There’s a learning curve to many things in life. Take my spin class, for example. As a jogger, before I started I was a bit skeptical. How much exercise could you really get while sitting on a bike? Still, I went to my first class determined to sweat, and sweat I did. I pedaled, and pedaled, and pedaled so furiously—even when the instructor told us to slow down—that I just about fainted right out of my seat. Turns out spin class was hard, just as hard as jogging if not harder, and there was a learning curve I had to conquer.

That’s true of many things in life (ahem, dating), even simple things like finding the best cash back apps. That’s what I want to help straighten out today, though: how shoppers can choose the best cash back apps. On the surface, you might assume one is as good as the next, but the more complex truth is that each functions a little differently. Some are like digital versions of old paper coupons, others give you rewards for the shopping you do, anyway. Regardless, it’s essential that you first know what features all of the best cash back apps must have. After all, it literally pays to find the best!

Must-Have Qualities for All the Best Cash Back Apps for Shoppers

While the exact details of how each works varies from app to app, there’s some functionality all the best cash back apps should have. Here are a few features and qualities I consider vital:

• Free to use: This is probably the simplest but most essential quality. You shouldn’t have to pay a monthly fee to use an app to get cash back. You also shouldn’t have to pay if you don’t hit a certain level, and you definitely shouldn’t have to pay just to download the app. After all, the goal here is to save you money on the shopping you do every day!
• Available for iPhones and Androids: In my personal opinion, all of the best cash back apps for shoppers work with both platforms. That’s important not only because you might switch phones someday and you want to take all your rewards with you, but also because usually the more people using the app, the greater the savings.
• Saves you money both online and off: Let’s face it, we’re doing as much shopping these days on our phones and computers as at brick-and-mortar stores. No matter which one you choose, your shopping app should score you points wherever you shop.
• Fun to use: In order to maximize your savings, you have to use a cash back app every time you step into the store. In order to make sure you’re doing that, using that app has to be fun.

The All-Time Best Cash Back App for Shoppers

My personal all-time favorite cash back app for shopping hits all these marks and is ridiculously fun to use. It’s called Shopkick, and how it works is that it turns your shopping trips into a fun scavenger hunt for points. Shopkick gives you points for all the things you do anyway while shopping, like scanning products for more information, scanning your receipt, and even just for walking into certain stores. The best part is, once you’ve earned those points you can trade them in for gift cards to your favorite stores, which can seriously boost your budget!

Take it from me: Shopkick really is as good as it gets.

So, while learning curves may be part of life, the road to finding the best cash back apps for shoppers should have very few twists and turns. Take it from me: Shopkick really is as good as it gets. It’s a ton of fun and has made my trips down the aisles way more engaging. With Shopkick, every last trip to the store is less like a chore. You’ll be having so much fun you won’t even be thinking about all the money you’re saving. Won’t that add up to a happy surprise?

Conquer the learning curve and see for yourself why Shopkick is the best cash back app for shoppers. Download Shopkick’s free app and get ready to be wowed. Welcome to the fun, Shopkicker!

If you’re as social media savvy as you are shopping savvy, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping fun.

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Just like some big city grocery store, the app marketplace is really crowded these days—so crowded that it can sometimes be hard to pick which app is best for a specific task. I swear I spent a year searching for the best grocery app to earn rewards for shopping. Why the dedication? Because I shop a ton—I have three hungry boys at home after all—and quite frankly I like saving money. A lot.

I’ve given many of the contenders for best grocery app a whirl over the past year or two and now, to save you some time and effort, I’d like to share my favorites. These are all apps that let you earn rewards for the shopping you do anyway. They’re all sure to help you save some serious cash, too!

My First Grocery App: Ebates

Ebates was the very first grocery app I tried when my boys were young, and it was another mom who tipped me off to the idea of shopping apps. Ebates is a centralized platform where shoppers can search for deals and coupons from more than 1,800 retailers, saving you money when you shop online. I used Ebates for a few months, and it really did help me start to stretch my budget.

Eventually, though, I started to wish there were cash back apps like Ebates that could do a bit more to bolster my budget. So, I ended up seeking out newer apps, many of which are way more fun to use! Finding a grocery app to earn rewards for shopping that is also fun to use is key because then it’s much easier to remember to use it. At least for me anyway!

