off receipt coupon to buy buttons for our button maker, and I heard the lady in front of me reply NO when asked if she had any coupons. NO? omg never pay full price for anything at Joann! Don't you have the app? 

I know, it's annoying that every business expects you to have their app these days. Francis had to download an app to do laundry at Universal's Cabana Bay resort and now he gets laundry emails. That kind of stuff is ludicrous. But when it's places you frequent, you could save so much money with the app!

Craft stores are a great example of why you should always use a coupon. The We R Memory Keeper button machine we have does "refill" bags of 100 buttons. Regular price at Joann for the size we use the most is $32.99 (in the store - the online price is $44.99).  Regular price on Amazon, $34.09, currently discounted to $30.10. Look how much I save using that 50% off coupon at Joann, even if I had purchased online!

Another great example is that mom pick me up, the drive through coffee. If you have the McDonald's app, a large iced coffee (even flavored) is always 99c. It's $2 without the app deal. Is it as customizable as Starbucks? No. But if you could even order a Trenta iced latte on the Starbucks app it would be at least $8. That's an entire week of McDonald's 99c coffee! But while we're on the topic of Starbucks, at least order on the app to get your stars, because those earn you free drinks! Their rewards are nowhere near as generous as McDonald's though. 

Does your grocery store have an app? Use it! Coupons abound! We do most of our grocery shopping at Costco and through our CCSA, but fill in trips at Target are common. Did you know even if you don't have a RedCard at Target, having Cartwheel gives you 1% back? We save up our 1% all year to buy a fun Lego set for Christmas. Another Cartwheel tip: before you check out, make sure you have scanned all the items in your cart with the app. That will automatically pull up and save any Cartwheel discounts or manufacturer coupons, and they will be applied when you have they cashier scan your barcode, or just enter your phone number on the payment terminal at checkout. 

One final money earning tip (and I will add some referral links here): Sell your data for fun & profit! Use those apps where you can scan your receipts for rewards. Some of my favorites are Shopkick, Fetch, Amazon Shopper Panel, and Receipt Hog. You can also get cash back through apps like Rakuten, airline miles through dining rewards like Rapid Rewards Dining (most airlines have some version of this), and earn money for your steps & health related surveys with Evidation. I put all these apps on one screen of my cell phone so I can flip through them for bonuses when I have free time.

One last honorable mention for Atlas Earth: this is a game that lets you earn real money buying land in the metaverse and getting paid rent! You can get Atlas Bucks by watching ads and also by linking your cards just like with Rapid Rewards Dining and using them at certain fast food places. I'm buying metaverse realty with my Atlas Bucks from Lilly's Auntie Anne's pretzels. You do have to be the kind of person who doesn't mind "grinding" for rewards. I play ads while I'm crocheting and already have 22 parcels of land after about 6 weeks.

Have more apps you love? Share them with us!