Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill
Money

Is Ibotta Legit? Ultimate Ibotta Review

With all the cash back apps out there, you may be wondering "Is Ibotta legit?". Does it really get you money back as it claims? The answer is yes! Ibotta is legit and you can earn money back each time you shop. 

Using Ibotta can get you some real cash back on your purchases, especially when shopping for groceries. So instead of throwing away free money, giving Ibotta a try can help you save more!

Ibotta is very easy to use and there's actually different ways you can get even more cash back.

I personally use Ibotta myself and love this app when it comes to getting free money back on my purchases.

Let me show you how Ibotta works and I'll go over all the ways you can maximize your savings with this app.

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

What is Ibotta?

So, if you're wondering if Ibotta is legit rest assured that it's a legitimate free app that pays its users to earn cash on their everyday purchases from groceries, online shopping, bonuses, and more.

To date, Ibotta has paid it's users $860 million! Can you believe that? There's over 1.2 million ratings from the Apple App Store with a solid 4.8 out of 5, can't get any better than that!

The Ibotta app also has great ratings on the Google Play Store, where it has an average score of 4.5 out of 5 from over 530,000 ratings.

Ibotta In Store Shopping Cash Back Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill

Ibotta

Free $20 welcome bonus

Ibotta is a free app that gets you real cash back on your purchases from groceries, brands, clothing, medication, online shopping, and so much more

Average use of Ibotta could bring you $240 a year or more - aside from your free $20 welcome bonus - Ibotta has paid it's users over $860 million so far 


How does Ibotta work?

Ibotta will give you cash back on certain items you purchase through one of their 1,000+ participating major retailers.

You can get free cash back when you purchase grocery items, pet food, health products, clothes, and so much more.

There's a few ways to get extra money back once you sign up and start your Ibotta account.

Once you sign up with Ibotta and download the free phone app (and claim your free $20 sign up bonus), you'll have a few options to start getting your free cash back.

Getting free money back with Ibotta is so easy, we'll cover some of the ways below.

Ibotta How It Works - Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill

In store Purchases

Ibotta will get you money back when you're shopping for groceries.

Besides just groceries, you could also earn cash back at over 300 participating retail chains which include restaurants, movie theaters, convenience stores, home improvement centers, pet stores, and pharmacies.

Some stores you may be familiar with:

  • Aldi
  • Costco
  • Dollar Tree
  • Kroger
  • Target
  • Whole Foods Market
  • PetSmart
  • Walmart
  • Hobby Lobby
  • Rite Aid
  • Banana Republic
  • Express
  • Gap
  • 300 more!

Once you've found the store you plan to do in-store shopping at, choose the items you plan to buy, add it to your Ibotta list, and once you get your receipt, scan into the app to get your cash back.

Ibotta How to Use Steps - Is Ibotta Legit -My Financial Hill


Linking your store loyalty card

If you want to skip scanning your receipt, an easy way to do this is to link up your store loyalty card with the Ibotta app.

Keep in mind that not all the stores will have this feature within the app. If the store you plan to shop at does have this feature, it will say "Link Account" when you go click on the store name within the app.

Ibotta Linking Store Loyalty Card-Is Ibotta Legit- My Financial Hill


Once you link your loyalty card and shop in store, the cashier will scan your card. Ibotta will then automatically process your purchase information and match up and offers you have added to your list.

You will receive cash back automatically without scanning any receipts just as long as you scan your store loyalty card at the register.

Scan your receipt by taking a photo

The second way to get your cash back with Ibotta is by taking a quick photo of your receipt to submit it.

If your receipt is long, don't worry, you can take multiple snapshots to ensure you're able to submit the entire receipt.

Ibotta will be able to read your receipt and match it up with the offers you've added to your list to get you cash back.

Some receipts even come with a QR code which looks like a square box with a bunch of random dots on the bottom of the receipt. So instead of snapping the entire receipt, you can simply take a photo of the QR code and Ibotta will receive the information from your purchase and match up your offers.

Save When Online shopping

Ibotta Cash Back Online Shopping - Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill

If you do some online shopping too then Ibotta's also got you covered. You can choose from any one of the hundreds of participating online retailers from food delivery, clothing, travel sites, and so much more where you can save money from.

Some of the online stores you can choose from are:

  • Banana Republic
  • BestBuy
  • Chewy
  • Expedia
  • Express
  • Forever 21
  • Gap
  • Hotels
  • Lowes
  • Orbitz
  • ULTA
  • Zappos

The process to get cash back when shopping at your favorite online retailers is super easy.

First you'll find the online store you plan to make a purchase from, then click on "Shop" on the Ibotta app or on desktop, you will be forwarded to the online store's website.

From there, you make your purchase as usual. Behind the scenes, Ibotta will get you cash back for your purchase.

Is Ibotta legit?

Yes, Ibotta is a completely legit app and will get you real money back for your everyday purchases. 

Ibotta has been around for 9 years now and have paid it's users $860 million so far!

Also, Ibotta partners up with many major retailers that I'm sure those mega companies wouldn't join forces with Ibotta if their company is not legitimate.

I personally use Ibotta every time I go to the grocery store or even when I shop online and I just love seeing the notification each time I'm due to get some money into my account.

How much you earn with the Ibotta app is completely up to you. If you're just an average user then you can expect to make back around $25 a month, depending on your purchases and how consistently you use the app.

Rather than throwing perfectly good money down the drain, why not get your money back on things you would normally buy anyway.

That extra $25 a month or more can definitely come in handy one of these days when you want to get your office some coffee, get gas, give out gift cards for acquaintances, and more.

Step-by-step guide to using Ibotta

Ibotta made it super simple to use their app or desktop version. I'll go ahead and walk you through how to get started.

Sign up for Ibotta

First, you'll need to sign up and create your Ibotta account. You'll even qualify for their sweet $20 sign up bonus, only valid for first time users.

You can sign up straight from your phone or desktop.

Download the Ibotta app

If you have Apple, go on over to the App Store and if you have Android, go to the Google Play area. Find Ibotta and download it to start using it from your phone.

Install the Ibotta Google Chrome extension

Ibotta Cash Back Online Shopping - Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill

If you're on desktop, you'll be able to download the Ibotta Chrome extension to get money back when you shop online.

Submit your receipt to Ibotta

Once you've got your Ibotta account and app installed, launch the app.

  1. Find your store where you plan to make a purchase from
  2. Pick out the items you plan to buy and add it to your list
  3. Head to the store and purchase all necessary items
  4. Once you get your receipt, upload it to Ibotta
  5. You'll see a notification right away telling you how much you're earning back

Link store loyalty cards

When you link your store loyalty card with Ibotta, you won't have to scan your receipts to get money back.

All you need to do is choose your offers from Ibotta, make sure the cashier scans your store loyalty card when you purchase, and earn extra cash back from Ibotta.

Ibotta $20 Sign up Bonus

Ibotta 20 Welcome Bonus - Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill


Ibotta is upping their sign up bonus!

It used to be $10 but now they're offering $20 for a sign up bonus (only for new users). They'll give you about 30 days from when you first start the app to claim the $20 worth of offers.

Can I make money with Ibotta?

Yes, you absolutely can make money back with Ibotta. 

Ibotta really works and gets you cash back for your purchases from in-store or online.

So, instead of throwing away free money, use Ibotta to help get you money back. Each dollar adds up over time. I've earned over $140 with Ibotta so far and I love it!

Here's 3 most common ways to earn the most with Ibotta:

  1. Get cash back on your purchases- You'll make money back from your purchases from in-store as long as you choose your offers in Ibotta and scan your receipt or link up your store loyalty account card. You'll also get cash back from online purchases made easy with the Ibotta Chrome extension.
  2. Refer your friends and family- Ibotta will give you bonuses for their referral program when you get a friend or family member to join.
  3. Ibotta loves bonuses- When you start using Ibotta, you'll start to see a lot of bonus offers on the home screen of the Ibotta app. Basically, Ibotta will give you even more cash to complete bonuses in the time frame they have noted. Also, check your e-mails because Ibotta sends random bonus offers which are not always available in their app and it requires you to activate it from the e-mail link.

How much money can you make with Ibotta?

The amount of money you make with Ibotta depends on the offers you choose within the app, your online shopping activity, how often you shop in-store, and how consistent you are with using the app.

For average users, you can expect to earn back $25 a month.

However, I have seen instances where people earn hundreds and thousands with Ibotta too so it all really depends on if you make the most out of the app.

What gift cards can I get from Ibotta?

If you're ready to cash out your money with Ibotta, you'll get to choose from cash if you have a PayPal account, Venmo, and gift cards to over 50 different stores.

Gift card options:

  • Amazon
  • Target
  • Walmart
  • Starbucks
  • iTunes
  • Sephora
  • Among 50 others


Does Ibotta really give you money?

Yes, Ibotta really gives you cold hard cash back for your in-store and online purchases. Also, they pay you $20 for signing up as a new user, referring friends and family, bonuses, and working as a team. 

Ibotta does offer many ways for you to save money and earn cash back.

How do you get your money from Ibotta?

Ibotta Withdraw Earnings - Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill


Retrieving your money from Ibotta is simple.

  1. Visit your Account from the Ibotta app and click on "Withdraw Earnings"
  2. Next, you'll get the option to choose your payment method.
  3. You can add your bank account, link your PayPal or Venmo, or choose from 50 different gift cards.

How long does it take to get my money from Ibotta?

If you choose to receive your payment with your linked PayPal account or Venmo, you'll receive it within minutes.

If you'd rather receive a gift card, you'll receive an e-mail containing your digital gift card within 24 hours.

What is the minimum to withdraw from Ibotta?

You'll need a minimum of $20 in order to withdraw from Ibotta with the PayPal/Venmo method.

The same goes for gift cards, you'll need a minimum of $20 for some of the gift cards. There are other gift cards that require a $25 minimum to claim it.

However, with the $20 sign up bonus that Ibotta is offering, you should get at least the minimum covered in no time at all.

Does PayPal charge for Ibotta?

Nope, PayPal will not charge you a fee when you withdraw Ibotta earnings, which is awesome!

What is the best way to use Ibotta?

To get the most out of this cash back app, here are the best ways to use Ibotta:

  1. Claim offers to earn cash back from the Ibotta app when you're shopping in-store.
  2. Use the Ibotta Chrome extension when shopping online to get money back from purchases.
  3. Link your store loyalty accounts so that you don't need to scan your receipt.
  4. Earn even more by completing the bonus offers from within the app.
  5. Activate bonus offers sent from Ibotta to your email.
  6. Refer friends and family to earn bonus cash.
  7. Earn more when you're in a team. Referring your friends and family will automatically group you into a team. As a team, you all will qualify for teamwork bonus offers.


Is the Ibotta app safe to use?

Yes, Ibotta app is safe to use as they state that all payment information is protected with 256-bit bank-level encryption.

If you still would like further protection when using Ibotta, you have the option of:

  • Phone verification when using the app
  • Enable Face ID for passwords
  • Create a strong password


Tips and tricks to get the most with Ibotta

Ibotta - Tips and tricks to get the most out of Ibotta - Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill

To get the most out of your money with Ibotta, there's a few tips and tricks that can help you save money and bring in cash.

Get free items from the dollar stores

I enjoy visiting dollar stores from time to time and pick up random things. For the most part, a majority of the items will be $1 more or less.

Ibotta actually has offers for the Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar.

The cash back offers range from cents to $3 cash back for certain items. Some items could probably be picked up for free!

For instance, Ibotta could be offering $1 cash back for deodorant which you've purchased for $1, basically getting you that item for free.

Combine cash back offers

You will claim offers to redeem with Ibotta to earn cash back. However, you can combine offers together to get extra money back.

Within the app, if you go to the "Earn More" tab, you'll see additional offers for multiple brands.

These extra offers stacks on top of the ones you've already chosen to get you saving money.

Stack coupons with Ibotta

You can use store or manufacturer's coupons combined with the offer you're claiming to get even more savings.

It's great that Ibotta will still give you cash back for offers even though you've used an actual coupon.

Where is Ibotta hidden bonus?

Ibotta will often send you hidden bonuses that you can't otherwise find within the app. You'll receive an email from Ibotta telling you about the bonus offer which you'll have to activate.

Once activated, you'll see it in in the "Earn More" section within the app.

Create a team

When you refer your friends and family to the Ibotta App, you'll automatically form a team.

As a team, you will all be eligible to participate in team bonuses. Once you all achieve the requirements, everyone in the team will get the teamwork bonus in addition to all other cash back offers and bonuses.

Earning more bonuses

Don't forget to check the "Earn more with bonuses" area on the home screen of the app. From there, you'll see additional bonuses you can qualify for to earn even more money.

Check the "Earn More" tab within the app to check additional bonuses and additional cash back when buying certain brands.

What is the best cash back app?

Best Cash Back App - Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill

So you may be wondering what is the best cash back app to use? Besides Ibotta, there's Fetch Rewards, GetUpside, Swagbucks, and Rakuten.

You can check different cash back offers on Swagbucks and Rakuten to see where you can get the most out of your money.

With scanning receipts, after scanning it to Ibotta, you can then use Fetch Rewards to submit it there for even more points.

You can also get cash back at the pump and restaurants with GetUpside.

Overall, there's a lot of cash back apps out there and instead of just sticking with 1, use as many as you can to get the most cash back.

On the plus side, these cash back apps and sites give you sign up bonuses for free which is just plain awesome! Who can complain with more free money?


What's better than Ibotta?

The app which comes close to Ibotta is Fetch Rewards.

Fetch Rewards is a receipt scanning app which gives you points. You can submit your receipts for groceries, clothes, gas, food, pharmacy, and more.

The bulk of your points will most likely be earned when you upload receipts from your grocery shopping trip. Fetch Rewards has so many participating brands like:

  • Tropicana
  • Yoplait
  • Scott
  • Clorox
  • Sargento
  • Kodiak
  • and so many more

The difference between Ibotta and Fetch Rewards is that you don't have to pick out specific items to earn points with Fetch Rewards unlike Ibotta.

Just simply scan your entire receipt and the app will detect the brands you've purchased from the store and credit you with appropriate points.

For simplicity purposes, Fetch Rewards is a good receipt scanning app for store purchases.

However, you won't get real money back unlike Ibotta. You can redeem your points for gift cards and magazine subscriptions.

Is Fetch Rewards better than Ibotta?

In my opinion, I think you will earn more cash back from purchases using Ibotta.

With Fetch Rewards, you'll only redeem your points for gift cards or magazine instead of PayPal like Ibotta offers.

In terms of getting money back, Ibotta is the way to go over Fetch Rewards.

However, this shouldn't stop you from using both! Double your points!

Take your receipt, submit it to Ibotta for cash back and use it for Fetch Rewards to earn more points.

To learn how to get the most points with Fetch, read my other article:

Fetch Rewards Hack and Rew

FAQ

Does Ibotta really give you money?

Yes, Ibotta does really give you money in the form of cash which you can redeem via your PayPal account, Venmo account, deposit into your bank, or gift cards.

Is it safe to give Ibotta your bank account information?

You may be wondering "Is Ibotta legit and safe?" Especially if payment information is involved.

Yes, Ibotta states that all payment information is protected with 256-bit bank-level encryption and they take security seriously.

