Peony Lane Designs

June Christmas for Free Update

July 1, 2018

WOW! What an amazing savings month June was and not just for me. When I saw the huge leap forward in savings on iBotta, in particular, this month I decided to compare the savings against my teammates for the same month and I saw a distinct trend. Everyone had a huge upswing in savings this month. I think because things like hot dogs (summer y’all kids are home for lunch every day), pop or soda depending on where you’re from, chips, beans, and other summer-friendly items. In addition, these purchased added up to incredible bonuses. Let me show you what I mean.

So on top of my actual shopping savings, I received $13 in bonuses. Awesome!

I’ve been told that people who have been reading like the proof photos from the apps instead of just taking my word for the savings amount. I get that. It was nice to hear from you and thank you for letting me know. I’ve made sure all savings list have the proof photo attached. Keep the dialog coming! I love to hear from you!

[su_heading size=”25″]June Savings Totals[/su_heading]

Ibotta – What I get from you clicking the link $5 what you get for clicking this link $10 – Since we started with iBotta above let’s just keep it rolling with this app and I’ll show you my full earnings. I earned a total of $29.20 this month. Like I said $13 of that was bonuses. Nice! I did have an issue with them this month. I had to contact customer service to follow up because two of my bonuses were not showing up. Their customer service took an extended time to get back to me because of high volume. I’m guessing they are struggling with their own success. If you’re not using this app it’s definitely worth it in spite of this glitch. That brings my total savings for this experiment to . . .

Christmas for #Free Ibotta Total Savings

SavingsStar – what we get for referral nothing but I like them so they are here – Also another huge leap forward for this app. I’m excited that they now attach to my Cub Foods card so I can shop at one of my favorite grocery stores. I will give you this caveat. Watch their always-on savings. They missed a Kelloggs savings on one of my receipts, but their customer service is OUTSTANDING! They promptly replied and resolved the problem. This month my savings is up to . . .

Christmas for #Free Saving Star Total Savings

Checkout 51 –I get nothing if you sign up but it’s a great program – Not a huge leap forward but an improvement. This one has only a certain number of each rebate available which kinda sucks. There were some I wanted to cash in but they ran out before I could submit a receipt or I had used my limit. This is frustrating since their offers don’t seem to change that much from month to month. None the less my savings are up to . . .

Christmas for #Free Checkout 51 Total Savings

Receipt Hog – This is one of the apps that I wish was taking new users because they accept all receipts. I’m sorry that readers can’t jump on board. Never the less I’m using it toward my goal so here is my total for June . . .

It’s the equivalent of $10 in cash toward my savings goal.

Fetch Rewards – Referal Code GB0QJ We both get 1500 points for the referral – LOVE THIS APP! If you haven’t joined this program yet do it now. They have their favorite brands but they give points for every grocery receipt submitted. One of their brands is Pepsi and my husband is a Mountain Dew addict so I frequently get bonuses. This month they had a bunch of extra bonuses on hot dogs, mustard, ketchup, and buns just like all the other apps so there was a nice jump for them too.

Christmas for #Free Fetch Rewards Total Savings

This equals $16 in total gift cards.

Shopkicks – Referal Code: SAVE725778 what we get both of us get 250 points for the referral – Gotta catch them all. I admit I forgot to activate my app several times over the month. I was disappointed in myself for that. I estimate I lost over 100 points because of it. Still this equals $10 in gift cards:

Christmas for #Free Shop Kick Total Savings

Ebates – What I get for referring 10 what you get for using my referral $10 – Another app there seems to be trouble with on some of their in-store earnings. Here’s what I suspect to be the problem. To earn in-store cash back you have to attach your credit card and they track the last four digits of the card to determine earnings. However, with the new chip cards, the last four digits of your card number do not appear on the purchase receipt. Instead, an encrypted code appears. Consequently, the purchases I’ve made at Office Depot over the past few months have not appeared as part of my earnings. None of my other in-store purchases have either. This is disappointing. I’ve contacted customer service but have not yet heard back from them. Don’t take this as a sign that their service is bad. I’ve only contacted them less than 24 hours ago so I haven’t given them ample time to respond for this post. I will update you when I’ve heard back from them. I previously received a check for $10.41 which will be added to the total. The balance below is my next check for August. There was no change for June.