Best Grocery App for Couponing: SavingStar   

What I liked when I started using SavingStar was how it reminded me of the days when I used to clip coupons. While that’s fun and nostalgic, it’s nice not to be bothered with all that paper anymore! Which is where SavingStar comes in. SavingStar is a digital coupon app that pays users to shop at grocery and drugstores.

More than 60,000 stores are part of SavingStar. For a long time, it was my companion app to another shopping rewards app, Ebates, since I’d use Ebates online and SavingStar in the real store. Some words of warning, though: SavingStar is generally free to use, but if an account is inactive for 180 straight days, they will charge a fee of $3.99.

To take advantage of SavingStar, users either link their existing store loyalty cards to the app or submit receipts after they make purchases. Rewards add up until they can eventually be cashed out through PayPal, Upromise, or in the form of Starbucks, iTunes, or AMC Theater gift codes.

Best Grocery App to Earn Rewards for Shopping: Shopkick

In the end, I discovered the best grocery app to earn rewards for shopping, one that is also a ton of fun to use—Shopkick. What Shopkick does is give you points—called kicks—for things you’re already doing when you shop, like buying products, scanning the barcodes on featured items for more info, and even just walking into some stores. Then, you can turn those points into gift cards to your favorite stores.

Shopkick essentially turns all of your trips out to the store into a scavenger hunt for points.

Shopkick essentially turns all of your trips out to the store into a scavenger hunt for points. I’ve had a blast challenging myself to maximize points, which has added up to huge savings. I’ve also started to use Shopkick’s social media channels, which is a fun way to meet other Shopkickers. I’ve spent hours upon hours on Shopkick’s Facebook page sharing shopping tips with other moms and funny memes, and just talking about life in general.

Feel free to try out some of the other shopping apps out there, but if you want to avoid endlessly searching the crowded app marketplace, take my word for it and download Shopkick, ASAP. It’s the only shopping rewards app I actually look forward to using when I head to the store!

Get to know one of the best grocery apps to earn rewards for shopping. Download Shopkick today and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered how much you can earn with the help of a free shopping sidekick.

And, if you’re on social media catching up with friends, be sure to also join Shopkick on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a little daily fun and inspiration.

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I like to use a spreadsheet on my computer to keep my budget. From talking with my family and friends, I know I’m not alone. In fact, I think most everyone I know is now tracking their finances this way, and why not? It’s super handy, easy to use, and you can access it via your mobile devices from pretty much anywhere!

I’ve also learned, though, that there are ways that my particular budgeting habits stand out. I seem to be the only one who has something on her books called “The Fun Budget.” Basically, The Fun Budget is exactly what it sounds like: the money I allocate each month to having fun. These days for me that tends to be brunches with my besties, happy hour with my crew, or weekend dinners at nice restaurants with—you guessed it—my friends. What can I say? I’m a social gal!

Today, I want to talk about how social butterflies like me who can’t ever seem to get enough time with their friends can make extra money just by using fun apps where you can make money for shopping! Of course, I do have a shopping budget, which is money I set aside for clothes, groceries, household products, and more. It’s money I absolutely have to account for and, to be quite honest, it isn’t always fun to spend. But, with the apps I’m going to talk about today, shopping actually becomes a treat, while also helping me save money—money I can funnel right back into my Fun Budget!

3 Fun Apps Where You Can Make Money For Shopping

There are actually many different kinds of apps where you can make money shopping, including gig apps, rewards apps, and coupon apps that help stretch your budget. They’re generally free—and if they aren’t, I say avoid them! They’re all pretty intuitive, too, and a whole lot of fun to use! Most importantly, these are apps you can use to get money back on your purchases or even to make extra money while you’re doing your weekly shopping!

Gigwalk

Gigwalk can be a blast if you walk a lot, especially around an urban or suburban area. It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt for odd jobs. The way Gigwalk works is that the app gives you a map based on your location filled with red pins. When you select these pins, odd jobs pop up. They could be things like verifying product prices at certain stores or taking pictures of retail product displays. All of the gigs can be done quickly while you’re out doing your shopping.