Rest assured that the only time you would provide any bank account information is when you want to transfer your Ibotta funds to your bank account.

There's also alternate options to get your payment via PayPal, Venmo, and gift cards.

Is Ibotta free?

Yep, Ibotta is completely free to use!

What's the catch with Ibotta?

Basically, "the catch" with Ibotta is they'll give you money back or gift cards in exchange to monitor and share the consumer's shopping habits. If this idea feels a bit much for you, it's similar to shopping online at Amazon or any other store.

Have you shopped online and noticed the "Recommended or Related" section? Companies will use your purchase history to recommend similar products to meet your needs.

Basically, they use this consumer information for marketing purposes.

Is Ibotta worth the trouble?

Actually, using Ibotta is no trouble at all! It's very simple and easy to use.

Takes only a few minutes to scan the app for products you plan to buy from your grocery list, once you get your receipt, scan it, and get your cash back.

It's one of my favorite money saving apps to use when I shop because I actually don't have patience to sit there clipping coupons.

Do you pay taxes on Ibotta?

Nope, Ibotta will not send you any tax forms because the cash back you receive is considered coupons.

How do you get $20 on Ibotta?

Ibotta In Store Shopping Cash Back Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill

Ibotta

Free $20 welcome bonus

Ibotta is a free app that gets you real cash back on your purchases from groceries, brands, clothing, medication, online shopping, and so much more

Average use of Ibotta could bring you $240 a year or more - aside from your free $20 welcome bonus - Ibotta has paid it's users over $860 million so far 

Getting your $20 sign up bonus on Ibotta is really easy.

You have to be a new user, sign up for Ibotta, claim your offers within 30 days to get the credit applied to your account.

Can you use coupons and Ibotta?

Yes, the best part about using Ibotta is that you can stack other coupons and still get the full cash back offer amount. This gets you even more savings on your purchases.

Can you scan a receipt twice on Ibotta?

Yes, you can scan a receipt twice on Ibotta as long as it's within 7 days from the date of purchase. Also, if you submit your receipt twice, it should be for the missed offers and not to re-submit for offers already claimed.

So is Ibotta legit and worth it?

I hope this post answered your concerns if you were wondering "is Ibotta legit and worth using?"

Overall, Ibotta is an awesome way to earn money when you make purchases in-store or online purchases.

It's nice to go on a grocery shopping trip, use Ibotta, and get back more money every single time. Each dollar counts and adds up over time.

With Ibotta, there's so many different ways to maximize your cash back like when you grocery shop, do some online shopping, buying certain brands, getting extra bonuses, joining a team to earn more bonuses, and don't forget the $20 sign up bonus too!

By using Ibotta, you'll start earning more money which you can use for a free grocery shopping trip, gas for the car, send gift cards for friends and family, free lunch, and so much more.

So far, I've earned over $140 with Ibotta just by using the app and that's definitely nothing to scoff at.

Ibotta is definitely worth trying out, especially since you could get the $20 welcome bonus, why not? 

If you're interested in finding out more ways to make free side cash online or on your phone, check out my other articles: 

Make $10 Fast with PayPal

Make $100 a Day with PayPal

Earn Free PayPal Money Online or From Your Phone

Earn Money Watching Ads 

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Watch Ads For Money My Financial Hill
Money

Watch Ads for Money: 17 Legit Ways

Being that we're in the digital age now, there's so many ways to make money online or with our phones, it's amazing. One of the ways to make some cash is to watch ads for money. 

Who knew one could actually make money watching ads?

Being able to get paid to watch ads sounds a bit too easy doesn't it?

I was also a bit skeptical at first but after actually seeing first hand results, it's legit!

If you've got a little bit of spare time you can definitely make money online or on your phone by watching ads and videos.

Watching ads for a bit of cash is super easy to do but as long as you keep your expectations within reason, this can be a good way to earn extra cash each month.

At this point you may be wondering how to even go about watching ads for money and how much can you earn?

There's about 17 super easy ways to watch ads and short videos for money so let's go ahead and find out how it all works and how to get started.

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 


How it works

Watching ads for money infograph My Financial Hill

There are numerous amount of apps and sites out there that will pay you to watch online content and videos. You can join certain sites where you get to watch ads or a video and earn points or cash for doing so.

There are also ways where you can have ads displayed on your phone's lock screen and get paid for that too.

On your spare time, you could make money watching ads while you're waiting on line when shopping, doing the laundry, or waiting to pick up your kid's from school.

To actually get paid for watching ads for money, you'll have to sign up to one or many websites as you'd like to start.

The process is really simple.

Basically, a lot of the sites that offer you points or cash to watch ads will have a particular section to navigate to. From there you'll be able to pick and choose which ads or videos you'd like to watch.

The great part about these sites is that besides getting paid to watch ads, you'll get plenty of other choices to earn points or money like playing games, taking surveys and quizzes, trying apps, and so much more.

So if you're into watching videos to pass time or need something to keep you preoccupied, why not actually get paid for watching ads and videos, amongst other things if you'd like.

You'll discover 17 of the most easiest ways where you can watch ads for money.

How much money can you make watching ads?

How much money you may earn watching video ads is dependent on the time you put into it. When signing up to certain sites, you'll get sign up bonuses which can easily add up to nearly $45 on your first month. Then, you can expect to earn any where from $5 to $25 on a monthly basis or even more.

It may not be much but some of the sites that offer ads for money have other options to make extra money too. On some sites you can play games, take surveys and quizzes, and all sorts of other stuff. You can actually make hundreds more if you decide to work on the other activities provided by the sites.

Let's get into all the ways you can earn some money watching ads.

17 Top-Rated apps for getting paid to watch ads

Swagbucks

Swagbucks Watch Ads for Money My Financial Hill


Swagbucks is an online rewards website where you can watch short video ads and receive points in return. The points called Swagbucks is converted into money where you can cash it out via PayPal, check, or gift cards.

You can watch a variety of different ads from lifestyle, sports, entertainment, news, and more. Besides watching ads, there's other ways to earn points. You can also play games, take surveys, scan your receipt, shop online, try different apps, and so much more.

Swagbucks could be considered one of the most popular survey sites next to Survey Junkie but they offer so many ways to earn money besides only watching videos.

I've earned over $200 using Swagbucks and it's one of my favorite ways to make a bit of extra money on the side. It's actually one of my favorite ways to make money online when I have a bit a free time on my hands.

Swagbucks offers $10 as a sign up bonus, which is awesome.

Sign Up Bonus: $10 welcome bonus

Payment Method: Get your free money sent to your PayPal, form of a check, or with gift cards.

Minimum Payout Threshold: 2,500 points or equivalent which is $25.

Inboxdollars

InboxDollars Watch Ads for Money My Financial Hill


InboxDollars is another rewards website where you can get paid money for watching ads or a short video. One thing that sets InboxDollars apart from other rewards sites is that it shows you exactly how much you'll earn for completing an activity instead of showing it to you in points.

The amount you will make watching ads with InboxDollars isn't much but they also offer other ways to earn like taking surveys, playing games, scanning receipts, and more.

Once you earn at least $30, you'll be able to cash it out via PayPal, ePayment, or a check in the mail. It can take around 10 to 16 business days for the checks to arrive.

On the plus side, InboxDollars offers $5 just for joining.

Sign Up Bonus: $5 Sign up bonus

Payment Method: Cash via PayPal, gift cards, or check

Minimum Payment Threshold: $30

MyPoints

MyPoints Watch Ads for Money My Financial Hill

MyPoints is similar to Swagbucks and Inbox Dollars where you can earn money while watching ads. You can watch an entertaining video like gossip from Hollywood or watch a Golden Globes coverage.

There are other ways to earn with MyPoints besides watching videos as well. You can play games, fill out surveys, try coupons, and more.

Sign Up Bonus: $10 welcome bonus

Payment Method: PayPal cash, Visa prepaid card, gift cards, or travel miles.

Minimum Payment Threshold: Once you earn $3, you can redeem the earnings for free PayPal cash or a Visa prepaid card, choose from 70+ gift cards, or travel miles. 

PrizeRebel

PrizeRebel Watch Ads for Money My Financial Hill


PrizeRebel is a website where you can get paid money fast, usually within 24 hours.

You can get paid to watch videos, make internet searches, take surveys, or refer others.

If you stay active with this site, you can work your way up towards their loyalty system which gets you even more points on the same tasks the higher up you go.

Payment Method: Cash or gift cards

Minimum Payment Threshold: $5

Ibotta

Ibotta Watch Ads for Money My Financial Hill

Ibotta is a popular money back app when you're shopping for groceries and other items. Some offers you may claim come with a short ad you'll have to watch. If you watch an ad for that offer, you may earn up to $1 or more depending what the offer consists of.

It's a super easy way to earn some money back on your purchases. Ibotta is offering a $20 welcome bonus when you sign up and redeem qualifying offers within 30 days.

Sign Up Bonus: $20 with code YDIGCFJ

Payment Methods: You can get your earnings straight into your PayPal, Venmo, or gift cards.

Minimum Payout threshold: Once you reach $20 in earnings, redeem it and get free PayPal money

AdWallet

AdWallet Watch Ads for Money My Financial Hill

AdWallet allows you to get paid money to watch ads and short videos which are handpicked for you.

You can anywhere from $0.50 and up to $3.00 per video. Also, each friend you refer will get you an additional $1.

When you reach $10, you can cash it out.

AdWallet has paid its users over $1,104,565 and counting so far.

Payment Method: Transfer to bank account, get a eGift card, or donate it.

Minimum Payout Threshold: You'll have to reach $10

Vindale Research

Vindale Research Watch Ads for Money My Financial Hill

With Vindale Research, it's easy to earn rewards. You can watch ads for money, read emails, take surveys, look for reward codes, and more.

Once you sign up to Vindale, visit the "videos" tab on the surveys page to start earning money.

If you decide to take some surveys, you can earn as much as $50 for each one.

Payment Method: Cash via PayPal

Minimum Payment Threshold: $50

Slidejoy

Slidejoy is app for Android phone where you allow it to show an ad on your phones' lock screen in exchange for cash rewards.

Once you have it running, you'll see a news story or promotion on your phone's lock screen. You'll get the option to learn more about the ad, view another ad, or return to your home screen.

The good part about Slidejoy is that you don't necessarily have to engage with the ad. It will automatically register each time you unlock your phone to see the ad.

Basically, you won't get paid to watch ads, instead just leave it running on your phone's lock screen to get paid passively.

The company says you can get paid as much as $15 a month just by unlocking your phone as usual.

Payment Method: Cash via PayPal, or donate to charity

Minimum Payment Threshold: At least $1

ScreenLift

ScreenLift is another app that pays you to display an ad on your lock screen. You don't need to interact with the ad to get paid.

You can except to make around $20 a month with ScreenLift. The money can definitely come in handy when you're trying to get a free cup of coffee or lunch for the month for literally doing nothing.

Payment Method: Cash via PayPal, gift cards for Google Play, Amazon, or Wal-Mart.

Minimum Payout Threshold: 1,500 points which is $1

iRazoo

iRazoo is rewards website where you can earn points for doing simple things like watch ads for money.

You'll also get to share your opinion on ads, movie and app trailers, cooking tutorials, and more. There's more than 50 channels of content and the inventory changes daily.

Just like other reward sites, you can earn points for doing additional tasks like read emails, entering promo codes, and completing other offers.

Payment Method: Cash via PayPal and gift cards

Minimum Payout Threshold: At least 3000 points which can get you a $5 gift card or $20 minimum to be able to cash out to PayPal.

Nielsen TV Ratings

Nielsen is a company that's considered one of the largest consumer research firms in America. They have a program called Nielsen Families where they pay households monthly to allow the company to track their TV viewing, also to fill out surveys about the TV habits.

Nielsen will send out this information (confidential) to networks so that they can determine which shows to pull or continue to show.

Also, keep in mind that if you wanted to participate with Nielsen Families, it's only done by invite-only. There really is no way to sign up for it but just to be on the lookout for an invitation in the mail. Nielsen sends about 1 million invites per year so chances to qualify for participation isn't as slim after all.

SuccessBux

With SuccessBux, you can get paid to watch ads.

Besides ads, you can get paid to signup for websites, listen to the radio, complete certain tasks on their offerwall, complete surveys, enter contests, refer other users, and so much more.

Payment Method: Paypal or Payza

Minimum Payout Threshold: $1

QuickRewards

With QuickRewards you can watch ads for money and it's not the only way to earn either. You can play games or take surveys as well.

On the plus side, they payouts are completed within 72 hours and you can earn money via PayPal with a minimum of $0.01 or $5 with gift cards.

This free royalty program is available for the residents of the US, UK, and Canada.

Payment Method: PayPal or Giftcards

Minimum Payout Threshold: $1 

InstaGC

You'll earn your rewards with InstaGC when you watch ads, participate in surveys, search the web, or shop online.

InstaGC allows you to earn gift cards which among them are Visa prepaid cards and Paypal cards. The minimum to withdraw your funds is $1.

You'll get an option to choose from 330 gift cards, which is awesome!

Payment Method: Cash via PayPal, Amazon gift cards, Mastercard, and more.

Minimum Payout Threshold: At least $1

FusionCash

FusionCash is another website where you can get paid to watch ads. There's also other tasks which you can earn from like playing games, completing surveys, trying out apps, or signing up for offers.

FusionCash is offering a $5 welcome bonus only for new members. The minimum payout you'll need is $25 where you can receive it via PayPal, check or by direct deposit.

Payment Method: Cash via PayPal, direct deposit, and check.

Minimum Payout Threshold: $25

Earnably

Earnably is another website where you can watch ads for money. You'll most likely watch videos from VideoFox and Hideout.tv.

Besides watching videos, you also get the option to take surveys to increase your earnings.

The minimum payout is $1 where you'll get paid by PayPal, gift cards, or wallet codes.

Payment Method: Paypal and Gift Cards

Minimum Payout Threshold: $1

CreationRewards

With CreationRewards you can get paid to watch ads for money, taking surveys, search the web, shopping online, or trying different offer.

When you first sign up, you'll receive $5 however you have to earn 1,000 points. You'll be able to redeem your money via PayPal or with gift cards.

Sign Up Bonus: $5 Sign Up Bonus

Payment Method: Gift cards (from Amazon, Walmart, and more), prepaid debit card, or cash via PayPal

Minimum Payout Threshold: $5 or 1,000 points


Watching Ads for Money Chart


SITE / APP

DESCRIPTION

sign up

Watch ads, play games, complete tasks and more

Watch ads, play games, complete tasks, and more

Watch ads, play games, complete tasks, and more

Cash back when you watch certain ads

Watch Ads and short videos

Watch Ads, read emails, take surveys, and more

Ads on your phone lock screen

Ads on phone lock screen

Watch ads, read emails, complete offers, and more

TV habit monitoring

Watch ads, listen to radio, take surveys, and more

Watch ads, play games, complete tasks, and more

Watch ads, take surveys, shop online, and more

Watch ads, play games, quizzes, and more

Watch ads and videos

Watch ads, take surveys, shop online, and more

Takeaway

Overall, there are plenty of sites or apps out there where you get paid to watch video ads. So if you have a bit of spare time on your hands, you can definitely use the time to make money online or from your phone.

It may actually be one of the easiest ways to make money on the side.

