My new Fitbit and how I saved $40 on it with shopkick and Ibotta
I would like to consider myself to be a fairly active person and for awhile I dismissed the idea of investing in a daily tracker. A few years ago, the idea of a Fitbit started to grow on me but I held off because I didn't like how large the Charge was but I didn't like how the smaller version, the Flex, wouldn't display time or steps on it. So I patiently waited until Fitbit released the Alta this spring. It's slim like the Flex but it will show the time, steps, calories burned, active minutes, and battery life among other things. I wish it had heart rate like the new Charge but I am pretty content with this investment.
I went back and forth once the Alta was released because I am a pretty conservative spender. I considered using my graduation money, asking for one for my birthday in July, or waiting until Black Friday for a good deal. I decided it would be worth asking for it for my birthday and thus not getting it on sale as it would be used literally every single day. I changed my mind when I realized I could buy it for myself now (using graduation money) and still save a good chunk of change. Read on to see how I saved $40 on my new Fitbit.
The Alta retails at $129.95 across the board no matter where you look (Fitbit site, Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.) and then you need to consider sales tax. In Indiana, I had an extra $9.10 in sales tax, bringing my grand total to $139.05. Through shopkick and Ibotta, I only ended up paying $99.05. I have had the shopkick app on my phone for awhile but hadn't tried out Ibotta until a few weeks ago. I had seen Ibotta adds on Pinterest but didn't try it out until reading this post on Carter's aunt's blog.
I saved $40 with a $10 Best Buy gift card earned from redeeming shopkick kicks, a $20 Best Buy gift card from Ibotta, and a $10 back for $100 spent at Best Buy from Ibotta. I explained how I earned these cards below:
Shopkick
You don't have to buy anything to earn rewards through shopkick, you just need to have the free app opened when you walk in the store. You can earn kicks (points) for free through walking into eligible stores and earn more kicks by scanning select items. You are able to get more kicks through certain stores that will do x amount of kicks per dollars spent (i.e. 2 kicks per $1 spent.) You can also get a lot of kicks if you buy eligible items and upload an image of your receipt.
Once you have earned enough kicks, you can trade your kicks for gift cards to a bunch of different places such as Starbucks, Amazon, Best Buy, or Target. You can get gift cards in different amounts such as $2, 5, 10, 25, or more depending on the store.
If you are interested in trying out shopkick, use THIS LINK (You will get some bonus points and I will too; one step closer to some free money!)
Ibotta
Ibotta is more of an instate rebate program. You have to spend money in order to get money back with this app. You sort through the free app by category and unlock rebates that you are interested in. Then you go and buy those items and take a picture of the receipt (some items need to have the barcode scanned too) and they will give your money back as a credit in the app. Certain stores will also give you money back if you spend enough. For example, Joann's will do a deal where you get $5 back on purchase of $35 or more and Best Buy did a deal for $10 back from every $100 spent.
Once you have enough in Ibotta credit, you can withdraw this money to your PayPal or Venmo account or trade it in for gift cards.
If you are interested in trying out Ibotta, use THIS LINK or this referral code: kuyurmp (You will get a $10 bonus after redeeming your first rebate and I will get $5)
2 comments
High five for maximizing your bonuses to save extra money! I love that $5 ibotta for Jo-Anns...I try to group my shopping so I can use that one every time I go. I haven't redeemed any of my ibotta money yet though, I really need to!
ReplyDeleteI used the $5 Jo-Ann's once but I have cut back on my trips because I am pretty content with what's in my craft stash so that's helping save me some money. I have a big trip planned there but waiting to use a $20 off $75 in a few weeks!
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