The fun part comes in trying to find the jobs that pay the most. The prices for jobs can range anywhere from $3 up to as much as $100 and the money you make goes directly into your PayPal account. I’ve personally only seen a $100 job on my app once or twice, and, to be totally honest, I didn’t make it in time! But that’s all part of a scavenger hunt, I suppose. Anyway, I’ve had a blast using Gigwalk while I’m out shopping. It’s even given me a chance to practice my amateur photography because most of the tasks that Gigwalk asks you to do have to be verified through photos. So, that’s fun too!

SnipSnap

SnipSnap is one of the apps that falls under the designation of coupon app. This one works a lot like paper coupons worked back in the day: you use SnipSnap to take photos of coupons that come in the newspaper or your junk mail and then the app transforms the coupons into digital, mobile-ready versions. The payment here comes in the form of the discounts you get on items you buy, letting you transfer saved money from your Shopping Budget to your Fun Budget!

I have a lot of fun using this app because it reminds me of when I was a little kid and my mom and I used to scour the paper and the mail for coupons together. (Usually while having cookies and tea!) Truth be told, most of the time when I’m using SnipSnap now, I still treat myself to cookies and tea. Anyway, you can also use SnipSnap to browse online directories of coupons your friends have snipped and, you know me, I love that kind of social element!

Shopkick

Last, but by no means least, we have my favorite of the apps where you can make money for shopping—Shopkick! The beauty and fun of Shopkick is that it basically turns the routine shopping you have to do anyway into a game. How it works is that it gives you points—called kicks—for everyday shopping routines, which you can later redeem for gift cards to your favorite stores.

For example, if you walk into featured stores, you get points; if you scan the barcodes of certain items in those stores, you get points; and when you scan your receipts after making purchases of certain items, you get even more points! It turns shopping into a fun quest for points, which add up to more savings.

You really can’t go wrong with any of the fun apps where you can make money for shopping, but, if I had to choose a favorite it would definitely be Shopkick. There are just so many different ways to earn points! And, quite honestly, the scavenger hunt setup is the most fun for me.

You really can’t go wrong with any of the fun apps where you can make money for shopping, but, if I had to choose a favorite it would definitely be Shopkick.

I’ve also had a blast engaging with other users on Shopkick’s Facebook page. There’s a really cool community of like-minded folks on there who love to share things like Shopkick tips and the latest cool meme their friends have sent. Hopefully, you’ll get hooked like I have and soon we’ll be there together, hunting for new deals and sharing ideas on how to earn even more kicks!

Looking for a fun app that lets you make money for shopping? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of Shopkickers who love the rewards of shopping with us!

Or join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and check in every day on your phone, no matter where you are, to learn about the hottest, newest deals.

Image courtesy Jirapong Manustrong

So you’ve been Shopkicking for a while now, and you’re wondering if there are ways to improve your game. Did you know that some Shopkickers consistently earn enough kicks for a free gift card a month?

Whether you’re saving up for a big payout for the holidays, a birthday, or a family vacation; you want to reduce your Walmart, Target, or Amazon bill each month; or you just like to treat yourself to a fancy Starbucks drink every week, take a hint from some master Shopkickers. Here are there top tips on how to get Shopkick points fast—and earn a gift card a month!

10 Top Pro Tips to Get Shopkick Points Fast and Earn a Gift Card a Month

1: Make A Plan

Go with a mission in mind.

Christy McElwain from Ohio plans her shopping trip around kicks in advance. “I make a plan before I leave the house. I end up doing a big circle and I don’t end up wasting time or additional gas.”

Donna Panelli from California makes a list of scans in the same order as her grocery list, and maps that list out based on their locations in the store.

“If you want to go a step further,” notes Melissa Barker from Dallas, TX, “you can add the kick items to your shopping list with an asterisk* to make sure you don’t miss a thing!”

Becky Kaloczi from Ohio tackles Best Buy by focusing on a few key areas, such as video games, small appliances, and electronics. By doing so, she says she can get in and out with 100 scans in an hour!

2: Team Up to Get Shopkick Points Fast

Go Shopkicking with your friends and family to rack up kicks more quickly.

Virginia Doyle-Diamond from Navarre, FL says, “Go Shopkicking with a friend who also has Shopkick. You can find kicks faster by telling each other which aisle certain products are on.”