Christmas for #Free Ebates Total Savings

Walmart – After my experience with Savings Catcher I have really stopped shopping at Walmart. If I do go there for anything I will put the receipt into Savings Catcher but I have not faith in their system and I will keep shopping at my favorite store since they are now accepted by all my apps. You can read why I’ve made this decision here. No change for June.

Christmas for #Free Savings Catcher Total Savings

Coupons.com App – I get nothing from this referral no bump to you either – I’m not posting a proof because there’s nothing to show. I’m so disappointed in this one.

Walgreens Balance Rewards Points – Woo Hoo! There have been several 7,000 bonus coupons this month. I’m up to $70 in Balance Rewards Points. It says I can only redeem $60 at a time but that’s okay. I’m willing to make more than one purchase to redeem this cash.

Christmas for #FREE Balance Rewards June Update

KellogsFamilyRewards – I used these points for photo Christmas Cards for #FREE. You have to love that. Photo cards are expensive so it’s totally worth it. Of course they have gift cards, products, coupons, and other things you can redeem these for but I’m going to use them for cards. I think. Maybe. We’ll see. Here’s what I have this month . . .

Christmas for #FREE Kelloggs June Update

Shutterfly The App – What we get for the referral we both receive an 8×8 photo book free! – Again I netted some freebies that have been set aside for Christmas gift giving. I can’t share them with you here because I know some of the recipients are reading. If you don’t have the app you really should. Every week they offer free products (just pay shipping) that make great holiday gifts including phone covers, calendars, puzzles, notepads, and tote bags all customized with your favorite photo.

One last thing that I’ve decided is being saved for Christmas. Target gives out gift cards for purchases of things like toilet paper, paper towel, detergent, etc. They’re usually about $5 each. I have $30 in Target gift cards at the moment. These will be used for Christmas as well. I know this wasn’t initially part of the program but I just earned these this month so I’m adding them.

I think that’s everything for June. This means I have a grand total of: $338.41 toward my total savings goal of $750. Over halfway there!

This post does contain affiliate links (read my full disclosure policy here) if you want to join me or if you have already I’d love to hear how you’re doing!

January Christmas For Free Update

February 7, 2018

This post contains affilate links. See my full policy disclosure policy here.

Well January slipped away fast! I can’t believe it’s already gone and it’s take me this long to post. I’m so sorry. All I can say is it’s a long explanation and trust me you don’t want to hear it.

January was not a great month for saving until the end of the month. That’s when I broke down and Weston Walmart. All the apps accept Walmart receipts and they have Saving Catcher which compares all the other store in the area and matches their prices. So I’m in.

this was my first Savings Catcher amount back. I’ll take it! Considering I didn’t even see some of the ads they compared my receipt against.

Here’s how the rest shook out:

Shopkicks – Referal Code: SAVE725778 what we get both of us get 250 points for the referral – thanks to a delayed prescription I was able to get a few more points this month. This means I’m at a $5 Target gift card level. Only 208 points away from a $10 gift card. Not bad for just wandering around the store an scanning items while I wait.

Fetch Rewards – Referal Code GB0QJ We both get 1500 points for the referral – still ranks as one of my favorite apps. They now have real time receipt processing which is pretty cool BUT you still have to carefully watch to make sure you’re not missing any bonus points.

Ibotta– not a bad month on Ibotta but my team and I still didn’t earn any bonuses. Maybe in February!

SavingStar– can’t really say much about that. Because their selection is limited on products and my policy is not to buy just to get money back there wasn’t much here.

receipt hog – I’m really sorry more people can’t get on this app because they capped their participants. This is already $5 back via PayPal on my way to $15 which is the next level.