The only drawback is, you may not be swimming in hundreds or thousands from watching ads and videos alone.

However, many of these sites like Swagbucks, InboxDollars, MyPoints, and others have multiple options to earn additional money or points. If you don't mind playing games on your phone, completing tasks, trying apps, browsing the web, or taking surveys, you'll get options to earn more money that way.

I personally have earned over $200 with Swagbucks alone, which is awesome! Who can complain with an extra couple of hundred?

So bottom line is, keep a realistic expectation when trying to get paid to watch ads or videos. You will make better use of your time by completing the other tasks for money when using these sites.

Also, keep in mind that watching these ads and videos is a good way to pass time and earn a bit of money. You can also earn some side cash that can definitely come in handy later down the line but definitely don't expect to quit your day job for this!

Overall, I hope you discovered so many ways to watch ads for money which can ultimately help earn you some cash in times of boredom, good luck! 


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Ibotta 20 welcome bonus My Financial Hill
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Ibotta Welcome Bonus: Get a $20 Sign Up Bonus

Ibotta is an awesome cash back app that gets you real money back each time you shop at your favorite stores. Ibotta is even offering an awesome $20 welcome bonus just for signing up and trying them out. You'll love this app, just as much as I do !

To get your $20 welcome bonus from Ibotta, just use this link to get your cash.

You'll get 30 days from the first time you register to claim your $20 worth of offers. 

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

How to get the $20 Ibotta bonus?

  • Register with Ibotta using this $20 referral link to download the Ibotta app.
  • You'll receive your first $10 by redeeming any in-store offer.
  • Next, you'll receive an additional $5 and $5 for redeeming more offers using the Ibotta app.
  • You'll get 30 days from the time you register to redeem the offers to get your total of $20 worth of the Ibotta sign up bonus.

I found it super easy to get my $20 sign up bonus, it was a sweet little surprise getting extra bonus cash just for grocery shopping.

You'll find that redeeming offers will be very easy to do with the Ibotta app.

Ibotta In Store Shopping Cash Back Is Ibotta Legit - My Financial Hill

Ibotta

Free $20 welcome bonus

Ibotta is a free app that gets you real cash back on your purchases from groceries, brands, clothing, medication, online shopping, and so much more

Average use of Ibotta could bring you $240 a year or more - aside from your free $20 welcome bonus - Ibotta has paid it's users over $860 million so far 

How to use Ibotta

There are different ways to earn money back with Ibotta. Let's cover a few of them shall we?

Ibotta How It Works Ibotta Welcome Bonus

Ibotta App

The Ibotta app is straight forward to use. You can browse through a list of your favorite stores where you shop for groceries or anything online.

Here's some of the stores listed on Ibotta:

  • Walmart
  • Target
  • HEB
  • Kroger
  • Walgreens
  • CVS
  • Sam's Club
  • Costco
  • Aldi
  • Instacart
  • +280 more stores

Once you pick your store, you'll get an option to browse through all the products that offers cash back.

Ibotta-money-back-walmart-app-my-financial-hill-Ibotta-Welcome-Bonus

You can then add all your offers to your list, go shop, once you get your receipt, upload it to Ibotta to get cash back from the offers you've selected.

The kool part about Ibotta is that it won't matter if you use additional coupons for the goods you've purchased, you'll still get cash back for the offer you've claimed.

Once you get at least $20 in your Ibotta account, you get the option to cash it out via PayPal and Venmo, WOO HOO FREE MONEY BABY ! If you don't want the money back in cash, you'll also get an option to convert the money into gift cards instead if that's what you prefer.

Shopping online with Ibotta

Besides getting cash back with groceries using Ibotta, you can also get money back when you shop online too.

There's about 198 retailers you can choose from to get money back with Ibotta.

Some stores they include are:

  • Kohls
  • Macys
  • Hotels.com
  • ULTA
  • Priceline
  • Chewy
  • Ann Taylor
  • Banana Republic
  • Amazon
  • + 198 stores

You can get a good amount of your money back when you purchase from any one of the participating retailers when using Ibotta.

Just today, I see they're offering 8% cash back at ULTA, 6% cash back at Hotels.com, 8% cash back at GAP, and so much more.

Don't dismiss these cash back offers because over time, it all adds up.

Ibotta browser extension

Ibotta Browser Extension Ibotta Welcome Bonus

Another easy way to get the most savings is by using the Ibotta browser extension for Google Chrome.

Simply download the extension, and shop as you normally would online for anything from travel, cosmetics, clothes, and so much more.

The Ibotta browser extension will automatically show you how much cash back you can earn when you visit your favorite online store.

Keep in mind, that the cash back offer won't work when there's coupons or promo codes applied for that particular order when using the browser extension.

If you want to get the most out of your money when shopping online, the Ibotta browser extension is a good option for you.

Linking loyalty card

If you don't want to bother with scanning receipts, you can easily link your store loyalty card with Ibotta.

This can save you so much time and earning free cash back can be fully automated, especially if you're regularly shopping at your favorite stores.

Linking your loyalty card with Ibotta will help make sure you're getting all the cash back you've redeemed.

One thing to keep in mind is that not all your stores will have the option to link your card in the Ibotta app. If the option exists, it will say "Link account" on the very top, see image below of how it looks.


How to earn more with Ibotta

There's a few other ways to make more money easily with Ibotta.

Besides getting money back when shopping, Ibotta also gives bonuses on top when you reach certain goals and milestones like redeeming a product or claiming a certain number of offers.

Bonus points

Ibotta Bonus Points My Financial Hill


Ibotta gives you extra cash for redeeming certain amount of offers or buying certain products.

For example, Ibotta is offering $10 extra dollars for redeeming 18 offers when shopping. You can also earn additional bonus money when redeeming certain offers from products listed in the bonus section.

You definitely get the option to scroll through their bonus offers section to see if you want to meet the goals. I just shop as usual, scan my receipt, get cash back, and if I reach one of their bonus goals I'll say "kool" and keep it moving.

Teamwork bonus

You'll be able to earn more and faster when you get a team going on Ibotta. The more friends you add to your team, it'll be easier to reach Teamwork bonuses for each month.

Refer friends and family

Once you try the app and love using it, you can definitely spread the word about Ibotta.

A nice incentive to tell your friends and family about Ibotta is that they're offering $10 when you invite friends or family to try the app.

If you were to refer a few people you know to Ibotta, you could earn yourself some free gas money, can't complain about that!

Ibotta questions you may have

Using Ibotta for the first time can be overwhelming with so many options to get the most cash back so here are a few questions and answers that can help you.

How do I get my $20 welcome bonus on Ibotta?

There will be a couple of ways to get your $20 welcome bonus fast.

Redeem the offers listed to claim your $20 sign up bonus.

Besides going that route, there's a couple of other ways to earn extra money too.

  • Scroll through the bonus offers section to meet goals like redeeming certain amount of offers or purchasing a certain brand. Once you meet the goals, you'll receive the extra bonus cash.
  • Join a team and together you all can reach goals which can get each of you extra free money.
  • Refer your friends and family and get $10 when each person signs up.

Can you cheat on Ibotta?

When people use Ibotta, they may think that you have to load up your shopping list prior to the grocery store trip to get the cash back.

Ibotta gives you 7 days from when you've made the purchase to scan your receipt for cash back. I'd say that's plenty of time.

So prior to your shopping trip, if you've forgotten to go through Ibotta to pick your items, no worries. You can still redeem your offers after your shopping trip, just make sure to send in your receipt within 7 days.

As mentioned earlier, you can make more money with Ibotta by checking out their bonus offers section, joining a team, and also referring your friends and family.

Also, you can use manufacturer's coupons or other store coupons for certain items and products while still getting the full cash back with Ibotta. The only instance where you can't use coupons and get money back is when you shop online.

Besides using Ibotta for your receipts, you can use Receiptpal, Fetch Rewards, and Coinout to get even more money from scanning receipts.

How do you get your hidden Ibotta bonus?

Ibotta Earn More Bonus Money My Financial Hill


To access the Ibotta bonuses, head to the "Earn More" tab located on the bottom of the Ibotta app. There you'll find a whole bunch of bonus offers to claim to get some extra cash.

You can also see the bonuses you're automatically enrolled in on your main home page.

Can you use old receipts with Ibotta?

The answer is yes you sure can! You have up to 7 days to claim your offers and scan your receipts.

How do you get more money on Ibotta?

Here are the best ways to make the most money on Ibotta:

  • Claim your $20 welcome bonus by completing the offer suggested in the Ibotta app.
  • Create a simple shopping list prior to your visit to the grocery store.
  • Scroll through the list of items and offers available in the Ibotta app.
  • Make a notation on your shopping list of the items you need to pick up, also noting if you need to get a certain size, variety, or quantity as stated on the offer.
  • Shop, get your receipt, then scan it in to get your cash back.
  • Check out the bonus section to meet the goals like purchasing a certain brand or completing offers to get even more money back.
  • Refer friends and family to get your Ibotta referral earnings.
  • When your buddies join, you'll automatically form a team which will get you all even more money working together to meet goals.

Takeaway

Ibotta is a great cash back app and one of my favs to use when you're shopping for groceries or buying stuff online.

Using this app just helps bring those extra dollars back into your hands when you're doing stuff you normally do like shop for food or things online. 

Plus you never know when that extra bit of money or gift card you can get from Ibotta will come in handy in the future, every bit of money helps!

I hope you'll enjoy using Ibotta as much as I do. 

If you're interested in earning some extra free money, check out my other post where I go over other apps you can use to get free cash. 

How to get free PayPal money

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Free PayPal Money Instantly No Surveys My Financial Hill
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Free PayPal Money Instantly No Surveys

Getting free PayPal money instantly without surveys is an easy way to get some extra bucks in your hands.

The best part about getting this free PayPal money is there's no hoops to jump through.

All you need to do is just go about your normal life and get free money without having to bust your butt!

I earn free PayPal money by playing fun games on my phone while I'm sitting on the couch watching my TV shows, or earn free money when I go grocery shopping, and even shop online.

There's so many different ways you could be missing out on free money but don't worry!

I'll be covering some of the best ways you could get some good PayPal cash in your hands ASAP!

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

How to earn free PayPal money instantly 

Swagbucks

Swagbucks Welcome Bonus Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

Swagbucks is one of my favorite places to earn free PayPal money online. It offers a lot of ways to earn extra cash which includes playing games (my favorite), watching videos, or trying different apps, and so much more.

Another thing to mention is that Swagbucks is a reputable company with over 20,000 reviews on Trustpilot with a healthy score of 4.3.

They're currently offering a sweet $10 sign up bonus which is a nice incentive just to try them out.

I've made over $211 by just playing the games with this site while I'm sitting on the couch watching my favorite TV shows. Some games offer 5,000 points which is about $50 in free PayPal money or gift card if you prefer.

Swagbucks is definitely one of the easiest ways you could earn free PayPal money fast.

Sign Up Bonus: $10 welcome bonus

Payment Method: Get your free money sent to your PayPal, form of a check, or with gift cards.

Minimum Payout Threshold: 2,500 points or equivalent which is $25.

Ibotta

Ibotta Welcome Bonus  Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

Ibotta is another one of my favorite ways to get free PayPal money.

You can basically get free cash back when you go grocery shopping at your local stores like Walmart, Kroger, Aldi, Target, and countless other stores.

Besides grocery shopping, you can get cash back both online and in-store as well.

I mainly use Ibotta when I do my weekly grocery shopping at Kroger or Walmart. It's super simple to use.

If you plan to get free money back with Ibotta, prior to a shopping trip check out the app. Pick your goods and add them to your list. Once you're done shopping, simply scan your receipt and just watch the free money roll in. Oh and by the way, you can still use Ibotta after your shopping trip too!

One of my Walmart trips, I've earned over $8 free cash back which was pretty sweet! Oh and by the way, I've received over $100 cash back using Ibotta too.

If you don't want to waste free money, use Ibotta for your shopping trips to get free PayPal money.

Earn your first $20 sign up bonus when you register with them with this link and use code: Ibotta!

Ibotta is a great way to get your $20 free PayPal money instantly.

Sign Up Bonus: $20 with code YDIGCFJ

Payment Methods: You can get your earnings straight into your PayPal, Venmo, or gift cards.

Minimum Payout threshold: Once you reach $20 in earnings, redeem it and get free PayPal money

Rakuten

Rakuten Welcome Bonus  Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

Rakuten is another awesome cash back site where you can earn free PayPal money online when you shop. It's also known to be one of the most popular cash back apps to use these days.

If you've been doing a lot of online shopping, you could be leaving free money on the table.

With Rakuten, you could be missing out on free cash back along with good shopping deals.

I've earned over $100 in cash back earnings by simply using Rakuten before I buy anything online so I know for a fact that it's legit and they pay you real free money.

What's even easier with Rakuten is their browser extension which automatically looks for cash back offers when you're doing some online shopping. It makes getting free money so easy.

Earn your first free $10 on them when you make your first online purchase using Rakuten. You could also earn $10 on top when you download the Rakuten browser extension.

Sign Up Bonus: $10 sign up bonus

Payment Method: PayPal cash or check

Minimum Payout Threshold: Withdraw your free money once you reach $5.

InboxDollars

InboxDollars Welcome Bonus  Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

InboxDollars is a popular company that pays its users real money for doing things like play games, try apps, complete tasks, take surveys and more.

What I like about InboxDollars is that instead of points you'll actually get the real dollar amount when you complete a certain task, so it leaves no confusion in terms of trying to figure out how much you're earning per each task.

InboxDollars is another reputable site that does pay it's users real money.

Signing up will get you a sweet $5 bonus once you sign up and activate your account.

Sign Up Bonus: $5 Sign up bonus

Payment Method: PayPal, gift cards, or check

Minimum Payment Threshold: $30

MyPoints

MyPoints Welcome Bonus  Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

MyPoints is a site similar to Swagbucks where they reward you for simple things like shopping online, playing games, watching videos, or searching the web.

When you first signing up, you'll receive a free $10 Amazon or Visa gift card when you spend the first $20 at your favorite online store.

Sign Up Bonus: $10 welcome bonus

Payment Method: PayPal cash, Visa prepaid card, gift cards, or travel miles.

Minimum Payment Threshold: Once you earn $3, you can redeem the earnings for free PayPal cash or a Visa prepaid card, choose from 70+ gift cards, or travel miles. 

CoinOut

Coinout Main Page  Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

CoinOut is a pretty fun receipt snapping cash back app. It's unlike other receipt scanning apps. It's almost too simple to use.

There are no hoops to jump through to start earning money with this app. You can scan any receipt but it just has to show:

  • Merchant name
  • Date - be within 2 weeks of purchase
  • Show all items purchased
  • Total Spent

I earned $.78 for scanning 8 of my receipts when I first tried this app. It doesn't sound like much but it all adds up over time, plus we're talking free money here, who doesn't like that?

Another interesting part about using CoinOut is after you snap your receipt, you'll see a notification telling you how much you've just earned. One of my receipts got me $.14, sweet!

I use a few receipt scanning apps already and this one is definitely going in to my receipt scanning routine.

Payment Methods: PayPal, gift cards, or bank deposit

Minimum Payout Threshold: None for the gift cards but there is a minimum for PayPal which is $10.

HealthyWage

HealthyWage  Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

If you set a personal fitness goal for yourself and are working on losing weight, then you could be earning free money alongside meeting your goal.

