Inside: A humorous look at what happens when one woman decides to download a shoppers app to her smartphone.
*This post contains affiliate links.
Ibotta Adventures
Sometimes in life we find ourselves in a shameful place, wondering just how far we’ve sunk. How we could have ever let ourselves stoop to such lows. The other day I found myself in such a place. But let me back the truck up and explain. . .
Trying out my new smartphone–really new because my last cell had a QWERTY keyboard–it dawned on me that I could finally download one of those nifty shoppers apps that I’d been hearing about for years. Ibotta came highly recommended, so off I went to my Google Play store for a quick install. After a short get-acquainted session, I wanted to start earning some dough from actually buying dough. (Okay, I haven’t really been purchasing frozen doughs, but it was a clever way to make my point–grocery buying = money.)
Upon searching Ibotta’s featured products from my favorite stores–Kroger and Walmart–I was pleased to see that I had purchased some of the very same items. I’d been to my fave grocery stores several days earlier and kept the receipts. Now all I had to do was click on the product, scan my receipts, and start earning the big bucks.
The first match I found was from Kroger where I’d bought a healthy guilty pleasure (meaning said item, while healthy, wasn’t on current food plan, but I was treating myself). The item in question–Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Blend, conveniently packaged in a single-serving packet. You simply knead (and in my case also need) the little packet, tear off the corner where indicated, and squeeze into an available receptacle. (Ideally your mouth.) But I tend to complicate things–at least when it comes to Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Blend snack packets.
So after clicking my purchase, I noticed Ibotta wanted the bar code. Problem. I’d already consumed my snack. But I knew where I could find the package remains–in the trash. Only, remember how I mentioned a complication? Well, confession time, when I eat a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Blend I, er, cut open the packet. Truth be told, I tend to mutilate the package because I don’t want to miss even one tiny bite. I scrape the inside of those babies down (you can actually get an additional teaspoon or so out of it). To my defense, have you ever tried Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Blend?
Don’t judge.
Anyway, by the time I’m through with the little package, it’s always in several pieces. My hope against all hopes was that the bar code would be on the main section of the wrapper.
It wasn’t.
In fact, the bar code was in a couple of pieces. By this time Ibotta was concerned, asking me if I had any problems. They gave me the helpful suggestion of punching in the bar code numbers if the scan wasn’t possible.
Eureka!
So off I went, heading to my current nearly full trash bag to excavate. At first I gingerly removed papers and containers and trash until reckless abandon set in and I was up to my elbows in refuse. As you can imagine, tiny pieces tend to drift downward. Along the way I encountered butter papers and dryer lint, yogurt cups and meat trays–a veritable history of our eating habits over the past several days. Except for the dryer lint. We don’t eat dryer lint.
But along the way something happened. Call it a moment of clarity. Sometimes in life we stop, spurred on by desperation, and take stock of our lives. Arms plunged deep into the bottom of the bag I had one such moment of introspection. I could actually be doing other things to earn money. Like my day job, editing books. Working on my current project that was on my laptop waiting for me. Was it really that important to earn $2.50 for my first qualifying purchase of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Blend?
Heck yeah!
I wasn’t about to stop. I emptied that entire bag, and wouldn’t you know it the final piece I needed to be able to punch in my bar code was at the very bottom on the bag? With a silly grin spreading across my face, I eagerly typed in the numbers and watched my smartphone screen as the little dollar bills on my Ibotta app floated down.
Success!
A little older, a little wiser from my first encounter with Ibotta, I savored the moment.
Ibotta: To Download or Not to Download?
In all seriousness, I’ve had the Ibotta app for about a month, still working toward my first $20, and I’ve become a fan. Admittedly I’m not a huge shopper in general, and for a self-described homebody, I’m not on the go a lot. Recreational shopping is not my thing. That said, we all eat, and most of us find ourselves in the grocery store several times a month. If I’m purchasing something from the list, why not earn money?
Promoted items run the gamut of brand names, and I’m finding new products I want to try weekly. And promoted items are not limited to brand names, either. I like that you can earn money for staple items like eggs, bread, cheese, and bananas for any brand–if they are offering that promotion. For example, recently they offered a deal on the purchase of bananas, any brand.
Plus, you’re not limited to only groceries. Other categories include mobile (online) shopping, clothing, home electronics, beauty and wellness, pharmacy, restaurants, travel, specialty, convenience, and crafts and gifts.
What I like about Ibotta is that participating feels like playing a game, with new ways to earn, new products and challenges. They make it fun! I actually enjoy using my app. Sunday nights I spend time browsing grocery items on Ibotta while watching TV. (Currently watching The Munsters reruns as of late.)
To download or not to download?
Download!
Like to join the fun? Use my referral code, wctwpqu and get a $10 welcome bonus. Sign up for Ibotta here.
Do you use any shoppers reward apps? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Posts appearing on the blog a year ago:
Mum’s the Word, Hundred-mile Man, and Other News Fresh From the Farm