Hey. When shopping I’ve always been interesting in getting the most out of my money and maximizing the ammount of cashback I get. With introduction of Personal Shortcuts in iOS 13 it is now even easier.
Here is a few examples of how I use it
Apps with Deep Links
I often find myself ordering from DoorDash, Grubhub or Postmates. It is easy to forget that if I order through the iBotta app I will get some extra cashback. That’s why I’ve created a rule ‘Each time I open DoorDash/GrubHub/Postmates suggest opening iBotta’. From now on, each time I open one of these apps, I get a notifcation suggesting me to open iBotta.
Interested in joining iBotta? Here is my referral link. If you sign up by 31/07 we both get 3 USD.
Scanning Receipts
I ALWAYS scan my receipts using Scanner Pro before uploading them to Emma. On my phone I’ve three apps that gives me cashback for scanning my receipts. These are ReceiptPal, ReceiptHog and Coinout. In order to not forget to upload the receipts after each purchase, I have crated a rule ‘Suggest opening ReceiptPal/ReceiptHog/Coinout each time I open Scanner Pro’. Each time I open Scanner Pro I’ll then receive 3 notifcations, one for each app. Clicking them opens the app.
Location based receipts
If you want to go even further you can include location in your shortcuts. IBotta gives me cashback each time I shop at Walmart or HEB. So I’ve created a rule saying ‘Each time I go to Walmart/HEB suggest opening iBotta. That way I will never forget to scan my receipt into the app.
Want to take it even further? Let’s say you regulary go to one spesific Starbucks. Create a shortcut ‘Suggest I open ScannerPro each time I enter Starbucks’.
Coinout gives you cashback in USD, you can pay it out to your PayPal or bank account.
Receipt Hog gives you points you can redeem for an Amazon Gift card, Prepaid VISA or transfer PayPal. ReceiptPal gives you points you can redeem for Amazon or other gift cards. With iBotta you can withdraw to PayPal or Venmo or use it for different gift cards.
The value of your apps depends on the app and sometime the retailer. Coinout usually gives me a few cents, not much but over the last months I’ve collected 2.50 USD. With Receipt Hog I get between 1 and 10 coins for each receipts. I’ve 436 coins. I need a 1000 coins for a 5 USD Amazon Gift card. Receipt hog also gives you ‘Sweepstackes’. You get one for each receipt and you can ‘Spin a wheel’ and compete to win more coints.
I downloaded ReceiptPal about an hour ago and have just scanned my first receipt. I haven’t gotten the cashback yet, so I don’t know many points I’ll get, but I know that you can redeem 4000 points for a 10 USD giftcard.
In other words, you won’t get rich, but you will get something. I’m lazy and if it is to diffcult, I won’t bother. That’s why I’ve been trying to automate it as much sa possible.
I don’t. I’ve tried a few services like that, but I’ve yet to find one where you can redeem your points from a survey without having to take close a million services, making the service itself useless.
What I ment is that for the websites that I’ve signed up for that offers points for surveys, requires you to have a set ammount of points in order to be able to redeem them. In order to meet that goal I’ve found that I need to take a crazy ammount of surveys, making it not worth it.
Ah I seeeee! yeah that’s annoying. It seems quite big amongst the finance bloggers in the UK. I see people withdrawing £10-15 into their PayPal which seems good. But yeah I don’t know how long that takes. haha
It is certainly possible, but the time spent at taking the surveys could be better spent at something else. It takes to long, compared to scanning a receipt which only takes a few seconds.
Pay using my Amex Platinum rewards credit card or if not accepted I use a PayPal option, if available, and then use my Amex Platinum rewards credit card from PayPal.
Remember if you have any issues through PayPal you will likely have to cry to them directly rather than being able to deal with American Express’ amazing customer support
not that I’ve ever withdrawn any money ;(