That's where HealthyWage comes in. With this site and app, you set your weight loss goal. During your journey, you'll submit progress photos of yourself and once you achieve the goal, you get paid!

It's a great motivator because not only does it give you cash incentive to reach your goal, there are other people striving for the same goal too.

It'll be a fun way to keep yourself motivated.

Payment Method: PayPal cash or check

Sweatcoin

Sweatcoin  Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

Sweatcoin is a health app that actually pays you to stay healthy by walking, how awesome is that?

If you're already in the habit of walking or would like to start making it a part of your lifestyle, what better way than to also make money at the same time.

Once you download the app, Sweatcoin tracks your steps throughout the day (like a pedometer or health tracker that's already on your phone).

Sweatcoin will reward you with each step you take. To think of it simply, in U.S dollars every 1,000 steps will earn you around $0.05.

It may not be much and you may certainly not get filthy rich from it but if you're already going on walks or plan to, let yourself make a little bit of side cash while doing so. You never know what that extra bit of money can come in handy.

Payment Method: PayPal, fitness gear, apple watches, iPhones

Minimum Payout Threshold: None-only depends on the merchandise that you're aiming to get.

Paribus

Paribus  Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

When it comes to fighting to get your money back when you're shopping online, Paribus will be your friend.

Say for instance, you paid $40 for sneakers but later the price of that item dropped down to $28. Guess what, Paribus will monitor that online price drop and get you a refund on that difference.

Another bonus is, if you've ordered an item and it's been shipped late or arrived later than expected, this service will help you negotiate a refund of the shipping cost.

Paribus is free and has saved shoppers well over $29,000,000 so far.

Payment Method: Refunds are processed using what you've used for payment. It could be PayPal or a credit card.

Minimum Payout Threshold: None

Dosh

Dosh Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

Dosh is another app that gets you free PayPal money without the need of taking any surveys. It gets you money back on your purchases automatically once you've linked up your credit or debit card to Dosh.

This app automatically recognizes when you've made a purchase with one of their participating retailers. You'll then receive points based on the cashback deal they've currently got running - all on auto pilot.

Your info will be safe with Dosh so no worries there, just go about your life, shop as usual and get that free money back.

With Dosh, you can gain enough points to redeem up to $5 per day which isn't too bad at all.

Payout Method: PayPal, Venmo, or direct deposit

Minimum Payout Threshold: $25

Honeygain

Honeygain Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

Honeygain is another great way to get free paypal money passively. If you have internet connection then most likely there will be excess amount of bandwidth that you're not using.

This is where Honeygain comes in. It allows you to share your idle internet connection securely and get paid passively.

You can use Honeygain to share your internet connection on any PC, cellphone, and tablet.

It's a great way to earn up to $50 a month without you having to lift a finger to earn the free money.

Payment Method: PayPal and Bitcoin

Minimum Payout Threshold: $20

Money App - Cash & Rewards App

Money App Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

Money App will get you a bit of side money for doing simple things with your phone like completing tasks, checking store displays, be a mystery shopper, test services, play games, try apps, give opinions, among so much more.

Money App also has over 120,000 ratings with an average score of 4.9, solid!

With a bit of time on your hands, you can use Money App to get free PayPal money which will get deposited into your account in 2-3 working days.

When you complete certain tasks, you'll get credits which can be redeemed for payment.

Don't expect to get filthy rich with this app but use it leisurely and next thing you know, you may have an extra $50 or more laying around.

Payment Method: PayPal

Minimum Payout Threshold: 5000 credits which is equal to $5

FeaturePoints

FeaturePoints Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

FeaturePoints let's you earn money by playing games among other activities like watching videos, downloading and trying apps, taking surveys only if you want to, and shopping online. You can earn free PayPal money fast with this app.

If you have a long commute to work or have some extra time, why not earn some money in the mean time with FeaturePoints.

Payment Method: PayPal, gift cards with Amazon, App Store, Xbox, PlayStation, Starbucks, Bitcoin, and more.

Minimum Payout Threshold: 1,800 points which is an equivalent of $3

AppKarma

AppKarma Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

If you like playing games then AppKarma is the app to try. With a 4.7 Star rating on Google Play, this app beats a lot of the other competitors out there that pay you to play games.

Besides playing games, you can also take quizzes, receive credit for achievement badges, or for referrals.

Payment Method: PayPal, gift cards from Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Walmart, Target, Xbox Live, Starbucks, Playstation, among others.

Minimum Payout Threshold: 6,000 AppKarma Points which equals $5 in PayPal.

Match To Win

Match To Win is a really fun way to earn a bit of money. It reminds me of candy crush in a way. You'll also get your chance to win real money with scratch cards. I won $.30 within the first 5 minutes of playing the game.

It also helps that Match To Win has over 121,000 ratings in the Apple App Store with an average score of 4.5 which is very good for a cash to play app.

It's a cute game that gets you free PayPal money when you want to play something to pass time.

Payment Method: PayPal or an Amazon gift card

Minimum Payout Threshold: $7

Bubble Cash

Do you remember playing bubble popping video games? Have you ever played them on your phone or tablet? Well, if you love that game then you could be making some money while you play!

Bubble Cash has over 22,000 ratings with an average score of 4.6 in the Apple App Store. It's getting people free money to play one of their favorite games.

When you get started, you'll be playing free games and earn "gems". Once you collect 120 "gems", you can compete in their "Freeroll" tournament which pays the top three players to win anywhere from $1 to $83.

This free money is nothing to pass by especially if you love popping them bubbles!

Side Note: Only available for Apple devices.

Payment Method: PayPal

Wealth Words

If you're more of a crosswords person then Wealth Words is perfect for you. You can play Wealth Words on the PC, mobile, or tablet.

If you love spending time working on crosswords, you can also win some cash prizes with this app.

Payment Method: PayPal

Minimum Payout Threshold: $20

CashPirate Buzz

CashPirate Buzz app is another way you Android users can get free PayPal money by playing games. Besides games, you can also participate in quick picks and take surveys for money.

With CashPirate Buzz, you'll get "coins" which is sort of their point system for trying different apps out and fulfilling the goal for that particular app.

It could be as simple as just downloading it, or finishing a tutorial of the app, and even reaching a certain level of the game. You totally have the option to pick and choose which apps you want to try out.

If you ever get bored and would like to make some money then try this app out.

Some users make over $100 a month with this app, which is a pretty good amount.

Payment Method: PayPal or Visa cards, or a Facebook gift card

Minimum Payout Threshold: 2,500 coins which is the same as a $2.50 PayPal cash payout.

MooCash

Moocash Earn Free PayPal Money My Financial Hill

MooCash is an app that pays you for displaying ads on your lock screen and engaging with it. Another way to earn money with this app is installing apps and trying them out which can earn you $.30 cents to $1.

You're most likely not going to get super rich with MooCash but it can earn you a few extra bucks a month just for interacting with ads when you have some spare time on your hands.

Payment Method: PayPal or gift cards at popular retailers

Minimum Payout Threshold: 5,000 points which is worth $5

ScreenLift

ScreenLift is an app that pays you to display an ad on your phone's lock screen. You don't even have to interact with the ad whatsoever. Once you unlock your phone, the ad disappears.

You can expect to make around $20 a month with ScreenLift. It's a good way to earn free PayPal money which you can use for a free cup of coffee or lunch for the month.

You may be thinking what's $20 a month? If you add it up for the year, it's $240 which can get you some free goodies like drinks or food throughout the year.

Payment Method: PayPal, gift cards for Google Play, Amazon, or Wal-Mart.

Minimum Payout Threshold: 1,500 points which is $1

How to get free PayPal money with surveys

Now that we've covered tons of ways to earn free PayPal money without surveys, let's go over a few ways you can earn with surveys if you decide to change your mind.

There are sites out there that'll pay you for taking surveys or getting your opinion about services, products, experiences, and so much more.

A lot of these survey sites will pay you via PayPal or reward you with gift cards.

You may not get super rich off taking surveys but it can definitely get you some nice side cash and it'll come in handy when you need it.

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is one of the most popular sites when it comes to getting access to surveys.

Getting started with Survey Junkie is really easy.

  • Sign up to create your account and complete your profile as best as you can.
  • Then you can pick and choose the surveys that offer the most points and answer them on a consistent basis.

If you do like taking surveys, then Survey Junkie is one of the top sites to get paid for your opinions.

Payment Methods: PayPal and e-gift cards.

Minimum Payout Threshold: $5 to start redeeming your points.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks as mentioned earlier is a great site and app where I earn free PayPal money fast on my free time. Swagbucks offers a lot of ways to earn points which can be redeemed for cash. Besides all the other ways of earning points like playing games, trying apps, completing tasks and more, you can also participate in surveys too.

I have actually earned rewards in the form of points by taking surveys with Swagbucks. However, I prefer to stick with playing games through Swagbucks. Whatever you want to do, the choice is up to you when it comes to earning points with them.

Sign Up Bonus: $10 sign up bonus

Payment Method: Get your free money sent to your PayPal, form of a check, or with gift cards.

Minimum Payout Threshold: PayPal is 2,500 Swagbucks or equivalent which is $25.

InboxDollars

Besides completing tasks with InboxDollars, you can also take surveys with them too. 

If you're up for a bit of variety as far as different ways to make a bit of side cash, InboxDollars has multiple options for you to do just that. 

Try it out if you get some spare time for fun to get some extra dollars in your PayPal account. 

Signing up here will get you a sweet $5 bonus once you register and activate your account.

Sign Up Bonus: $5 sign up bonus

Payment Method: PayPal, gift cards, or check

Minimum Payment Threshold: $30

Respondent

Respondent is not a survey site like some we've mentioned but it does involve answering questions if you're up for it.

It pretty much functions like an online focus group. First, you'll create your profile which you can provide details about yourself and views. That way their system can match you into certain target demographics.

Once your profile's been completed, you can then participate in sessions which can range anywhere from 15 minutes up to one hour.

You can earn up to $125 just for answering one hour of questions.

Participating in Respondent can take up some more work and time but the payouts are really good if you're willing to spend some time answering questions.

Respondent could be a great side hustle to make some extra money online in your spare time.

Payment Method: PayPal

Minimum Payment Threshold: $.01

PrizeRebel

PrizeRebel is one of the best ways to make PayPal money fast, they pay within 24 hours. In some cases, people have been paid out instantly.

You can make money with PrizeRebel by taking surveys, watch a video, make internet searches, or refer others.

If you stay active with this site, you can work your way up towards their loyalty system which gets you even more points on the same tasks the higher up you go.

Payment Method: PayPal or Amazon gift card

Minimum Payment Threshold: $5

Vindale Research

Vindale Research is one of many high paying survey sites. You may be able to find surveys rewarding up to $50.

Besides the United States, Vindale allows those from Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia to participate in their surveys as well.

To cash out from Vindale, you'll need at least $50 minimum but that's attainable because of their high payout rate.

Payment Method: PayPal

Minimum Payment Threshold: $50

LifePoints

Next, we have LifePoints which is another great survey site for earning PayPal money fast.

As soon as you join LifePoints, you'll be given bonus points just for joining. From there, you'll get the chance to earn more points for taking surveys which takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.

LifePoints is known to be a survey site, there are times when they'll offer product testing for points. It's another good way to rack up the points.

You can expect to get points credited to your account within 10 days.

Payment Method: PayPal, gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, iTunes, among others.

Minimum Payment Threshold: $10

Opinion Outpost

Opinion Outpost is another great survey site which gets you free PayPal money instantly. You can expect to cash out your funds within 15 minutes up to 48 hours.

You can expect to earn anywhere around $0.50 to $5 per survey which may take a few minutes to around 30 minutes to complete.

Another way to boost your earnings with Opinion Outpost is being included in quarterly chances to win $10,000 as well as referring your friends.

If you want to earn PayPal money fast, then Opinion Outpost is a good survey site that helps you do just that.

Payment Method: PayPal, MileagePlus Award miles, and gift cards for Amazon

Minimum Payment Threshold: $10

FAQ-Free Paypal Cash

How can I get free PayPal money?

First, you need to open up a PayPal account. In order to receive your free PayPal money, sign up and join any one of those companies mentioned.

Each of those companies offers many different ways in which you can earn points or free money. You have the option of playing games, scanning receipts, getting cash back, fulfilling tasks, walking and so much more.

You can pick and choose which one you prefer. Those points or even the actual money will get credited to your account which you can redeem when you need it.

How can I get free PayPal money with no surveys?

There are a ton of ways to earn free PayPal money without needing to complete any surveys. 

You can earn money playing games on your phone, get cash back from groceries, scan your everyday receipts, complete easy tasks, and so much more. 

Here's a recap of everything that we've covered. 

My top choices for easily earning free money to your PayPal account would be Swagbucks, Ibotta, Rakuten, InboxDollars, and Mypoints because of their sweet sign up bonuses. 

SITE / APP

DESCRIPTION

sign up

Swagbucks

Play games, complete tasks and more

Ibotta

Cash back for groceries and more

Rakuten

Cash back for shopping online

InboxDollars

Play games, complete tasks, and more

MyPoints

Play games, complete tasks, and more

CoinOut

Scan receipts

HealthyWage

Earn while losing weight

Sweatcoin

Earn while you walk

Paribus

Get money back on purchases

Dosh

Get money back on purchases

Honeygain

Share your internet connection safely

Money App

Play games, complete tasks, and more

FeaturePoints

Play games, watch videos, tasks, and more

AppKarma

Play games, quizzes, and more

Match To Win

Play games and scratch free e-tickets

Bubble Cash

Play a bubble pop game and earn

Wealth Words

Play crosswords and win money

CashPirate Buzz

Play games and more

MooCash

Display ads on phone lock screen

ScreenLift

Display ads on phone lock screen

How can I get PayPal money instantly?

The best way to get free PayPal money instantly is by joining the apps and sites that offer a welcome bonus. In some cases, you may be able to cash out right after you complete your profile and answer a few questions.

My favorite way to get PayPal money instantly would be through Ibotta. You'll get a $20 welcome bonus which you can cash out once that amount hits your account.

How can I get a free $100 with PayPal?

The best part about earning your free $100 with PayPal is just how easy it is. You don't have to go out there and work a whole day to earn your free $100.

This simple strategy will get you the $100 fast and without breaking a sweat.

Here are the top 3 sites and or apps to use to get that $100 quick:

So let's see just how this works, shall we?

You can get $40 total for welcome bonuses when you sign up with Swagbucks, Ibotta, and Rakuten. Then, you can refer 2 people to sign up to Ibotta and Rakuten which will give you a total of $60.

$40 worth of welcome bonuses and $60 worth of referral bonuses will give you a sweet $100 of FREE PayPal money instantly, easy breezy!

How can I get $50 for free on PayPal?

In order to get $50 easily straight to your PayPal, you can simply collect $40 worth of welcome bonuses with:

Once you have your $40, you can refer some of your friends to sign up to either company which will get you a nice referral bonus.

Rakuten offers the highest amount for a referral bonus so as long as you refer just 1 additional friend, you'll receive an extra $25.

Receiving $40 worth of welcome bonuses with a referral bonus of $25 through Rakuten will get you more than the $50 of free PayPal money you're looking for.

How can I get $20 right now?

The fastest way to get your $20 right now would be to sign up with Ibotta.