Checkout 51– a couple more dollars here. Slow and steady wins the race I guess. I miss their weekly fresh item. It used to be a great way to get a few pennies back for buying lettuce, potatoes, or other fresh veggies.

Ebates – They just sent me a check for the $10.41 I had in there last month so right now my balance is at zero.

Walgreens Balance Rewards – I have a $5 reward right now and I’m 3,000 points away from a $10 reward. They just issued a 10x points value for every dollar spent so I might reach $10 in the next week (yay!).

That’s it for this month. Click on any of the links above to join me in this adventure. Let me know how your doing if you are joining me!

Christmas For Free December Update

January 4, 2018

This post includes affiliate links and referral codes (A lot of them)

You can read the original post for this experiment HERE to find out why I’m trying this.

Well, the holidays are finally over! Sorry, this post is a little late but wow! I stepped on a banana peel in November and skidded right through the New Year.

So I did have to become a receipt harpy as I predicted. The hubby is the one who frequently picks up milk and bread. You guessed it NO receipt. He’s learning. I also forgot to scan a couple and when I finally did I had missed some of the deadlines. Boo for me!

This month’s earning from the apps are a little higher than last months thanks to Christmas shopping through Groupon and of course Christmas grocery shopping. Here’s how it shakes down:

Receipt Hog is now up to 739 coins and as you can see by the bar at the top. I’m about to go to Level 14 which will give me 150 bonus coins.

Shopkicks is still like playing Pokemon! They had a fantastic deal where you got tons of bonus points on Black Friday but since I refuse to leave my house on Black Friday I didn’t get any of them. I’m now up to 1,446 so I’ve earned a $5 Target gift card already but I’m not cashing it in yet so I can earn higher dollar amounts. The best part is you don’t even have to make a purchase to earn these. So this was $5 free just for going to Target and Walgreen and scanning some items while I’m shopping. SCORE! Don’t forget to use my referral code if you sign up and we both get 250 points. Referal Code: SAVE725778

Fetch Rewards is now at 4,464. Love this app. Every grocery receipt is a chance to earn points. WARNING!!! Watch the points they give you. I don’t really pay that much attention to the brands they offer but I did notice that Knorr sides were bonus items at one point and I had purchased a few on a 10 for $10 deals but Fetch didn’t give me the bonus points. Luckily when you view your receipt you can click the “correct my receipt” button and let them know of the error. They fixed it pretty quick (within a day). It just happened again on an Ore-Ida potatoes bonus so it pays to pay attention. If you sign up don’t forget to use my referral code and we both get 1,500 points! Referal Code GB0QJ

Checkout 51 is now at $9.20 cash. There were a lot of items I could have redeemed except they were store specific which is annoying because they weren’t at Target which is where I was shopping and I didn’t want to shop at two separate places to get the cash back. Still earned a little bit. I don’t get anything if you sign up but it’s still a great program.

Ibotta earnings for December is $11.55, which I have to say was wildly disappointing. This has been my top earning app so I was surprised at how little they had in December that I would be purchasing. I expected the total to be higher but it is what it is. Maybe January will be better What I get from you clicking the link $5 what you get for clicking this link $10

Savings Star is at $1.50. I didn’t expect that much from them since their brands are more limited. This was more than I anticipated so score! I get nothing if you sign up but they’re great so sign up anyway!

Ebates for December is up to $10.41 thanks to some gifts purchased on Groupon through the site and a lovely early gift card from my Mom & Dad to buy some new clothes (thanks, Mom and Dad!). If you sign up through my link you will get a $15 bonus (after you spend $25) and I will get $10. Woo Hoo!

[su_heading size=”15″]Other Programs[/su_heading]

Kelloggs Family Rewards Thanks to their 25 days of Christmas bonuses I now have 16,998 points. I use these to get my Christmas cards for FREE and photo books I use as gifts. I get nothing if you sign up but it’s SOOOO worth signing up.

