Saving money and getting money for grocery receipts is pretty easy with receipt-scanning smartphone apps. To save more, use more apps …
With all of the news about companies finally being brought to light for making a mint off of your personal information without reasonable disclosure, it's a good thing when other companies pay you for it. It may not be much, but it is something.
Over 300 billion receipts are printed each year! Environmental impact aside, companies will pay for your information because marketers want it dearly.
There are a number of receipt scanning apps that will pay you for your grocery receipts. Though each app has its own set of terms and conditions, they don't seem to forbid you from submitting the same receipt to other (competing) apps.
Receipt scanning apps for stacking savings
My wife and I have saved over $200 already on things that we would buy normally with Ibotta. Most of the savings come from purchasing products that offer rewards, much like an electronic grocery coupon.
Check out these tricks for maximizing your Ibotta cashback here!
One thing I've been trying lately is scanning the same receipt with several different receipt apps. This lets me accrue value for the same receipt several times.
You might ask: “Are you allowed to do this?”
This was a question I asked myself as well because I wanted to play by the rules. I'm not really a fan of getting banned. 🙂
I read the terms and conditions of each of the apps I'll mention in this post, and they did have stipulations on:
- Multiple accounts (one account per person per app)
- Scanning your own receipts (don't scan other people's receipts)
- Returning bought items that were scanned for credit
- Scanning current receipts (no old receipts)
- And some other things
But none of them, to my reading, prohibited scanning receipts that were also scanned with other companies' apps.
With that, I'll talk about the apps I'm using in parallel to earn from my receipts.
Receipt App #1: Ibotta
Lifetime earnings: $484.44 as of 9 November 2024
As I mentioned above, this was the first receipt-scanning app I tried.
Getting cashback from Ibotta works like this:
- Download and install the app.
- Check out deals at your favorite store prior to shopping.
- Go shopping and save your grocery receipts.
- Upload your receipts with the deals for credit.
- Cash-out when you reach $20.
I'm quite pleased with Ibotta. Redeeming the deals is largely hassle-free and easy.
Click here to get started with Ibotta!
Receipt App #2: Fetch Rewards
Lifetime earnings: $30.00 as of 9 November 2024
Fetch Rewards is a deal-based receipt-scanning app that is very similar to Ibotta.
Getting cashback from Fetch Rewards works like this:
- Download and install the app.
- Check out the deals available for extra points (or not).
- Go shopping and get your grocery receipts.
- Upload your receipt for points.
- Cash out your points for gift cards.
Fetch Rewards will credit appropriate receipts regardless of whether there are any deals or not. (With Ibotta, you'd need to add the “Any Item” deal to get credit for the receipt.)
Obviously, though, checking out the deals beforehand means more points, but it's not difficult to “get lucky” and hit some deals without trying.
There are point bonuses for shopping particular brands and for particular products.
I've cashed out with Fetch Rewards and it was a piece of cake to do so.
Click here to get started with Fetch Rewards and get some bonus points!
Receipt App #3: ReceiptPal
ReceiptPal is a receipt-scanning app that offers points for scanned receipts. Scanned receipts contribute toward “cards” which have point values associated with them.
- Download and install the app.
- Go shopping and get your grocery receipts.
- Upload your receipt for points.
- Cash out your points for gift cards.
It's a pretty plain-vanilla app but it's simple and easy to use. There is no premium for particular deals; you get the same credit for qualifying receipts regardless of what you purchase.
Click here to get started with ReceiptPal!
Receipt App #4: Receipt Hog
Lifetime earnings: $25.00 as of 9 November 2024
Receipt Hog is a receipt-scanning app where you can earn points for scanning receipts.
- Download and install the app.
- Shop and keep your receipt.
- Snap a picture for coins.
- Cash out your coins for gift cards.
This app has a bit more variety than ReceiptPal but is otherwise similar. There are no extra coins for buying particular brands and the like; a receipt is a receipt.
You can level up by uploading receipts regularly and can answer surveys to get more coins. Passing certain milestones gives you spins on a slot machine which can pay out more coins (sometimes a lot of them).
Click here to get started with Receipt Hog!
Receipt App #5: Coinout
Coinout is an app where you can scan receipts for money.
- Download and install the app.
- Shop and keep your receipt.
- Snap a picture for points.
- Cash out your coins for gift cards.
Click here to get started with CoinOut!
Receipt App #6: ReceiptJar
ReceiptJar is a receipt-scanning app where you get cashback on receipts.
- Download and install the app and use code JOHNWQFVH (please and thank you!)
- Shop and keep your receipt.
- Snap a picture for coins.
- Cash out your coins for gift cards.
This app has a bit more variety than ReceiptPal but is otherwise similar. There are no extra coins for buying particular brands and the like; a receipt is a receipt.
You can level up by uploading receipts regularly and can answer surveys to get more coins. Passing certain milestones gives you spins on a slot machine which can pay out more coins (sometimes a lot of them).
Click here to get started with ReceiptJar!
Receipt App #7: Frisbee
Frisbee is my latest addition to the grocery receipt app stack.
- Download and install the app.
- Shop and keep your receipt.
- Snap a picture for points.
- Cash out your coins for gift cards.
This app is similar to the others.
You can level up by uploading receipts regularly and can answer surveys to get more points.
Click here to get started with Frisbee!
Can I scan someone else's grocery receipts?
It's awfully tempting to pick up someone's discarded grocery receipt on the ground and scan it in for cash back.
Don't do this, though. It's against the rules to do this pretty much across the board. The advertisers want to know about your shopping habits, not someone else's.
In any case, the apps limit the number of times in a given period that you can upload grocery receipts for cash back anyway.