They offer the highest in welcome bonuses which is $20. Once you get the $20 credited to your account, you can easily cash out to your PayPal account or redeem it through Venmo and gift cards too.

Takeaway

We've covered so many ways for you to get some nice free PayPal money online or with your mobile device without really having to bend over backwards trying to get it.

It's practically free money that you could be leaving on the table without using these sites and apps.

You have the option of earning this free money as a simple side hustle, granted you may not be making thousands but a few hundred is still nice to have.

So, if you have a bit of time on your hands, you could be playing games on your phone, get money back when you shop, or even passively earn money by having ads on your lock screen.

There's plenty of ways to get free PayPal money the easy way without taking any surveys.

Personally, I've earned more than $400 with sites like Swagbucks, Ibotta, and Rakuten combined, so I know for a fact these sites are legit and you get real money. Give it a try, they're great!

I hope I've given you plenty of options to choose from so you can decide which site or app to try and start earning some free PayPal cash.

Good luck! 

PS: Besides trying to make more money with PayPal, you can find money even more cash by finding some ways to save. 

Check out my other article 90+ Best Money Saving Tips.

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Debt

Debt Free Journey – Month 30

It's been a few months since the last update. 

It's 30 months now into our debt free journey and we have:

  • $16,000 left in student loans
  • $8,144 left for a family loan

 There are a lot of talks now in the government about student loan forgiveness. 

I don't know about you, but I plan to wait and see if they push any forgiveness during this time. There's talks of $10,000 or $50,000 forgiveness. 

From all the articles I've been reading, it seems as if it'll be leaning more towards $10,000 of forgiveness. 

If you also hold federal student loans, you may also have the option of having the loans in forbearance, which extends any payment due till November of 2021. 

I plan on holding off on any payments towards my loans until then. 

That money can go towards more important things like savings, running this site, and more. 

What about you? 

Are you taking advantage of forbearance? 

If you are, then you should have some money freed up each month. 

Use that money that would've gone towards your student loans and save it for an Emergency Fund, if you don't have one. 

Or, you can use it to start chipping away at your debt. 

As far as our debt progress goes, it's pretty much going to be a standstill until November. 

Hopefully, we'll all get some student loan debt relief by then! 

I'll keep you updated with any further news, thanks for following!

Read More
Debt Free Journey - Update $102,085 Paid in 26 Months- November 2020-My Financial Hill
Debt, Debt Journey

Debt Payoff Journey – Paid $102,085 in 26 Months – November 2020

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

This is the 26th month into our debt free journey. We’ve paid $102,085 so far with $25,144 remaining. It still boggles my mind that we’ve managed to pay off over $100,000 in just 2 years, crazy!

Debt Free Journey - Paid $102,085 in 26 months - My Financial Hill

Also can’t believe that it’s November already, what a year 2020 has been.

Really hope everyone reading this is staying safe out there.

The holidays this year definitely won’t be the same but as long as everyone is careful, that’s the most important part.

Holidays

With all the COVID cases out there, I’m sure many families are not going all out this year. If that’s you then make the most out of it by saving money. We all know how expensive it can get hosting Thanksgiving dinners and parties.

Hopefully by this time next year, things will settle down and resort to going back to normal once again.

If you like to plan holiday dinners and parties then definitely start saving money now so you can do it big next year. You don’t have to save much each month.

For example, create a fund for your ‘Holiday party / dinner’. You can set aside $50 a month starting this month and by next year you’ll have $600 left to spend to host something very nice during the holidays. That way, you’ll be financially prepared for holiday events next year.

Student Loans

This month I’ve paid $1,000 towards my student loan bringing the balance down to $17,000. I plan on continuing to apply payments to bring the balance down to $10,000 then I’ll hold off until there’s additional news on what the Biden administration plans to do for federally held student loans.

If you hold federal student loans, currently there should be a pause on your payments. The government may also prolong this pause for a while, it’s just a waiting game for now.

If you don’t have any savings, now is a good time to stack up some savings while you can.

Technically, you don’t have to make any payments towards student loans. With the extra money you may have, you can either use it towards paying down other debt or savings. Keep in mind that it’s important to save some money for student loan payments if the pause doesn’t end up getting extended.

For now, there’s high hopes that $10,000 of student loan debt will be wiped out for everyone. But we’ll have to wait and see.

Free Thanksgiving Dinner From Ibotta

Did you know Ibotta is giving away a free Thanksgiving dinner from Walmart?

This offer lasts until November 25th 2020.

What you can do is:

  • Get the Ibotta app
  • Redeem the free offers pictured above
  • Scan your receipt
  • Get full cash back for those items

I use Ibotta when I shop for groceries on the regular. It’s super easy to get cash back for food items. First I would add grocery items to my list on Ibotta, purchase the items, scan my receipt, and get cash back right away.

If you do a lot of grocery shopping, Ibotta’s going to save you a lot of money over time.

Sign up to Ibotta using code YDIGCFJ and get your $20 welcome bonus

Takeaway

The holidays sure aren’t the same this year. Hopefully you all still had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving with your closest loved ones.

Start preparing to save some money each month for next year’s holidays. Even if it’s $20 a month, that’s still something that can add up for you to spend towards holiday dinner’s and parties in 2021.

Let’s all keep an eye out on what’s going to happen with student loan payment pause and debt elimination, time will only tell. Hope we can all get $10,000 or more knocked off our federal student loans, how great is that going to be?!

Lastly, keep your cash back at the grocery store going with Ibotta. You can eventually make enough back for a free week’s worth of groceries or more.

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Debt Free Journey - Update $101,059 Paid in 25 Months- October 2020-My Financial Hill
Debt, Debt Journey

Debt Payoff Journey – Paid $101,059 in 25 Months – October 2020

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

It’s now month 25 into our debt free journey and still can’t believe we’ve paid off $101,059 so far. Here’s a chart to get a good look at our progress so far.

101059 Debt Paid So Far My Financial Hill

Just goes to show you that paying off debt happens over time.

Little by little, day by day, any small progress will get you closer to your goal.

At the end of each month, if you get any money left over from budgeting or found money from saving, throw it at debt. That’s how you can make progress towards knocking out debt.

If you’re looking to get a kick start for your own debt journey start off by grabbing a debt thermometer and enroll in the free 5-day Debt Free Bootcamp below.

Have Fun During Your Debt Payoff Journey

Covid-19 has really put a damper on travel this year.

Safety is a real concern and there’s no way we wanted to travel outside the country while this pandemic was going around.

Before this year is up we still wanted to do some fun things while staying safe.

Last month, we went to Six Flags and were pleasantly surprised how they kept up with social distancing allowing people to have fun safely.

This month we decided to go back for a nice little weekend getaway again.

If you’re starting your own debt free journey, make sure that you’re still setting some room for fun. It’s important to do that because you don’t want to sacrifice the things you love to do while getting out of debt.

Becoming debt free doesn’t have to be a miserable process full of giving up on the things you love to do.

Squeeze in some fun here and there without having to break the bank doing so.

Let’s find some ways for you to have fun and pay off debt at the same time.

Use Travel Reward Cards

Did you know that credit cards will reward you with bonus points that can cover your travel and trips?

There’s a lot of credit cards out there that are currently offering mega points for using their cards.

This is how my husband and I travel for free during out debt free journey.

This doesn’t mean going out and applying for tons of travel cards, you’ve got to figure out how to best get the most out of these cards without going further into debt.

We’ve learned the hard way when it came to credit cards. Before our debt free journey, we had 8 credit cards with over $33,000 on them.

We knocked it all out and now use 1 single travel rewards credit card at a time, paying off the balance in full each month.

What I’m suggesting is, use only 1 single travel rewards card and use it for all your monthly expenses. Pay off the balance in full every month. This will help your credit score and allow you to get those promotional bonus points.

At the same time, if you have other credit cards, pay minimum payments on the rest and work your way towards knocking them out of your life as you move forward in your own debt journey.

This method has helped us tremendously with finally learning to use credit cards properly and reaping all the benefits credit cards has to offer.

Use Rakuten & Orbitz

Before you book any trip, always check Rakuten first to see if there’s any cash back offers before booking.

Rakuten is one of my fav sites when it comes to getting cash back online.

It works very simply like this:

  • Join Rakuten
  • Find your online retailer (Macy’s, Amazon, Walmart, Orbitz, Travelocity, thousands more)
  • See if there’s any cashback deals
  • Click on the store link where it sends you directly to the online retailer
  • Or simply download the Rakuten Chrome Extension which will easily show you right away how much money you can get back when shopping online
  • On the backend, Rakuten will get you money back for your purchase
  • Once you reach $5, get your money via PayPal or a check mailed to you
Rakuten Screen Shot - My Financial Hill

So far I’ve made $51.46 + another $50 on my other Rakuten account that gives me a total of $101.46. Over $100 in cash back from shopping online, money that would’ve been lost if I didn’t use Rakuten.

It’s definitely worth checking out so you don’t miss out on any cash back from shopping online.

Sign up is free and my special link here will get you $40 for free when you spend $40 (It’s like getting $40 for free!) Rakuten won’t disappoint, check them out.

This is a limited promotion Rakuten is offering, get it before they take it way!

Orbitz

Orbitz is one of my go-to travel sites. They always seem to have the best prices when it comes to travel + hotels.

Another thing I like about Orbitz is that they give cash back in the form of something called Orbucks.

Say for instance you booked a hotel through Orbitz at $100, you’ll earn 4% back which gives you $4. With the Orbucks, you can apply it towards your next booking with Orbitz.

Don’t knock these cash back offers guys, it may not seem like a lot but over time they definitely add up. Next thing you know, you can have enough to pay for your next trip.

For this recent trip to Six Flags, I received $6.23 cash back from Rakuten and $5.34 from Orbitz, which gives me a total of $11.57.

I love getting money back don’t you? Try Rakuten and Orbitz out before you book your next travel.

Earn Free Money Playing Games

Did you know you could actually get paid to play games on your phone / ipad?

That’s how I earn a bit of side money whenever I get some free time at night watching TV.

Swagbucks is where you want to go to get paid to play games on your phone or ipad. Swagbucks also rewards you for surveys, polls, questionnaires, trying apps, watching videos, shopping online, submitting receipts, and more.

However, I mostly use Swagbucks to pay me to play video games which is so easy and awesome.

How to get paid playing games with Swagbucks:

  • Sign up for Swagbucks
  • Find a game listed you would like to try
  • Get the downloadable link to the game via your e-mail
  • Make sure to fulfill the Swagbucks rules to redeem your points (example: reach level 15)
  • Play the game and get rewarded with Swagbucks

It’s super simple and legit guys!

So far I’ve received 14,010 SB points which is $140.10 mainly from playing games on my phone.

Swagbucks My Financial Hill

During your spare time, earn some side money playing games, trying apps, filling out surveys and more on Swagbucks.

Sign up for free with Swagbucks and get your $10 welcome bonus to start make some side money.

Should You Still Make Payments Towards Student Loans?

So, I currently have only 2 remaining debts. 1 is my student loan and the other is a personal loan from family.

At the moment federal student loan payments should be suspended for everyone and there’s no interest accruing, which is awesome for now.

This is totally up to you whether or not you would like to continue making payments.

I am still making payments towards my student loans for 2 reasons.

First reason is that any payments made during this time goes STRAIGHT to principle. This basically means that your money goes a lot further to knock out this debt.

If there was interest involved, any payment you make will get split going towards interest and principle which ultimately slightly weakens how far your money goes towards knocking out this debt.

Second reason I’m still making payments is that my current balance is slightly over $17K. I’m aiming to get it down to at least $10K.

As you all may have heard, there’s a lot of talk about student loan forgiveness. I’ve been following closely on this issue and it’s looking like President-elect Biden may want to forgive $10,000 all across the board for everyone who holds federal loans.

If you have federal student loans $10K and under, it may not be a bad idea to hold off on making payments until this process goes through.

Since student loan payments are on hold, this may also be a good time to build your savings if you need to.

Nothing is written in stone yet so we’ll have to wait a few months before we see any promise upheld. Just make sure to save some money to cover student loan payments if they don’t extend the pause on payments or if loan forgiveness doesn’t ever go through.

Takeaway

So remember guys, it’s important to set some time to have fun in your life even though you’re in the process of paying off debt. Also, keep in mind that you can find ways to travel for free and get the most bang out of your buck by using the right travel rewards, Rakuten, and Orbitz.

Let’s also hope that $10,000 worth of federal student loans will be wiped out, fingers crossed!

See you all next month!

By the way.. If you haven’t started your own debt free journey, start today! Try out my free 5-day Debt Free Bootcamp that’ll give you some awesome tips to help you take control of your money and get debt free!

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Debt Free Journey - Update $100,479 Paid in 24 Months- September 2020-My Financial Hill
Debt, Debt Journey

Debt Payoff Journey – Paid $100,479 in 24 Months – September 2020

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

It’s been 24 months since we got serious about paying off our $127,229 worth of debt. We officially broke the 6 figure mark by paying off $100,479 so far!

Woot woot! *Hands in the air*

Debt payoff progress for september paid off 100,479 in 24 months - My Financial Hill

This month we decided to make a large lump sum payment towards my student loan, $10,000 to be exact.

You may be wondering where in the world did we get this money?

It was mainly from our emergency fund.

If you’re ready to start on your own debt free journey and start knocking out some debt easily then grab the free debt thermometer and enroll in the 5-day Debt Free Bootcamp.

Knowing when to take money out the emergency fund

Prior to Covid, we were paying around $1,600 diligently towards out debt. That all came to a screeching halt once the pandemic rolled around.

To be on the safe side, we were saving a lot of the money plus there was no real urgency to pay off the student loan and personal loan from family due to 0% interest.

You may also be wondering why in the world would I pay down debt when there’s 0% interest?

When a debt item has 0% interest, that means 100% of your payment goes towards knocking out the principal instead of any of it going towards interest.

Basically, your money goes a lot further when you’re paying something off with 0% interest.

Now, being more than 6 months down the road since Covid we felt it was alright to let go of a portion of the emergency fund.

Sometimes having too much in the fund doesn’t do any good for ya.

Everyone’s situation will be different.

Generally, try to stick with an emergency fund of 3-6 months and keep it in a high yield savings account. Anything more than that, you’re probably better off paying down debt or investing.

Read More: 5 Tips to Build Your Emergency Fund Fast

Put your money in a High Yield APR Savings Account from Nationwide / Axos Bank. They’re offering 1.05% of interest which is the highest around. Sign up here at Nationwide / Axos Bank to lock in that rate.

Enjoy life while paying off debt

I’m ALL for reaching your goals without being miserable.

Getting out of debt doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Forget everything you’ve heard about people who don’t go on vacations or enjoy their life while getting out of debt.

That’s not the way I want to live my life and I’m sure that’s not how you want to live either.

Why? Cause you only get 1 life, so you should enjoy it!

Yeah, you’re probably thinking we may have enjoyed ours a little too much, winding up in over $120,000 of debt. Oops!

Anyway, we’re fixing it now, that’s all that matters.

So, we’ve figured out how to travel for free.

Once we paid off our credit cards, our credit scores naturally shot up!

Mine’s at 836 now.

That meant we were able to get awesome travel reward cards.