Walgreens Balance Rewards I now have a $3 reward available to buy stocking stuffers and other things next Christmas. All from prescriptions.

So to sum up a total of $31.25 to date toward 2018’s Christmas bill!!!

Christmas for Free November Update

November 30, 2017

Well so far I have forgotten to scan A LOT of receipts. {{Sigh}} But! I only forgot to ask for one.

For this year I had earned $55 from Walgreens Balance Rewards so I’ve cashed in all but $5. That’s where I will begin next year’s balance.

My FetchRewards balance is at 1,868 points

Checkout 51 my balance is now $7.55

Ibotta my balance is now $1.05 (that’s just disappointing – I expected more on this one)

SavingsStar my balance is now $0.50

Coupons.com sent me $2.25 via PayPal immediately. I still have to figure out how I’m going to set that aside.

Receipt Hog I have 486 coins

Shopkick I have 591 points thanks to a delayed prescription

Ebates I have $6.32 thanks to some holiday Groupon shopping

MobieSave Nothing. I said not to expect too much from this one. I wasn’t kidding, I think this app is going the way of the Dodo bird

Not a bad start. Yes, I stumbled at the beginning but I’m getting better about asking for a receipt (so is my hubby by the way – I didn’t have to be a harpy for too long). If you coming along on this journey with me I’d love to hear from you! Post your comments below and let me know how you’re doing with your savings.

Christmas for Free The Apps & Savings Programs

November 10, 2017

This post includes affiliate links and referral codes (A lot of them)

You can read the original post for this experiment HERE to find out why I’m trying this.

Below is a list of the apps and points programs that I will be using and how they work. The links to the programs are affiliate or referral links that I’ve listed what I get and what you get for signing up (non-of them will cost you extra) so if you want to join me in this experiment and try to save a little on Christmas that would be so awesome! I love having friends with me to do anything.

I know there are other apps out there, but these are the apps I’ve been using and I don’t want the experiment to get out of hand. This is what I find manageable. For others this might seem like too many. We all have to know our own tolerances. Please feel free to find your sweet spot. Maybe it’s 4, maybe 6, maybe 1 or some of you might be looking at me like I’ve lost my mind, that’s okay. I’m still gonna try.

[su_heading size=”15″]My Apps & Programs[/su_heading]

Checkout 51 –I get nothing if you sign up but it’s great program so it’s here – How it works: Pays out: cash Time for Payout: 5-15 days. Need to cash out by 10/15 to start shopping by 11/1

Ebates – What I get for referring $25 what you get for using my referral $10 Why I like them: I shop online a lot. They have Barnes and Noble, Shutterfly, VistaPrint, Target, Groupon, Itunes, and other online retailers I frequent. Pays out: Cash by “Big Fat Check” Drawback: The check is sent on Ebates schedule and not mine. I will have to set this money aside to add the Christmas funds.

Ibotta – What I get from you clicking the link $5 what you get for clicking this link $10 – If you haven’t tried Ibotta I am encouraging you right now to click the link. You won’t be disappointed. Why I like them : Teammate bonuses (you get more money because your friends shop with the app too), product bonuses (If you love certain brands this can be a big win), wine/beer (don’t look at me like it’s just me), any item payments (this is for things like bread, milk, or just any receipt), and the variety of stores. Pays out: Cash (via PayPal) or Gift Card Payout Time: Minimal since it’s by PayPal I can hold until 10/31 to start shopping by 11/1

Shopkicks – Referal Code: SAVE725778 what we get both of us get 250 points for the referral – Why I like them: It’s like Pokemon for adults. You don’t need to make a purchase with Shopkicks to be awarded points. You get points for simply walking in to some stores like Walmart and Target, and you get points for scanning certain items (ie – magazines, pasta sauces, nailpolish). This gives me something to do while I’m waiting for a prescription to fill or I arrived somewhere too early somewhere (which I tend to do because I have a pathological fear of being late for things). I can walk into Target or Walgreens (my two favorite Shopkick locations) and scan a few items, kill some time without spending any money, and they give me gift cards to Target.

