Apps that Give Back!

As a fairly new smartphone user, I'm not always the first one to have the newest app nor do I understand everything that my phone will do now. But, the one thing that I've been really excited about as of late is finding apps that give back. Some earn you points that you can redeem for other things and gift cards, but others will deposit right into your Paypal account! There are quite a few to be honest, but I have recently only tried about 5 out myself. I like these five because they seem very simple to use and don't seem to be time killers! And if you find this helpful at all, could you please use my links to sign up? I would love some referral credits! :) Here they are:

Endorse

This is an app that works for both Android and Apple users. This is actually my favorite one and I've used it the most. I currently have over $22 that I have earned right now. The best part- I only bought things I was going to buy anyway! Here's how it works: Download the app. Sign in using Facebook. Every Thursday new deals pop up. You will get offers like 10% back on any gas purchase, 10% back on any fast food purchase, 50% back on diapers, 100% on coffee, and so on. You make a purchase during the week that qualifies for this and click the offer. It will say Upload Receipt at the bottom. Take a picture of the receipt using the app and within a few hours to a day you will have the percentage back in your account, ready to be redeemed at any time. A few things to note- everyone gets different offers. Some weeks I have free coffee and my husband will get the fast food. As long as you are NOT double scanning your receipts, Endorse says it is fine to have multiple accounts in the same household. Double scanning means both of you using the same receipt for the same offer. Another thing to note is that you can request a check, but you must meet a certain minimum before requesting the money back. I prefer PayPal because it is instantly in your account within minutes and there is no minimum to earn first. Last thing to note is that the Endorse facebook page actually will sometimes have offers that you can "claim" and use. Sometimes these offers will also go to your email. Be sure to claim them and they will be under "Shared With You" instead of "This Week's Offers". Another thing to note is that if you use coupons, you will notice that the amount you get back will be reduced. This doesn't really bother me, because most of the time I was buying the item regardless, so anything back is just extra icing to the cake. And lastly, some offers require you to "upgrade" them by sharing them to Facebook. This may seem annoying to some, but I don't mind. I like saving money! Plus- every referral you get gives you a dollar as well!
https://www.endorse.com/referral/Lisa/YZYhJ2oNETLwOP8jzhhE-CvQ==AB

Ibotta

 This is another grocery store type app similar to Endorse. Right now it is only for Apple users. ***UPDATE*** This is now available to ANDROID users too! :)  This app is slightly more complex in that it only works with certain retailers and you have to be careful to buy EXACTLY what the app is requesting. For example, my first purchase was for a 24 pack of Coke Zero. I didn't realize that the app only wanted the fridge packs until after I got home. *sigh* Anyway. I haven't used this one a lot because of the particulars, but the idea is basically the same. Buy items. Sign into the app. Complete little tasks that are assigned like watching videos, quick one question surveys, and posting to Facebook. Scan your receipt using the app. Scan the item's barcode. And then, you will get the $$ back in your account that you can choose to redeem at any time by sending it to your PayPal account. The offers seem to change randomly- but I did notice that you can click an offer and then click the picture of the item and give it a thumbs up or down. If you thumbs down something, it will come off your offers a little while later and be replaced with something else. I find that useful because there was dog food on there the first time I went to use it. I don't own a dog. That is not something that I will ever use. So, that's a plus that I can tell them not to give me offers that pertain to dogs, lol. This is also an app that pays you for referrals so, make sure to share your link! And another plus to this app is that I haven't noticed that combining it with coupons makes a difference! Yay!

http://ibotta.com/r/4nH3vg

Viggle

This is actually a very new to me app. It works with both Android and Apple users. I'm not entirely confident in this app, but the premise seems cool. Basically, you earn points for "checking in" while watching tv shows. The points can be used for things like CVS eGiftCard that can be used in-store. Or a Kindle Fire. Or a Best Buy gift card. You get the idea. So, basically, just for watching your regular tv shows, you can earn things. *shrugs* Seems easy enough. To be honest about it, I haven't had a chance to watch much tv because it is finals week right now for me and that obviously has taken precedence over television watching, lol. Also, if you are a DirecTv user, supposedly it gives you better rewards or something. I am, but like I said, I haven't even had a good chance to see how it works yet. But, I wanted to include it here because it seemed easy enough to set up the account and it seems pretty easy to use.
http://join.viggle.com/lisalangley

Jingit

I actually signed up for this over a year ago, before being a smartphone user. But, because it had so many smartphone qualities to it like "checking in", I quickly forgot about it and actually just remembered it last night. So, I'm writing this review about it with basic knowledge. But, again, I did not want to dis-include it because it seems like a good idea and easy to do.  It also works with both Android and Apple users. From what I can tell, you watch videos and such to earn money back. At the end of the videos you will have a few questions to answer about your shopping habits and such. Then, you can also check in with some brands and earn money back that way too. The only thing that I was not over joyed about is that it does not connect with a PayPal account. You have to get a Jingit Visa Debit Card. Okay, I'm good with that. But, first you have to pay them an activation fee from your Jingit hard earned money to get it. Not so cool. It is only 3.00 right now, but that kinda turned me off a little. However, I believe you can do something with musicme.com as well, though I have not tried this out yet.
https://www.jingit.com/?ref_id=53144&s=f

Shopkick

This is a points system app that you use will you shop as well. It works with both Android and Apple users. You can redeem it for things like a Target Gift Card, Starbucks Card, Best Buy Gift Card, iTunes Gift Card, Old Navy Gift Card, Coach Hand Bag, or Fandango Gift Card. I've actually had this one downloaded on my phone now for about a  month and seriously forgot about it. I've never opened it or done anything with it. Soooo....after checking it out tonight for the first time, I'm pretty excited about it. It seems like all you have to do is visit the stores on the list (CVS, Target, Best Buy and TONS TONS TONS more!) and you will earn "Kicks" which can be redeemed for the things I mentioned above. And on top of that, you actually can link your purchases to it and earn more kicks PLUS you can get special deals at these stores from using the app as well! It's most definitely a WIN WIN situation.
http://get.shopkick.com/fresno8830

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