Read More: 15 Tips to Get Your Credit Score to 800’s

If you want to travel for free, apply for reward cards once your credit is good (generally 700 and up), check what your credit score is for free at Credit Karma.

Important Tip: Instead of using multiple cards, use only 1 for all your bills, that way you won’t rack up too much debt. Also, apply for 1 reward card at a time so you don’t spread yourself thin with all these cards.

This month we went on a small trip to Six Flags, and stayed at a Marriott for 2 nights (free with our Capital One Venture Card).

We love the Capital One Venture Card, we nearly racked up 160,056 worth of points which is simply equal to $1,606.

Travel rewards credit with capital one venture card - My Financial Hill

How did we get so many points?

My husband applied for one when they offered a promotion of 70,000 points then after we redeemed all those points, I signed up for one and received 50,000 bonus points. The rest of the points came from regular purchases.

One thing to keep in mind when getting these reward cards is that they will offer huge bonus points but only if you spend a certain amount.

For instance, with Capital One Venture, they offer 50,000 if you spend $3,000 within 3 months or 100,000 points if you spend $20,000 in 12 months.

It’s easy to meet that spending requirement if you put all your bills and expenses on 1 single card. That’s what we do.

Check to see if you qualify for the Capital One Venture Card to get free travel.

We went from having 8 credit cards with over $30,000 in credit card debt and now we use only 1 for all expenses and pay it off in full each month.

That’s the key to improving your credit and to have credit cards work for you instead of against you.

Getting out of debt, especially high interest credit card debt, is one of the most important things my husband and I did. It freed up so much of our money, our credit scores improved, and we received up to 520,000 = $5,200 worth of rewards bonus points.

Turn things around, make the credit card companies earn your business, get out of debt while traveling and having fun too.

Read More:

How to Get Out of Debt with these 5 Tips

Las Vegas Trip on a Budget with Free Flights

How to Get a Free Cruise

How to Spend only $200 on a 5 Night Cruise to Mexico

Use Rakuten to Book Travel

Prior to any booking of a trip, I always check out Rakuten to see if there’s any cash back offers.

Rakuten cash back for booking hotel through orbitz - My Financial Hill

Luckily, they were offering 3.5% cash back for our Marriott stay. I should expect to see around $6 back from going through Rakuten on to Orbitz.

Another bonus is when you book with Orbitz, you’ll get something called Orbucks which is their own cash back program. We’re getting back $5.34 for our stay at Marriott.

So in total, we got the Marriott stay for $196.37 for free with the Capital One Venture Card, also we’re getting back $6 from Rakuten and $5.34 from Orbitz.

It may not be much but it’s still something, we’ll have $11 more bucks to claim instead of losing out on free money.

Sign up is free and my special link here will get you a $10 welcome bonus + $30 cash back when you spend $30 (It’s like getting $30 for free!) Rakuten won’t disappoint, check them out.

Still using cash back apps

I don’t know about you but I looove getting free money.

I’m still using cash back apps to make every hard earned dollar work for me. What’s even better is I don’t have to put in too much effort to get some extra cash back.

Last month I told you guys that I’m using Ibotta, Fetchrewards, Receiptpal, Rakuten, and Honey. This month I’ve used Groupon and Getupside in addition to those other cashback tools.

Find the best deals on services with Groupon

I use Groupon to get the best deals for local businesses. This month I found a great deal for an oil change on Groupon.

There’s a lot of oil change places around me but a lot of them charge over $30 just for my small car. So instead of settling for the $30, I went on Groupon and found an oil change place less than 5 minutes away and paid only $21 with taxes and everything.

cash savings with oil change using Groupon - My Financial Hill

Groupon is so easy to use. First you can go on their website and type in whatever service you’re looking for.

They have any local business you can think of from oil changes, beauty, spa, tickets to events, laser hair removal, and so much more. When you find the perfect deal, you’ll purchase it through Groupon and print out your voucher. Then you can bring the voucher to the store/shop and have them scan it, get your service done, and you’re out. Easy Peasy.

If you can find the service you’re looking to get for much cheaper on Groupon, why not take advantage of the savings?

Sign up for free here and start to save that money $$

Get money back at the pump with Getupside

Getupside is another app I started using. It gives you cash back when you get gas or get food.

You can get up to .15 cents back for each gallon or up to 15% off food.

Let’s say you pumped about 16 gallons worth of gas, you can get back $2.40 cash back with .15 cents back per gallon. All you have to do is choose the gas station you’re planning to pump at and scan your receipt. It’s super easy to use.

Getting cash back with Getupside for gas - My financial Hill

Once you reach $10 then you can get a free gift card. There’s nothing better then getting money back for something you’d normally be buying anyway.

Get your .15 cents off per gallon and up to 15% off food with this link for Getupside

Making some money by playing games on Swagbucks

When I wind down for the night, I watch TV for a couple of hours in the evening with the hubby. I’ll take my phone out and start playing some games through Swagbucks. They offer good amount of points just for playing games.

Recently I earned 500 swagbucks = $5 just for playing one of their games. Currently, I’m in the process of playing 2 of their other games.

Getting points with Swagbucks for playing games - My Financial Hill

Now, I’ve reached over 2134 swagbucks which is equal to $21.34. I could probably cash that in to get a full tank of gas but I want to wait till it builds a lot more. But hey, that ain’t bad for doing something solely while I’m bumming around watching TV.

Sign up for Swagbucks to start earning some cash / gift cards and get your $10 welcome bonus

Automate your savings with Honey

Remember when I told you that I always look for cash back opportunities when I shop online via Rakuten or Swagbucks? Well, what do you do when those sites don’t offer any cash back?

For instance, this month I bought an adjustable bed frame on Amazon. I checked Rakuten and Swagbucks to see if there were any cash back offers for the bed frame. Unfortunately, this month they didn’t have any deals. I decided to buy the bed frame anyway. As I was checking out, my Honey chrome extension kicked on and found a coupon code for me for $20 off. I was happy about that!

The best part was, I didn’t have to do any searching to get the deal on the bed frame from Amazon, it was all automatic. I highly recommend signing up for Honey to get automated coupons applied for your online purchases. Honey also gets you something called Honey Gold which is a cash back bonus program.

You could earn as much as 1%-20% cash back when you shop online or 300 – 300000 Honey Gold back.

All you need to do is download the Honey chrome extension for free and it does all the savings for you automatically, you don’t need to go fishing around for deals online.

Sign up for free here and get the cheapest prices for all your online purchases instantly and hassle free

Earn cash simply by uploading receipts

If you’ve been following my other debt free journey reports, I mentioned that I earn points which convert to cash or gift cards simply by uploading receipts.

Receiptpal

This month, I earned enough points on Receiptpal to earn a $5 gift card, which is awesome. Why was it awesome you ask? Cause it was free money! That’s enough to get myself a free $5 Amazon gift card. All I did was scan some receipts, that’s all.

Getting free gift cards with Receiptpal - My Financial Hill

Try it out, instead of throwing your receipts in the trash, save them and scan it for points. Those points will get you free Amazon gift cards.

I literally uploaded any receipt I get, from store receipts, restaurant receipts, gas receipts, oil change receipts, and more.

Sign up for free here and start getting money back for your receipts

Fetch Rewards

With the same receipts I used for Receiptpal, it can also be used for Fetch Rewards. Double whammy!

The only thing is, for Fetch Rewards you’ll probably get a lot more points for grocery receipts. You’ll also get tons of points for buying products with the brands listed on their app.

For instance, when I upload a grocery receipt I can earn anywhere from 75 points up to 200 depending on what items and brands I purchased. For gas and other store receipts, I can earn anywhere from 5 to 25 points. Overall, it all adds up.

Earning points by scanning receipts with Fetch Rewards - My Financial Hill

Once you reach over 5,000 points, you can get free yearly magazine subscriptions or gift cards.

Use the code 7JKFH when you sign up to Fetch Rewards and you’ll get 2,000 Fetch Points ($2.00 in points)
You can also refer others and earn 2,000 points ($2) yourself and your friend/family will earn 2,000 points ($2) as well.

Ibotta

So far, I built up $67 using Ibotta which is a cash back app that gives you money for uploading your grocery or store receipts. I also don’t really have a huge grocery shopping list since it’s just me, hubby, and 2 doggies.

If you’re shopping for an entire family, imagine all the cash back money you can get.

Sign up for free at Ibotta and use the code YDIGCFJ to get your $20 welcome bonus

Basically, I could redeem the $67 for cash via PayPal or get giftcards which is great! It’s enough to get a week’s worth of free groceries!

Earning cash back with Ibotta - My Financial Hill

All you pretty much have to do is go into Ibotta, pick the store you plan to shop at, and start adding grocery items to your list. Once you’re done shopping, upload your receipt and you’ll get cash back for all the items on your list. Some items may require you to scan the product bar code which is not a big deal.

Savings Hack: Use Ibotta to get cash back on your other online shopping like Ulta, Amazon, Groupon, Macy’s, JCPenny, and so many more other stores. For Groupon, you’ll get 10% cash back going through Ibotta.

Saving money by cutting the cable without missing out

If you missed my last few posts, I talked about how I decided to cut the cable and went with Philo.

Philo is a streaming service where I pay $20 a month but we’re able to stream live cable network channels.

We mainly watch shows on TLC, MTV, AMC, Discovery, and a few others. It turns out Philo had all the channels we watch on there. By cutting our cable we saved over $92 on our cable bill, that’s $1,114 a year.

So far, it’s been awesome plus the savings is even better.

If you have a streaming device like a  RokuAmazon Fire Stick, or Apple TV then you can definitely try Philo out for 7 days free before committing to cutting your cable.

It’s definitely worth considering, you could be saving A LOT of money.

Sign up for free here at Philo and try it free for 7 days. (That’s what I did before cancelling the cable)

The only downside I can think of with Philo is that you won’t get your local channels but that’s where Locast comes in. It’s a non-profit service where you can stream your local channels for free as long as you have internet.

Locast offers their service in most major cities, if they don’t have your city listed then the next alternative would be to get an antenna to receive local channels for free.

Takeaway for September 2020

Man, where’s all the time going? This month flew by! We paid off over 6 figures worth of debt so far, $100,479 to be exact. *Whew

Tip 1

So this month we were able to knock out $10,000 towards my student loan. That money came out of our emergency fund. If you also have a savings fund in place, see if you have enough in there. Remember, you don’t want to keep anything more than 6 months in a savings fund especially if you have debt or want to invest.

Tip 2

If you’re trying to get out of debt, don’t deprive yourself of having fun. All you need to do is plan it well. If you have good credit, apply for cards like Capital One Venture to get those major bonus points. Use the points to get free travel on flights, hotels, cruises, vacations, statement credit, and more.

Also, use credit wisely. Stick with 1 credit card and use only 1 for all your expenses. Maybe 2 at most but it’s better that you don’t spread yourself thin. Using 1 card and paying off the balance in full will help your credit significantly plus you’ll qualify for bonus points fast.

This month we were able to get a $197 hotel stay completely free with the Capital One Venture Card.

If you don’t qualify for bonus points then create a small saving fund for your next trip. For instance, I have a category in my budget for things like “Vacation”, “Fun Money”, “Trip to Wherever”, etc. We save money each month for those categories and the next thing you know it has enough in there for a trip.

Tip 3

When booking a trip, use Rakuten first to get cash back on your trip.

For instance, we went on Rakuten to get the cash back offer for Orbitz. From Rakuten, they send you directly to Orbitz’s site where you can book your trip as usual. You’ll get cash back on your trip from Rakuten. Also, if you use Orbitz to book the travel, you’ll get something called Orbucks which is their cash back program. You’ll get double cash back opportunities for using Rakuten and Orbitz.

Tip 4

Use cash back apps and sites when you shop online. Always check Rakuten, Groupon, and Ibotta before you make a purchase online. It can mean the difference between just plainly wasting money or getting $$$ back for what you normally would do.

Tip 5

Scan your receipts for cash back, gift cards, and magazine subscriptions with apps like Receiptpal, Fetch Rewards, Ibotta, and Getupside.

Tip 6

Earn some money to get yourself some free cash or gift cards with Swagbucks. I use it mainly to play games but there’s a lot of ways to earn points on there. They have polls, questionnaires, surveys, games, watch videos, try out apps, and so much more ways to earn points. Doing this on your free time can get you some side money.

Tip 7

Cut the cable guys! If you have internet and a streaming device then you can be saving yourself over $1,000 a year just by switching from cable to Philo. You’ll get most of your cable channels. Go on Philo’s website to see if they have the network channels that you love. You can also try it out for free 7-days to see if it’s right for you or not. So far, it’s been awesome for us. It doesn’t even feel like anything’s changed, just more money in our pockets at the end of the month.

Overall, getting out of debt doesn’t have to be hard. Celebrate the small wins and still go enjoy life. Even if you earn $5 cash back or save over $90 by switching cable, it all adds up at the end of the year. Can’t wait to share what more I can find in savings with you all next month, tune in!

Read More:

Debt Free Journey – $90,479 Paid Off in 23 Months – August 2020

Debt Free Journey – $89,979 Paid Off in 22 Months – July 2020

Debt Free Journey – $89,479 Paid Off in 21 Months – June 2020

Guys, don’t let another day go by getting further in debt. Today’s the day to get started with your own debt free journey.

Read More
Debt Free Journey - Update $90,479 Paid in 23 Months- August 2020-My Financial Hill
Debt, Debt Journey

Debt Free Journey – Update $90,479 Paid in 23 Months- August 2020

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

It’s been 23 months now into our debt free journey. So far, we’ve paid off $90,479 with $36,750 left to go.

We’ve been paying off $500 each month towards the last two debts. One of them is the student loan which has a balance of $28,500 and the family loan for $8,250. Paying $500 is a lot less than what we used to pay before the pandemic hit. We were attacking the debt with about $1660 each month but now we want to build the emergency fund up a bit until things settle down.

Hopefully by next month, we’ll be able to make a large payment of possibly $10,000 to knock some of that student debt, stay tuned.

Debt Free Journey - Update $90,479 Paid in 23 Months- August 2020

The only debt we have left to tackle is our student loans and family debt.

September of 2018:

8 Credit Cards
1 Car Loan
2 Medical Loans
2 Student Loans
1 Personal Loan and 1 Personal Loan from family
Total $127,229

August 2020:

1 Student Loan $28,500
1 Personal Loan from family $8,250
Total $36,750

Want to get started on your own debt free journey? Grab this free debt thermometer to see how much you owe and get started with the free 5-day Debt Free Bootcamp to get you on your way to becoming debt free.

Emergency Fund

If you’re able to do so, it’s a great idea to build up your emergency fund if you don’t have one. In certain situations, it may be more important to have cash available in case anyone loses a job or gets injured rather than paying off debt.

Not saying you should avoid paying off debt overall but set aside some money each month to your savings account until you build one that you feel comfortable with.

Once you get your emergency fund up to an amount that you’re okay with, then focus 100% on attacking your debt.

If you don’t have an emergency fund or need some ideas on saving up for one, head to this post below.

Read More: 5 Tips to Build Your Emergency Fund Fast

If you’re here for the first time, there are some real easy steps for you to get out of debt while still enjoying life.

Becoming debt free doesn’t have to mean that you’ll need to sacrifice. There’s ways around that. You can still enjoy life by going on trips, vacations, getting the things you want but just making some tweaks to get you the results you want without losing out on what you love.

