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Let’s face it. While shopping, you always want to stretch out your dollar amount, right? Not only would you want the best value for your money, but also you would love to have some cashback amount to make the deal even sweeter. Isn’t that true?
Before I proceed further, I would like to let you know that this post is primarily for Canadians, but readers in the United States can also read this post as some information could be relevant to them as well.
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Gone are the days when the only cashback you could earn was through cashback credit cards. Today, there are a number of apps that you can download and install on your phone RIGHT NOW to start earning cashback and cash rewards while shopping.
To earn $211.31 (and counting) in Canada, all I did was shop with my credit card, pay off my credit card bills, and follow the instructions of 5 cashback and cash reward apps.
Now you may be wondering that this is not a huge amount, but earning money by doing the daily tasks you would do anyway is not a bad idea right?
I have earned cashback on everything from chocolates to furniture. You too can earn a decent amount of cashback and rewards on daily essentials you would buy and bills you would pay anyway. Here are the 5 apps.
1. Rakuten, formerly known as Ebates (Available in Canada and USA)
I have earned majority of my cashback from Rakuten. They have partnerships with over 750 stores, and they offer cashback for online as well as in-store purchases! How cool is that?
I have earned $91.98 in cashback from Rakuten. I mostly shop on Amazon, and Rakuten sometimes has up to 12% cashback for Amazon purchases which is an awesome deal! I have also received cashback for shopping at stores including Walmart, Hudson’s Bay, American Eagle, Lululemon, Adidas, etc.
So how do you go about receiving cashback through Rakuten?
First, download the Rakuten app on your phone. Then, in the app look for the store where you want to shop at and shop right inside the app.
You can also shop on your computer, visit Rakuten.ca or Rakuten.com on your computer and look for the store you want to shop at and click on it.
Rakuten also has a browser extension for Canada as well as for USA that you can use while shopping from your computer. The extension will automatically notify you if there is cashback available when you are shopping online at a participating store.
To receive cashback when shopping in-store, you need to first add your credit card to your profile. Then look for “In-Store Cashback” offers, select the offer you like and link the offer to your credit card. After that, go to that store and enjoy shopping! The cashback will be processed automatically.
In any of the above cases, you have to register for an account first. So what are you waiting for?
If you are in Canada, click here to sign up and receive a welcome bonus of $5!
If you are in USA, click here to sign up and receive a welcome bonus of $10!
2. Caddle (Only available in Canada)
Caddle is a really cool app to earn cashback! You get cashback for completing surveys, watching ads, uploading purchase receipts, writing reviews, etc. They always have plenty of active offers and they keep adding new offers almost daily.
I have earned $59.85 in cashback from Caddle. I have bought products from Amazon as well as in store as instructed in the app and received cashback for those purchases. I have also completed surveys and watched small videos.
What I like about Caddle is that the surveys and the videos are not very long or time-consuming. They are small and usually finish in about 30 seconds. What I also like is that they frequently offer up to $5 in cashback for many products and even $20 for a select few products. Sometimes, you can even write reviews to earn cashback.
Once you are in the app, you can see the list of all the offers available. Follow the instructions, claim the offers, and start receiving cashback!
Get started now and receive $1 as bonus when you enter the promo code DHREEN32863 during signup.
3. Checkout 51 (Available in Canada and USA)
Checkout 51 is also one of my favorite apps. It is very similar to Caddle. You receive cashback for buying groceries and watching short videos.
I have earned $39.48 in cashback from Checkout 51 after uploading receipts showing that I purchased eggs, milk, coffee, shampoo, tissues, etc.
What makes Checkout 51 different is the fact that it is mainly focused on cashback for purchases. Rarely do they have video offers. Checkout 51 is also very convenient to use as it has its offers divided into many different categories of snacks, pantry, dairy, home, personal care, etc.
Checkout 51 also allows some offers to be claimed multiple times. They also have special offers for your birthday and holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.
To start claiming offers, all you have to do is select an offer from the Checkout 51 app and buy that product in the store they have specified in the app. Upload the receipt for verification and voila, you would receive your cashback shortly after.