Fetch Rewards – Referal Code GB0QJ We both get 1500 points for the referral – This is another scan a receipt deal. They give 25 points per receipt and bonus points if you buy certain brands. I never watch the brands because they will look at my receipt for the brands they represent. It’s a nice surprise for me when a receipt nets me extra points. Some of their brands are Kraft, Jello, Lay’s, Magnum, Lipton, Mountain Dew, Oscar Meyers, – The list goes on and on so you can see you chance of bonus points are pretty high. Pays Out: Gift cards they have target so I’m in! They also have Amazon, Sears and a bunch of other retailers if you prefer to shop elsewhere.

SavingsStar – what we get for referral nothing but I like them so they are here –How it works: Scan your receipt for items listed that hve been activated. Pays Out: Cash or gift card (gifts are limited not Target or Amazon so going with cash here) – PayPal payout 2-3 day processing (mine has been more like a day) – Can cash out at $5 – boost your progress bonuses toward high value savings by watching a video or sharing your email – Drawback: some offers require multiple purchases like spend $12 to get $3 back.

Receipt Hog – There’s no referral program and they have a note about reaching maximum capacity so I don’t know if anyone else can sign up. This is another scan your receipt and earn points toward PayPal or Amazon. They have bonuses for certain receipts in the form of a pull on their Hog Slots slot machine. I’ve been using it so I’ll keep using it.

Coupons.com App – I get nothing from this referral no bump to you either – Why I like it: They pay cash now delay by PayPal – Drawback: Limited number of stores . . . VERY limited in my area, but Target is included so I’m keeping it on the list.

MobiSave –Referral Code: KXKHCFXF I get $1 but I don’t think you get anything. If you choose to enter the code Thank you! That is exceptionally generous of you. Pays CASH IMMEADIATELY – Drawback – must select savings before you buy – enter your unique code offers I’ve never seen one EVER. I expect to see very little activity on this one and I’m wondering if the app is floundering. UPDATE I won’t be using them anymore.

Other Programs:

KellogsFamilyRewards – What I get when you click the link Nothing but it’s still awesome – Pays in Gift Cards and rewards – Why I like them, I’ve been using this for years to get Shutterfly photo books for free for Christmas gifts and Christmas cards. They also have Target and Amazon Gift cards. My family mows through cereal like it’s air. I’m not kidding. I bought a box and the next day it was gone. It’s breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks around here so Kellogs Rewards is a slam dunk.

Walgreens Balance Rewards Points – Money off future Walgreen Purchase – Payout: redeem at register when ready to use – I use these for stocking stuffers and advent calendar fillers. You get bonus points through out the year especially after a RX refill. Strategy pick up prescription wait for the bonus points to print out then check out other non-RX items to get maximum points Why I love them: Every prescriptions gets 100 points and I can earn points without spending money! I get 20 points for every mile I walk and other healthy behavior (like sleeping!). You have to remember to log the activity (they connect to a lot of different fitness devices), but money off with no money out is the way to go!

Shutterfly The App – What we get for the referral we both receive an 8×8 photo book free! – App freebie throughout the year for items like photobooks, calendars, playing cards, puzzles, and mugs, which will be saved and used as photo gifts. The app kicks out a freebie or a discount every weekend. Make sure you download the app and enable notifications. As a bonus the app gives you free prints. No lie all the time. Just pay shipping.

Here’s how the rest shook out:

That’s it for this month. Click on any of the links above to join me in this adventure. Let me know how your doing if you are joining me!

This post includes affiliate links and referral codes (A lot of them)

So to sum up a total of $31.25 to date toward 2018’s Christmas bill!!!

This post includes affiliate links and referral codes (A lot of them)

Other Programs:

Come back next Friday and I’ll outline the drawbacks and pitfalls I can see ahead!