That’s something I’ve come to learn about this process and it’s the only way that’s helped my hubby and I keep going.

If you want to get started on your own debt free journey, check out some tips that can help you get there below.

Read More:

How To Get Out Of Debt With These 5 Tips

Start a Budget

Use the Snowball Method to pay off debt

Find 95 Ways to Save

Make Extra Money

Travel for free

Cutting The Cord Update

In the previous July debt free update, I mentioned that we may cut the cable.

Well.. we did!

We tried out Philo, and it’s friggin awesome.

BEFORE PHILO

Debt Free Journey - Update $90,479 Paid in 23 Months- August 2020 Before Philo

AFTER PHILO

Debt Free Journey - Update $90,479 Paid in 23 Months- August 2020 After Philo

Let’s do the math here, $152.49-$60.32 = $92.17. Wait.. $92.17?!

We saved over $90 by cutting the cable, how amazing is that? That’s savings of $1,106 a year.

Wish we did this sooner.

But of course we have to factor in the actual cost of Philo $20 so realistically we’re saving $72.17 or $866 a year (which is still awesome).

If you missed last month’s progress post, I mentioned this Philo service as an alternative to cable.

As long as you have internet, you can stream your favorite cable channels live, plus it comes with unlimited DVR, and fast forwarding options through commercials.

Here’s a little breakdown of Philo below.

Philo

  • They have so many mainstream networks like A&E, AMC, BET, Comedy Central, Discovery, Food Network, Hallmark, HGTV, History, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TLC, Travel Channel, VH1, and WE TV.
  • Unlimited DVR (held for 30 days)
  • Able to fast forward through commercials
  • Free 7-day trial
  • Only $20 a month

We’ve been using Philo for a few weeks now and it’s been awesome. The only downside to cutting cable is that we have to use something called Locast to watch local channels (for free).

This method using Philo and Locast is great for those who don’t watch local channels too much but tend to watch network channels more often.

If you’re wondering about Locast check out the breakdown below.

Sign up for free here at Philo and try it free for 7 days. (That’s what I did before cancelling the cable)

Locast

Locast is a non profit service that provides you with your local streaming channels for free!

You sign up at Locast.org and you get live streaming of your favorite local channels. You can stream on your phone, computer, or on your TV.

For your TV, you’ll need a streaming device like  RokuAmazon Fire Stick, or Apple TV.

The downside to Locast is every time you switch channels, you will see a short Locast commercial but it can be removed by paying Locast a small $5 a month donation.


Overall, cutting cable and switching to Philo and Locast has been awesome.

Finding Savings

Using cash back and points apps has been great and it’s very satisfying to see that your money can go a bit further.

If you read last month’s debt journey post, I mentioned apps like Ibotta, Fetch Rewards, Swagbucks, Rakuten, and Honey.

I’m going to add Receiptpal to that list.

I’ll go over some reasons why I use those apps and programs and you can find super easy ways to get some side cash monthly too.

Ibotta

Ibotta is mainly a cash back app that gives you real money back when you go grocery shopping by scanning your receipt.

It’s actually better than using coupons in my opinion because when you use coupons, it comes off the bill. Ibotta, on the other hand, gets you cash back when you buy certain products.

Once you reach $20, you can redeem it for cash back via Paypal or giftcards.

Also, besides only groceries, Ibotta also gets you cash back for in-store or online retailers like eBay, Kohls, ULTA, JCPenny, and 300 more.

To use Ibotta, you’ll look for the grocery store you plan to do your shopping. Look through the items that the store has and add the items to your list. Once you’re done with your shopping and get your receipt, upload it to Ibotta and it’ll match your offers. You may also need to scan barcodes for certain products just to verify the purchase.

Tip: When you add the item to your list, make sure to read the description of the item. For instance, today I see an offer for Philadelphia cream cheese giving $.50 X 5 back and there’s a note saying it’s for 7.5 oz or larger. Make sure you’re getting the right items to get the cash back offers.

Overall, it’s an awesome app to use and I get great money back from it. I love to use it since I don’t have the patience to coupon. If you’re a couponer then you’ll get even more savings with this app since it also allows you to use Manufacturer’s coupons too.

Sign up for free at Ibotta and use the code YDIGCFJ to get your $20 welcome bonus

Currently, I have $57 cash back from Ibotta which is pretty sweet if you ask me, and no clipping coupons required.

Debt Free Journey - Update $90,479 Paid in 23 Months- August 2020 Ibotta Cash Back

Fetch Rewards

Another app I’ve been using is Fetch Rewards. I basically get points for scanning receipts from grocery shopping, gas, and food.

Once I reach a certain amount of points, I’ll get gift cards or free magazine subscriptions.

Use the code 7JKFH when you sign up to Fetch Rewards and you’ll get 2,000 Fetch Points ($2.00 in points)
You can also refer others and earn 2,000 points ($2) yourself and your friend/family will earn 2,000 points ($2) as well.

Receiptpal

Another app I’ve been using diligently is Receiptpal.

Do you ever throw away your receipts? Think twice before doing that. You could be getting cash back for them.

With Receiptpal, you can scan your receipts and get points. Once you earn enough points, you can redeem them for gift cards.

Why not turn your junk into money?

You can scan in almost any kind of receipts:

  • Gas receipt
  • Restaurant/fast food receipts
  • Shopping receipts from any store
  • Service receipts
Debt Free Journey - Update $90,479 Paid in 23 Months- August 2020 Receiptpal points earned

For every receipt you submit, you’ll get a punch for your card. If you scan 4 receipts, you’ll get 100 points. Once you fill up 5 cards, you will get multiple entries into their sweepstakes for $250. Also, Receiptpal will give you random chances to get entries for their sweeps.

Points System:

Level 1 – 2,200 points = $5 Amazon gift card

Level 2 – 4,000 points = $10 Amazon gift card or 9,250 for a $25 Amazon gift card

Level 3 – 17,250 points = $50 Amazon gift card or 32,250 for a $100 Amazon gift card

Sign up for free here and start getting money back for your receipts

Swagbucks

I’ve been spending more time on Swagbucks and it’s been pretty awesome. I’ve gotten paid 500 swagbucks points which is equal to $5 for playing a game during my spare time in the evening.

If you ever have some free time check out Swagbucks to earn points which can be redeemed for cash via Paypal or gift cards.

Some ways to earn points are:

  • Take surveys/poll
  • Play games
  • Watch videos
  • Shop online
  • Complete daily goals
  • Enter competitions for points

Sign up for free here at Swagbucks and earn a $10 welcome bonus

Rakuten

I still use Rakuten when I’m doing any online shopping to get cash back on my purchases. It’s free money back, why not take it?

Rakuten partnered up with over 2,500 stores to get you cash back.

It’s super simple to use. Before buying anything online, go on Rakuten to see if they have your retailer on the list.

Then check to see if there’s any cash back offers. If there is, all you do is click on the retailer’s button where it will take you directly to the store you planned to shop at.

The only difference is, Rakuten will get you cash back for your purchase.

Sign up today with my special link here and get your $10 welcome bonus + $30 cash back when you spend $30 (It’s like getting $30 for free!) Rakuten won’t disappoint, check them out.

Debt Free Journey - Update $90,479 Paid in 23 Months- August 2020 Rakuten cash back

Honey

Have you heard about Honey? I just recently started using it and it’s awesome.

I downloaded the Chrome extension and when I go to purchase something online, it’ll scour through tons of coupon codes to help find the best price for the item.

It’s good for lazy couponers like me.

It’s a site that finds you all coupons available for stores. It has a chrome extension so when you go to a site and purchase something, Honey will automatically notify you if there’s a better price

Another good feature about Honey is if there’s no coupon code to be applied, it can also get you points for shopping at stores.

Once you get enough points, you can redeem it for gift cards from places like Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Sephora, Nordstrom, and more.

Sign up for free here and get the cheapest prices for all your online purchases the easy way.

Takeaway

23 months down and we’ve paid off $90,479 worth of debt. Pretty amazing stuff.

Does it feel like we’ve sacrificed a great deal, nope.

Getting out of debt doesn’t have to be hard. You may have heard people having to sell literally everything, eating rice and beans, never going on vacation, or getting nice things for themselves just to get themselves out of debt. We’re here to show you that you don’t have to go to those extremes.

All you need is a good budgeting system to help you handle money the right way to squeeze the most out of your hard earned cash, look for savings in the right places, and still enjoy life without having to go into debt to do it.

I’m currently in the process of getting a workable system in place for others to follow step by step on how I do my monthly budget. I can say that having a proper budgeting system in place can make all the difference in the world.

I’ll share it with you all very soon!

PS Stay tuned, we’re going to pay $10,000 next month towards the student loan!

Today’s the day for you to finally take back control over your money. It’s time to become debt free and embark on your own journey. I’ll show you the steps you need to get there, get started by grabbing the free debt thermometer.

Read More
5 Tips to Build Your Emergency Fund Fast - My Financial Hill
Money

5 Tips to Build Your Emergency Fund Fast

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

Life can be so unpredictable. You never know when you can lose your job, when a pandemic will hit, experience a natural disaster, total your car, you get the point. This is why everyone needs an emergency fund.

There’s simple ways you can build your emergency fund up really fast by doing a couple of things like eating at home more than going to restaurants, or switching your electric bill, but we’ll go into all of that shortly. First, let’s take a peek and see what this whole emergency fund deal is about, shall we?

What is an emergency fund?

Have you ever heard the saying “When it rains it pours”? Sometimes the worst things can happen at the worst possible time.

We can never predict when those bad things can happen but the least we can do is prepare for it.

An emergency fund is money set aside to cover you for a set period of time when unpredictable events happen that affect your income.

It can provide a buffer for you in case there are months where you don’t have income or you experience a major expense that zaps all your money.

What is an emergency fund used for?

An emergency fund is money set aside to cover you for unexpected events like a loss of a job, medical or dental emergency, car repair, home repair, or not planned travel expenses.

Why an emergency fund is important

The worst situation to be in is to have bad events take place and not be financially prepared for it.

For instance, if a family relies on 1 person to be the breadwinner and all of a sudden the company they worked for was bought out by another company and laid off a whole bunch of people, what then? Can the sole breadwinner pay their mortgage or rent with a credit card? It’s unlikely,  however there may be ways around that but it’ll cost more!

Or what if you own a home and all of a sudden your pipe burst flooding your whole first floor, you can’t wait for insurance to process it, and you need it fixed right away. All your credit cards are maxed out, then what?

You get the point, it’s always best to be prepared because you just never know.

Why start an emergency fund

Starting an emergency fund can give you a peace of mind when dealing with a crisis.

It’s best to start one when things are good and you actually have the opportunity to save.

Do this for you and your family’s financial well being. When unexpected things occur, you may have some slight relief to know that you have the funds to back yourself up when things get hard.

I wish someone told me this back then. In my 20’s my dog ended up getting hit by a car and needed surgery to fix her leg. I didn’t have any savings at that point so I used my credit card for her surgery. I probably held on to that debt for years paying over $1,000 in interest.

You don’t want to get stuck with having to resort to using credit cards for paying for big emergencies only to end up paying hundreds or thousands of interest over time because you were left in a bind.

What should an emergency fund cover?

An emergency fund should cover at least 1-6 months worth of living expenses. Ideally, it should cover 3-6 months of expenses but it’s great to start saving for your 1 month worth of expenses as soon as you can.

It can cover expenses like:

  • Housing
  • Food
  • Utilities + Telecom (Electric, gas, water, phone, cable, internet) $200
  • Healthcare (Medical, Dental)
  • Insurance  (Car, Life, Home, etc.) 
  • Transportation (Gas, Tolls, etc.)
  • Personal Expenses (Childcare, pets, etc.)
  • Minimum Debt Payment

It shouldn’t cover things like:

  • Vacation
  • Clothes shopping
  • Spa treatments
  • Electronics/Games

How should I calculate my emergency fund?

The best way to calculate how much you’ll need saved up is by adding up all your monthly amounts for your living expenses categories.

Example:

Housing$800
Food$400
Utilities + Telecom (Electric, Gas, Water, Phone, Cable, Internet, etc. $400
Healthcare (Medical, Dental)$180
Insurance (Car, Life, Home, etc.)$200
Transportation (Car Payment, Gas, Tolls, etc.)$75
Personal Expenses (Childcare, Pets, etc.)$200
Minimum Debt Payments$400
Total 1 Month Expenses$2,655
$2,655 X 2 Month Expenses$5,310
$2,655 X 3 Months Expenses$7,965
$2,655 X 4 Months Expenses$10,620
$2,655 X 5 Months Expenses$13,275
$2,655 X 6 Months Expenses$15,930

How much emergency fund should you have?

Remember, this is your emergency fund so go with the savings goal that you feel most comfortable with and works best for your situation.

Most importantly, aim to get at least a 1 month emergency fund in your account. Then you can later start aiming for the 2-6 months worth of expenses. 

For me personally, we saved a 3 months emergency fund. We also had a lot of debt, over $120,000 worth so we wanted to get started ASAP on knocking out our debt.

Read more about that here:

How To Get Out of Debt With These 5 Tips

If you want to start your own debt free journey, grab your free debt thermometer and enroll in the free 5-day Debt Free Bootcamp to finally take back control over your money.

5 Tips to Build Your Emergency Fund Fast

5 Tips to Build Your Emergency Fund Fast - My Financial Hill

1. Budget

It helps to give you better control over your finances. You may even be surprised to see that you have hundreds or thousands left over to use towards your emergency fund.

Budgeting showed me that my hubs and I were spending nearly $1,000 a month just on food. That’s a lot isn’t it? You’d be surprised how much those $5 Starbucks drinks or $10 lunches add up to in a month.

Set aside room in your budget to save for your emergency fund.

2. Cut Unnecessary Expenses

Did you know that you can literally be saving hundreds a month just by switching companies, finding less expensive alternatives, and cancelling unused services? Hundreds a month turns to thousands of savings in a year.

Don’t you want more money in your pockets starting now?

Some things you can look into for savings:

  • Pack your lunches and eat at home more often
    • It’s way healthier and saves you tons of money.
    • We saved $500 a month just by packing our own lunches and cooking at home during the weekdays.
  • Negotiate or change energy providers
  • Shop around for cheaper car insurance or home insurance plans
  • Shop for cheaper home and cell phone plans
    • We saved $1,764 a year just by switching our cell phone carriers from Verizon to Cricket Wireless. The strangest part was that my service worked a whole lot better when I switched. We pay $80 a month for two lines, unlimited data, unlimited text, unlimited calls, plus by hubby got a free smart phone when he came on to Cricket. I was also able to switch my iPhone over from Verizon to Cricket.
    • You could be saving over $1,000 a year just by making a simple switch.

Cricket Wireless

Use this special link to get $25 off your first month

  • There are also other cellphone companies like Metro PCS and Boost Mobile stores which all offer great rates at very affordable prices, check them out.