So sign up now and start earning cashback from Checkout 51! Earn up to $5 in bonus after you upload your first few receipts only if you sign up using this link.
4. Drop (Available in Canada and USA)
Drop is a cash rewards app. What this means is that you do not get cashback, but you get gift cards. Drop has many different gift cards that you can redeem once you have accumulated the points required.
I have earned a $10 Amazon gift card from Drop for shopping at stores such as Walmart, H&M, McDonalds, etc.
What makes Drop so convenient is that you do not have to go through the hassle of uploading receipts. Once you have linked your credit and debit cards to your Drop account, you can shop online and in-store at the brands that you see in the Drop app and start collecting points for your purchases.
Redeem your points for gift cards from top brands such as Amazon, Sephora, Uber, Starbucks, iTunes, etc.
They also have something known as Drop Supercharge, which is basically a snake mini-game within the app. The more time you keep the snake alive in the game, the more points you accumulate. This is a really fun way to collect points as well.
Sign up for Drop and start rewarding yourself! As a bonus, sign up using this link to get 5000 points after you create an account and link your card with drop.
5. Paytm (Only available in Canada)
Paytm is a cash rewards app that lets you collect points on bill payments. If you are paying your hydro bill, phone bill, property taxes, rent, insurance, mortgage, internet bill, credit card bill, or any other bill directly through the merchant’s website or through any other way, you are missing out on cash rewards!
So far I have redeemed my points for a $5 Amazon gift card and a $5 Tim Hortons gift card on Paytm. I was able to redeem these as I paid all my bills through this app which allowed me to collect points.
Paytm is a platform where all your bills are managed in one place. They have thousands of service providers and it is most likely that your utility company has partnered with Paytm. On top of the convenience of managing all your bills in one place, you get points for paying your bills. You can then redeem these points for rewards.
Another very convenient feature of Paytm is that you can schedule your bill payment for every month and forget about it, as I have done with my phone and internet bills.
There are a lot of rewards that you can redeem through Paytm. You can redeem your points for gift cards from Amazon, Esso, Cineplex, Best Buy, etc and you can even redeem it for Paytm Cash.
So make the transition and switch to Paytm today to start earning rewards for all the bills you pay!
Use the code PTM2043917 while signing up to get 5000 bonus points for joining Paytm. If you do not use the code while joining, you will have to spend $5000 in bill payments to collect 5000 points because you get 1 point when you spend $1.
BONUS TIPS – Maximize Your Earnings
As you have spent the time to read through this post, here are a couple of bonus tips for you.
All of this seems pretty straightforward. But there is still a way that you can maximize your earnings.
Bonus Tip 1: The secret here is to use all of these apps with your credit card instead of debit card. Credit cards come with greater rewards from the bank as compared to debit cards. So not only would you earn cashback through the above listed apps, you would also earn rewards from your bank too.
Bonus Tip 2: Another secret is to use all the above apps together simultaneously instead of individually. Instead of using one app at a time and finishing off the transaction, you can maximize your earnings.
Here are a couple of examples to help you understand better on how you should be approaching your purchases.
Scenario 1:
You like a $100 shoe on Amazon. One day, you decide to buy it. Shop for the shoe through the Rakuten app or website. Checkout using your credit card. Pay off your credit card using Paytm.
This way, you would get cashback from Rakuten, rewards from your bank, and points from Paytm.
Scenario 2:
Another day, you decide to go to Walmart to purchase a shampoo. Before going however, you check your Caddle app and Checkout 51 app. You notice that each of these two apps have a cashback offer on the shampoo. You also have the Drop app set up for any purchases you make in Walmart.
Go to Walmart and buy that shampoo using your credit card. Next, upload the receipt on the Caddle and Checkout 51 apps. Then pay off your credit card using Paytm.
This way, you would get cashback from Caddle and Checkout 51, rewards from your bank, and points on Drop and Paytm.
So there you go. These were some of the ways you can earn cashback and cash rewards on your purchases.
Do you have any more suggestions? What did you think of these apps? How would you change your shopping strategy from now on? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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