Target. A common known frienemy among women young and old. You walk in with the intention of getting one thing for $5 and somehow leave with $50 less in your pocket. You have less money, more stuff and yet regret nothing. It’s funny how that works. Well, imagine my joy when I went to Target, bought what I came for and then made money by the time I got to the parking lot! This is no scam, no tricky play on words. I am being totally, 100% serious; and I’m going to share with you how I did it. ‘Cuz I love ya.

*This post contains affiliate links through which I may make a commission. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Ibotta rebate app

Scrolling one of my favorite blogs one day, Fitnancials, I noticed this app, IBotta that kept being mentioned. An app that claimed to save you money on your purchases, plus you get $10 just for signing up! Naturally, this instantly sounded too good to be true.

I read that IBotta was a great app for common shopping places like Walmart and Walgreens. Since, I don’t shop at either of those places, I didn’t think Ibotta would be of much use to me. Then, my entire life changed once I realized that the Ibotta rebate app works at places like Target and Costco! Get $10 free when you sign up here!

Do rebate apps really work?

After I downloaded the Ibotta rebate app, I just sat around waiting to be disappointed. I wish I wasn’t such a sceptic at heart, but I am.

To my surprise, everything downloaded just fine. I was able to sign up for Ibotta without losing my dignity, social security number or credit card information. Fair enough. Maybe this thing was worth my time.

On top of being able to shop at Target and save money, there are also a ton of other great stores that Ibotta offers discounts through:

• Whole Foods
• Amazon
• eBay
• Groupon
• Joanne Fabric
• Kohls
• Uber

I got more and more excited as I started searching through the thousands of offers on Ibotta and was quickly able to figure out how to make this rebate app work for me.

Finding offers with Ibotta

You can browse Ibotta by selecting the store you want to shop through or just check out the latest discounts. Here are some screenshots of the rebates I was able to take advantage of as soon as I signed up!

Free money

Not only was I racking up the savings with some of my favorite grocery items, but I also got $10 just for signing up with Ibotta. Get your $10 right now.

Okay now, deep breath, because it still gets better. On top of getting $10 just for signing up and getting refunded on foods, I had already planned on purchasing some of my savings also aligned with Target’s Cartwheel!

If you are a frequent Target shopper, you know all about Cartwheel. It’s now attached to the Target app and is basically used as additional coupons.

As major coupon users know, you can use Cartwheel, plus Target coupons, plus manufacturer coupons and your Target card to save as much money as possible. Using the Ibotta app is just one more way to save money.

So when you are using the app, make sure to check all other Target discounts in order to take full advantage of all possible savings! Here is some side by side screenshots the super awesome discounts I was able to get with Ibotta and Target Cartwheel.

Checking out with Ibotta

Don’t worry, you won’t be fiddling with your phone in line. Just go through your purchase as normal, (make sure to use Cartwheel and your Target card!)

When you are all finished, simply click the “Redeem” button in your Ibotta rebate app. Snap a quick photo of your receipt and Ibotta will instantly share your savings with you! As you can see below, I made $19.50 after my first time using the Ibotta rebate app! Get the app now.

How do you get paid with Ibotta?

You can cash out on your total after you reach $20. Ibotta also has a variety of ways for you to do this: multiple gift card options or through PayPal. Personally, I think I’ll be letting my spare change add up and cash out after I’ve really upped my total. (I’m currently sitting at over $50)

Update: I caved and cashed in for a $20 gift card so Tom and I could enjoy a little night out without the kids. After confirming my e-mail I was easily able to get a gift card sent directly to my phone and we saved $20 on our Applebees visit.

Bonus way to make money with Ibotta

Not only do you get refunds on your favorite stuff, plus $10 for signing up, you can also earn $5 for any friend who signs up! After my great experience, I told my small group of girlfriends and gave them my code to use when they signed up. As soon as one of them used their app, I was credited $5!

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The final review

The good

I have been using Ibotta for a few weeks now and my total is up over $50! So far I have had no problems ensuring I get credit for my purchases and the app continues to be easy to use. The only information I have had to enter is my PayPal information in order to get money into my account.

There is also so much more that Ibotta has to offer me that I have yet to take advantage of! I really wanted to give you guys the run down and fill you in on how to get yourself started. Personally, I can’t wait to start saving more with Groupon and Amazon!

The bad

I have been tempted into buying more processed foods than I normally would. Really, it has only been chicken strips and some organic snack bars. Nothing too terrible, but still not something I would normally buy. Which is why they probably do these offers in the first place!

When you click to receive an offer, you will often be prompted with an easy to answer survey question. Some of the ones I have received have asked how many adults live in our home, how much our household earnings are or how many children are in our home. Nothing too informative and nothing that requires much time or effort. On top of brief survey questions, there will be the occasional video ad to view usually totaling 15 seconds.

Last major bummer: when there are double discounts on Ibotta and Cartwheel, you will find that the shelves clear our pretty quickly.

Final thoughts

As you can probably tell, I am hugely thrilled with how this app has worked to date. To me all the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. After recommending it, I have only heard positive feedback from friends as well. They have tried other savings and coupon apps and said this one is by far the easiest. Don’t miss out. You literally only stand to gain from this app download.

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