Optimized Savings March Update
Finding small ways to save money is a hobby of mine. I like to function stack rebates, coupons, discounts and other ways to save on every day purchases. This is my report from our family's savings and earning programs for March 2018
Overview
March was a month of missed opportunities, some out of my control and some were just bad communication. We had a total of $42.74 saved/earned across all programs. Have a loss for the cypto faucets doesn't help, but hopefully the price will hold or go back to climbing soon. Below is how we did in each program this month, and the total amount saved in the program either since I started tracking, or I could find lifetime earnings in the apps/programs.
| Program Name | Monthly Increase | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
| Script | 38.45 | 252.88 |
| Checkout 51 | 4 | 34.25 |
| Ibotta | 3 | 105.25 |
| Fetch Rewards | 2.14 | 8.106 |
| KellogsFamilyRewards | 0.05 | 1.17 |
| SwagBucks | 0.02 | 23.16 |
| Saving Star | 0 | 38.73 |
| Ebates | 0 | 83.2 |
| Plenti | 0 | 158.44 |
| Card Cash | 0 | 110.98 |
| Card Pool | 0 | 5.6 |
| Ebucks | 0 | 160.42 |
| Crypto Faucet | (4.92) | 22.14 |
Missed Opportunities
Gift cards: Even with all the planning we try to do, we found ourselves out of cards on several occasions. We are considering keeping a bigger supply of cards at home to avoid running out.
Ebates:
We missed 4-5 online purchases for clicking through Ebates, a couple to Target and several to Shutterfly. Going foward I hope not to miss these opportunities.
Discount Gift cards
Really focusing on planning our our purchases and buying discounted gift cards is again the biggest - and will most likely be our biggest program for the foreseeable future. We utilize script cards because they are available everyday our our kids school, and we have access to vendors we can't find online at Cardcash or Cardpool. Of course if there is a big difference I will buy cards off Cardcash/Cardpool/Giftcard granny etc. We are lucky enough to have some great categories we take advantage of.
Crypto Faucets
The price decline has been brutal, losing ~$5 in value this month, any pump would be a good feeling but I will keep grinding and reporting the details weekly. I am currently 22 weeks in, still aiming for a full 52 week analysis. I could use a price pump to help keep me motivated. Check out my last detailed post for week 22
Digital Coupons
A bit better for me this month. It was a combination of offers that fit our family needs and buying a few things we normally don't for school events required snack sharing. I missed a pretty big chunk for Fetch and Kellogg Family Rewards. Typically each month I will do a pantry refill that is 75% of our grocery shopping, but this time the receipt was not printed well. The ink was running low, I could not get good enough photos to submit, I probably missed a few dollars for eah Kellogs and Fetch. Overall Ibotta (Referral Link), Checkout51, Fetch Rewards (Get 2000 points for using code P6EHP), and Kellogs Family Rewards are all still chugging along , only used when I need something.
Conclusion
Good results for the first quarter of 2018, but need to focus on using the rebates every chance we get. I will be perfectly content to save fewer dollars, as long as I am saving a bigger percentage of a small number. Let me know if you have any tricks or tips you use to get better discounts or save money.
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