Money Monday: These Two Apps Pay You

We're continuing our theme from last week, which was earning job-free income. Today we're talking about two shopping apps that pay you. I've earned money and/or gift cards from both of these apps (more on that later). If you click the links below, I may get some compensation (and you may too).

Ibotta gives you cash back rewards from shopping at major retailers. The way it works is you choose the retailer that you'll be shopping with. Then you select deals from what's available at that store. Each deal will show you a picture of the item, its name and the amount of cash back for the deal. After your purchase, you scan your receipt and your selected items with the app. While my account is usually credited with the money within a few minutes, Ibotta says this can take up to 48 hours. You need to have at least $20 in rewards to redeem the money. So far I've redeemed $40.

Pros: You redeem your rewards for cash via Paypal or Venmo. Ibotta gives you $10 at sign-up toward your first $20.

Cons: These rewards require a purchase.

Try Ibotta.

Shopkick is my favorite shopping app because you don't have to buy anything to get rewards. You earn points for a variety of activities. You can get points for opening the app while walking into selected retailers. Another way to earn with Shopkick is scanning barcodes of items at participating retailers. And you can even earn a few points wherever you are by watching videos in the Discover section of the app. Finally, if you are making a purchase of an eligible item you can get points for that too. I focus on getting points that don't require a purchase. I'v used my points to get Walmart, Target and Amazon gift cards so many times that I have lost count of how many I have redeemed. (I have earned over 38,000 points on Shopkick so far.) Last year I used my gift cards to do my Christmas shopping. 

Pros: You don't need to make a purchase to earn. Earning points is easy.

Cons: Points count toward store gift cards, not cash.

Try Shopkick.