Cheryl Avery Bigelow from Las Vegas, NV recruits her kids to help track down where products are located in the store as a scavenger hunt. “Not only do I get kicks,” she says, “but it makes shopping fun for my kids.”

Shopkicker Doug Miller from West Palm Beach, FL has even teamed up with other Shopkickers he’s met in the aisle! “The most fun I ever had Shopkicking was at a Target in Palm Beach,” he says. “We met another couple doing the same thing, teamed up, and got through several hundred kicks in record time. The four of us went out for drinks afterward and laughed ourselves silly comparing each other’s Shopkick stories.”

3: Get Your Invite Kicks

You can get Shopkick points fast kicks by inviting friends, making it one of the speediest ways to earn a gift card a month. If you’re going to recruit friends and family to go kicking together, don’t forget to have them download using your referral code—and get your kicks for inviting them!

Lara Gonzaga from Fort Worth, TX even earns an extra 250 kicks when she’s out Shopkicking by telling others about it in the aisle. “While you’re out Shopkicking, start asking people close by if they have the app,” she says. “If they say no, tell them briefly about it and send them an invite to join right there in person!”

4: Make It a Habit

Nicole Cribbs from North Carolina says, “It only takes 21 days to form a new habit. You just have to get in the habit of checking Shopkick every time you walk into a store!”

Shopkicker Diane Kesel from Syracuse, NY starts her morning by checking Shopkick alongside her coffee.

Carolyn Brown from North Carolina recommends checking the app wherever you are. You never know when there could be a store close to the gym, office, or whatever, and “you never know when you might land those jumbo kicks,” she says.

5: Make Shopkick Part of Your Workout

The best way to make Shopkicking part of your routine? Make it part of your fitness routine!

Susie from Sarasota is walking her way to 10,000 steps and kicks on the weekends. “Shopkick is my cardio” is her mantra, and she loves to get rewarded with free gift cards for all the steps she puts in while on scan missions.

Got a full day planned for getting those steps in alongside your kicks? Kyle Jackson from Ocoee, FL says don’t forget to “wear comfortable walking or running shoes!” 😉

6: Create a Date Night

We know of at least one husband and wife team that makes every Friday night a shopkicking date night.

Suzanne McLaughlin Reil from Titusville, FL and her husband even make a full day of it. “We first hit our local stores to grab everything we can, then head to East Orlando (about 30 minutes away) to do a movie, meal, and Shopkick some more,” she says. Suzanne and her husband often finish their date off with a treat at Starbucks using their kicks for a gift card.

7: Go for the Big Kicks

If you haven’t linked your card or aren’t doing your online shopping through Shopkick yet, you could be missing out on major kicks every time you make a purchase.

Michele Carrera Patterson from San Diego says, “make sure all your cards are linked. I get a lot of kicks by using my debit and credit cards!”

Susan Perryman from Los Angeles, CA (she even works at Shopkick) also scores major kicks when booking her travel on Hotels.com and Booking.com through Shopkick.

It’s no surprise—travel can often account for some of your biggest purchases, so why not get kicks every time you book?

8: Don’t Forget the Discover Tab

Pro Shopkickers know never to miss new kicks in the Discover tab.

“Check your app daily and use the Discover section to gain a few kicks,” says Surbhi Kasbaum from Orange County, CA.

As a bonus, Shopkicker Wendy Chan from California says that while scrolling through Shopkick for surprise kicks she often learns about latest trends. “I find some awesome products that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.”

9: Make Sure Your Alerts Are On

Don’t you hate it when you leave a store and realize you forgot to take your app out? Make sure your Shopkick notifications are on so you receive handy reminders to open the app when there are kicks nearby!

“I always have my notifications on so I can be notified that I’m able to get kicks while shopping,” says one Shopkicker.

10: Have Fun

Finally, a Shopkicker from Brooklyn, NY says: “The best tip I can give is to just HAVE FUN while Shopkicking!”

We couldn’t agree more!

Want to jumpstart your plan to earn a gift card a month? Login now, refer a friend, and start getting Shopkick points fast!

Image courtesy Ivanko80

Everyone knows the big holidays, days like Memorial Day, Labor Day, the Fourth of July, and Halloween, but did you know that almost every single day on the calendar has a themed celebration to go along with it? I know at my house we certainly do. In fact, we’ve even made it a point to start celebrating some of these more obscure holidays!

March 3, for example, was National Cold Cuts Day, so we went out and made ourselves some deluxe cold cut sandwiches. Another good one: October 7 is National Inner Beauty Day, which we honor at our house by celebrating the personal qualities that make each member of our family special.

One of our favorite days, however, is actually National Walking Day! It happens during the first Wednesday in April each year, and it’s just such a wonderful chance to get out of the house and into the spring weather to enjoy one of my favorite simple activities: walking! From the store, around the neighborhood, on a hike—you name it.

At my house, we like to celebrate National Walking Day while also earning some free stuff, whether that’s a T-shirt for completing a 5K (walk, not run!), cash for a task done for a stranger, or—my favorite—gift cards just for walking into certain stores! There are plenty of ways to celebrate National Walking Day and get free stuff, and today we have a helpful little guide to some of the best.

Celebrate National Walking Day and Get Free Ts

One of the cool aspects of National Walking Day is how charity groups use it as an occasion to host 5K events to raise money for worthy causes. Walks tend to vary by geographic region, but in the past, my friends and I have participated in National Walking Day 5Ks that raised money for everything from the American Heart Association to the American Cancer Society to some more localized, grassroots causes.

I’m pretty tuned in to the events in my area, but you can easily hunt down a great event (and, of course, a free t-shirt that comes with it) by searching online for “National Walking Day 5K” plus the name of your area or by going to an event site like Eventbrite. And hey, if you participate you’ll not only help others and collect a prize, you’ll also get your steps in—and then some.

Step It Up on National Walking Day and Get Paid

We’ve talked quite a bit in the past about the best free smartphone apps that pay you cash, and it just so happens that one of those apps has the word walk right in the title. I’m talking here about Gigwalk, which is a great fit for users who do a lot of walking in a city or even a suburban setting, especially one that has lots of shops, restaurants, and other businesses.

Gigwalk is free to use, and how it works is that you open the app and see gigs—short projects or jobs or tasks people are paying to have done—posted on a map. These gigs will be represented by red pins, and when you click a pin you get details and specific instructions about what you have to do to complete the gig. This usually includes something random like taking a photograph of a display in a certain store. These gigs can take anywhere from just a few minutes to up to a few hours and pay ranges from $3 up to $100. That’s right, $100! In my experience, though, those lucrative gigs are highly sought after and usually rare. The money goes into your PayPal account after you’ve completed a gig.

Celebrate National Walking Day and Get Free Gift Cards

The app I really like to use for getting free stuff on National Walking Day is called Shopkick. It’s a shopping rewards app that lets users earn points—called kicks—for the shopping they do normally. It rewards you for things like making purchases, scanning barcodes of items, and even for just walking into some stores! Once users accumulate enough kicks they trade them in for gift cards.

To get some kicks this National Walking Day all you have to do when you’re out walking is open up your Shopkick app, go to the “earn” tab, and look at the list of kicks that are nearby. Now, these will vary by location, but in my area, there are plenty of stores like as 7-Eleven, Walgreens, and Target that offer kicks. Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to using Shopkick on National Walking Day—you can earn kicks by walking into stores 365 days a year. You can also earn kicks by scanning certain items within that store for more info and by making purchases as well. Shopkick has been such an incredible boost for my budget!

The real point of the day is to just get out of your house and enjoy a nice walk of course, but that shouldn’t stop you from raking in some savings, too.

So, there you have it, three great ways to celebrate National Walking Day and to get free stuff while you do. The real point of the day is to just get out of your house and enjoy a nice walk of course, but that shouldn’t stop you from raking in some savings, too.

Who knows, maybe you’ll get hooked on using Shopkick like I am? And maybe you’ll also get hooked on celebrating these silly and fun obscure holidays. Why not, right? There’s no day that can’t be brightened with a little bit of fun!

Learn all the ways you can use Shopkick to get free gift cards while celebrating National Walking Day. Download Shopkick’s free app and get ready to be wowed. Welcome to the fun, Shopkicker!

If you’re as social media savvy as you are shopping savvy, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping fun.

Image courtesy djoronimo