Read More:

How We Saved Over $1,000 a Year on Our Phone Bill Just By Making These 2 Small Changes

  • Cut cable without really cutting it out
    • Cable TV was something I didn’t want to part with. I love my reality TV shows, don’t judge! Guess what? We were able to cut the cable with our internet/cable provider but still stream our favorite channels with something called Philo. Our internet cable bill went from $152 down to $55 ($97 a month or $1,164 a year in savings) and we don’t miss any of our favorite shows.
    • To use Philo, all you need is internet and a streaming device like a Roku, Amazon Firestick, or Apple TV.
    • PROS OF PHILO
      • Has 61 popular channels including A&E, AMC, Animal Planet, BET, CMT, Comedy Central, Cooking channel, Discovery, Food Network, Hallmark, HGTV, Lifetime, MTV, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, TLC, Travel, VH1, and much more.
      • If you follow a particular show, Philo is going to have all the previous seasons on demand.
      • Live stream your channels just like cable.
      • Ability to fast forward through commercials just like cable
      • Unlimited DVR space
    • CONS OF PHILO
      • No local channels (Use a free service called Locast.org for local channels
    • Overall, there really is not much to dislike about Philo, it’s basically the same as having cable but at more than half the cost. Going with Philo has been one of the best decisions. There’s no reason to give more hard earned money away to companies for no reason. Check them out, you won’t regret it.

PHILO

Streaming service that lets you watch your favorite channels live, all seasons, plus unlimited DVR just for $20 a month.

Sign up for free here at Philo and try it free for 7 days. (That’s what I did before cancelling the cable)

  • Cancel unnecessary subscriptions and memberships
    • Do you have subscriptions to things like monthly makeup bags, monthly goody boxes, and more? Have you really used the boxes to it’s fullest? If not, then go ahead and cancel the subscriptions. It’ll save you hundreds over the long run.
    • I cancelled two of my makeup boxes with Ipsy and Sephora because I only really ended up using just 1 or 2 things from the boxes and the rest started turning into clutter. I ended up saving $22 a month or $264 a year.
    • The same goes for membership programs. If you don’t get much use out of your memberships, then you’re better off saving money and canceling it.

3. Get Cash Back When You Shop

Getting cash back when shopping is a great way to have extra cash to save up for your emergency fund.

Have you bought anything online before? If you haven’t used cash back sites before then you’re missing out on free money for something you’re already doing.

Rakuten

Rakuten used to be known as Ebates. It’s so simple to use.

For instance, if you wanted to buy something online from Macy’s, you’ll go on Rakuten.com and check to see if there’s any cash back offers. Today I saw they had 6% cash back. Next all you have to do is click “Shop Now”. It’ll send you directly to Macy’s where you’ll resume shopping as usual.

The only difference is, Rakuten will get you that promised cash back when you make a purchase. Once, you reach at least $5, you can get the cash back by a check or Paypal.

Don’t miss out on free money.

Sign up today with my special link here and get your $10 welcome bonus + $30 cash back when you spend $30 (It’s like getting $30 for free!) Rakuten won’t disappoint, check them out.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a site that gets you money for all sorts of things but they also get you cash back for shopping as well.

Swagbucks also gets you points which convert to cash via Paypal or gift cards to do things like take surveys and polls, play games, try apps, watch videos, complete daily tasks, submitting receipts, and shopping online.

Swagbucks is a great platform to earn a little side cash when you have some free time. I usually earn points while I’m watching some TV at night with the hubby.

Sign up for free here at Swagbucks and earn a $10 welcome bonus

Groupon

If you haven’t heard about Groupon, you need to sign up like today!

Groupon hosts many local businesses near you and they offer major deals and coupons to promote their stores. Groupon has all sorts of local businesses listed on their site from auto, beauty & spas, restaurants, gyms, fitness, home services, meal prep, online learning, personal services, retail shops, salons, activities to do, travel and more.

These businesses offer huge discounts. I’ve seen discounts anywhere from 10%-92% off. I’ve seen deals for Microdermabrasion Treatments which would go for $150 but with a 78% discount it goes for only $32. Or even a $1,650 laser hair treatment going for $120 with 92% off.

What’s great about Groupon is that many people purchase these coupons so they leave reviews for you to go through. You can always check out the ratings of a business before you purchase the coupon. It’s definitely worth checking out.

Sign up for free here at Groupon to start getting your MEGA savings.

Honey

Honey is a browser extension that instantly saves you money by searching all coupon sites to find you the best coupon code when you’re checking out online.

Plus it also gives you cash back offers at your favorite stores in the form of “Honey Gold”. It acts like a point system. Each 100 Honey Gold is equal to $1.

Once you reach 1000 Honey Gold points, you can redeem it for a $10 gift card from places like Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Sephora, Nordstrom, and more.

Join Honey with my link here and you’ll get 500 Honey Gold points after your first online shopping purchase.

Ibotta

Do you buy groceries? If the answer is yes, then you need to try Ibotta. You could be missing out on free money when you shop for groceries.

Ibotta has over 300 stores that participate in their program. Ibotta gives you cash back for shopping at your favorite grocery stores and big retailers. They have all your main grocery stores like Kroger, H-E-B, C-Town, Aldi, Foodtown, Randalls, SHOP ‘n SAVE, ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Sprouts Farmers Market, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, and so much more. It’s a very simple app to use and you get real money back which you can cash out once you earn $20.

Not only can you get cash back for grocery shopping with Ibotta, you can also earn money back in other categories like grocery pickup and delivery, online shopping, beer, wine & spirits, clothing, health & beauty, specialty, restaurants & bars, convenience, travel, home & auto, kids & baby, pet supply, sports & outdoors, and subscription & delivery. There’s over 300 stores to choose from.

Ibotta also allows combining manufacturer’s coupons to get you more savings.

Sign up for free at Ibotta and use the code YDIGCFJ to get your $20 welcome bonus

I got $8.75 cash back from my last shopping trip at Walmart. Ibotta is awesome for people who hate spending time looking for coupons. It comes in handy for me since I just don’t have the patience to clip coupons.

Don’t miss out on free money for things you may always do like shop for groceries. It’s so simple to use, you’ll love it!

ReceiptPal

Do you ever just toss your receipts when you get them? Turn your receipts into an Amazon gift card.

ReceiptPal is an app where you scan your receipts and accrue points. Once you get enough points, you’ll get an Amazon gift card.

Types of receipts to scan:

For every receipt you submit, you’ll get a punch for your card. If you scan 4 receipts, you’ll get 100 points. Once you fill up 5 cards, you will get multiple entries into their sweepstakes for $250. Also, Receiptpal will give you random chances to get entries for their sweeps.

Points System:

Level 1 – 2,200 points = $5 Amazon gift card

Level 2 – 4,000 points = $10 Amazon gift card or 9,250 for a $25 Amazon gift card

Level 3 – 17,250 points = $50 Amazon gift card or 32,250 for a $100 Amazon gift card

Fetch Rewards App

Fetch Rewards is another easy app you can use to earn cash back to redeem for gift cards or magazine subscriptions. Fetch Rewards has over 256 brands that they work with. For instance, if you went grocery shopping and bought anything from brands like Tropicana, Cheerios, Hellman’s brand, and over 250 others, you’ll get points when you scan your receipt.

Once you get enough points, you’ll redeem them for gift cards at Amazon, Target, and others or get free yearly magazine subscriptions.

Another great feature about this app is they accept non-grocery item receipts too. However, you’ll get most of your points with your grocery receipts.

Use the code 7JKFH when you sign up to Fetch Rewards and you’ll get 2,000 Fetch Points ($2.00 in points)
You can also refer others and earn 2,000 points ($2) yourself and your friend/family will earn 2,000 points ($2) as well.

Instead of tossing your receipts, turn them into money.

Overall, don’t miss out on all this free money out there. You could be earning back a good amount of money each month by using cash back sites when you shop, earning free cash on survey sites, and even getting money back for grocery shopping and scanning receipts. These can all help you save extra for your emergency fund as fast as possible.

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4. Make more money on the side

Another way to quickly build your emergency fund is by making more money. There’s lots of ways to do that without stressing yourself out too much.

Work extra hours

If it’s possible, can you put in a little extra amount of time at work? If you get paid hourly and your company gives you overtime pay, why not? For instance, let’s say you get paid $15 an hour. If you put in an extra hour a week, that’s $60 a month or $720 a year. Not too bad huh?

Ask for a raise

Has it been a long time since you received a raise? Then maybe it’s time you get rewarded for all your hard efforts. Don’t be nervous to ask for a raise. If you put in the time and hard work, then why not? You deserve it! Go for it, you’ve got this!

Getting a raise can get you hundreds or thousands of extra dollars a year! You know what, it never hurts to just try. Sometimes bosses and managers can conveniently forget to give you one so it’s best you remind them of how awesome of an employee you are.

Side Hustle

There are actually tons of side gigs you can do to earn some money. My hubby even drove for UBER once, and he brought in thousands in a few months just driving in the evenings and weekend.

Some side hustles you can try:

  • Start a Blog (unlimited income potential, opportunity to make 5, 6, 7 figures a year)
    • Club Thrifty – Budget Living and Travel – Makes $21,566 a month
    • Just a Girl and her Blog – Lifestyle – Makes $41,700 a month
    • Art of Manliness – Men’s Lifestyle – Makes $33,333 a month
    • Show me the Yummy – Recipe Blog – Makes $46,000 a month
    • My Wife Quit Her Job – Making Money Online – Makes $80,000 a month
    • Sarah Titus – Selling Printables – Makes $250,000 a month
  • Drive for UBER or Lyft – You can make thousands a month
  • Instacart
    • Make up to $25 an hour as a full service shopper (shop for customers and deliver)
    • Make $9-$15 an hour as an in-store shopper (shop for customers and prepare for delivery)
    • Work on your own time whenever you want
  • Deliver Takeout Food
  • Care.com
    • Offers jobs ranging in caretaking, babysitting, tutoring, and more
    • Offers benefits like 401K, dental, health, life, and vision
  • Rover.com – Dogsitting can earn you over $1,000 a month

Side money with survey sites

Do you ever find yourself with a little bit of extra free time like at the end of the night or even when you’re running a load in the laundry? You could be earning free cash during those times with survey sites.

Survey Junkie

Get paid to take surveys online with Survey Junkie. For every 1000 points you’ll get a $10 gift card or cash via PayPal. During your spare time you can complete these surveys to make some money here and there. On top of simple surveys, they even offer phone surveys which can pay $5-$100, Test some products to make $5-$50, and join focus groups that pay anywhere from $25-$150. Realistically, you can expect to make anywhere from $3-$10 a day. If you make $10 a day for 30 days straight, that’s $300 a month. Not too shabby.

Sign up for free here at Survey Junkie and start earning

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a fun site that let’s you earn points that converts to cash via Paypal or gift cards. I’ve mentioned that you can use it to get cash back for shopping but you can also earn points for things like: take surveys and polls, answer questionnaires, play games on your phone, shop online through Swagbucks’ site to get points, redeem points for buying certain food products, complete daily goals, enter competitions, try out apps, sign up for free trial services, scan your receipts, and refer others.

Swagbucks uses a point system where you get awarded with SB points, you can then redeem those points for cash back via PayPal or gift cards through popular companies like Amazon, PayPal, Walmart, Visa, iTunes, Starbucks, eBay, and so much more.

Sign up for free here at Swagbucks and earn a $10 welcome bonus

InboxDollars

InboxDollars is another survey site where you can take surveys/polls, watch videos, play games, search the web, get cash back by shopping online, and even get paid to clip coupons through InboxDollars. They have paid out over $50,000,000 so far to millions of members.

Join InboxDollars for free and get your instant $5 just for joining.

What to expect when using these survey sites

There are companies out there that need people’s opinion, that’s how these survey sites were born. They offer incentive for people’s opinion on products and services.

With these sites, you can expect to make anywhere from a few bucks to a few hundred a month depending on how often you use it. Keep in mind that it’s not something that’s going to replace your income but it can get you some extra cash each month to throw at your emergency fund. Who doesn’t want free cash?

It’s especially nice to earn points which turn to cash or gift cards for just answering some questions or even playing games during your free time.

One thing to keep in mind is when taking surveys, not everyone will be accepted for certain surveys. Before you take a survey, you’ll be asked some basic screening questions. There is a chance you’ll get disqualified but don’t worry there will be plenty of other surveys to take part of. Plus these sites will generally give you a couple of points for trying.

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5. Mindful Spending

A big part of saving up for your emergency fund is by spending more mindfully.

So you may be wondering what’s mindful spending?

All you really have to do is think twice before you buy something.

Before you buy that $300 purse, $200 pair of sneakers, $1,000 iPhone, really ask yourself if you TRULY NEED it at that moment.

Not saying you can never have the things you want but you can make a better plan for it.

You can save some money each month and set it aside so that you can buy it at a later time.

One thing to keep in mind is that impulsiveness can get you into a lot of financial trouble.

Just look at us, we managed to accumulate over $127,000 worth of debt by living impulsively in the first few years of marriage.

If you get some extra money, instead of heading straight to the mall, put it towards your emergency fund.

5 Tips to Build Your Emergency Fund Fast - My Financial Hill

Is an emergency fund the same as savings?

Typically an emergency fund is different as savings in terms of intent. The emergency fund is meant to be an amount of money put aside to be used for unexpected crisis.

Savings on the other hand is money set aside for things you want to buy in the future, like a home down payment, car, school, clothes, electronics, etc.

Where to keep your emergency fund

For an emergency fund, you want to have access to the funds right away in case something happens. This is where it may differ slightly from a traditional savings. You want to keep the emergency fund where it’s easily accessible like a checking or a high interest savings account and not locked in any CD’s, stocks, and bonds.

Savings on the other hand can be put into a high yield interest savings account, stock, CD, and bonds because you will mostly likely know when to pull the money out to use it.

Put your money in a High Yield APR Savings Account from Nationwide / Axos Bank. They’re offering 1.05% of interest which is the highest around. Sign up here at Nationwide / Axos Bank to lock in that rate.

When should you start saving for your emergency fund?

You can start saving for an emergency fund right away. The sooner you save up for one, the better prepared you will be for unexpected emergencies.

If you get a raise or get a nice tax refund, put it towards building your emergency fund.

Should you save for an emergency fund or pay off debt?

Sure, paying off debt is really important because it saves you money in interest over the long run. However, having a safety net is even more important, If someone loses their job with maxed out credit cards, then what? How can they pay the rent/mortgage or feed their family? Having that security in place for you and your family is just as important as saving interest on debt.

It’s not to say that you should do one or the other. You can do both.

I do highly suggest saving up for your 1 month worth of expenses first. Then whatever extra money you have left at the end of each month going forward can be divided in half. One half going towards your fund and the other being applied towards your debt.

Keep saving for your emergency fund until you reach the amount you’ll be comfortable with in case you lose a job or something else happens. Once you reach that goal, take all extra money each month to apply it towards your debt.

For us, before we put 100% of any extra money at debt, we saved 3 months worth of expenses.

Can your emergency fund be too big?

If you have an emergency fund larger than 6-12 months, it may be too large.

Remember that since you want easy access to it, you may put it in a checking or high yield interest savings account like the one from Nationwide / Axos Bank.

The interest rates on a saving account is very low compared to stocks or mutual funds.

You don’t want too much of your money just sitting there earning very little interest where it can earn you more money elsewhere.

Should you save for an emergency fund or invest?

This really depends on your personal situation. Most likely, you’ll want to start that emergency fund even if it’s 1 month worth of expenses. However, if your company is offering 401K match, then go ahead and invest up to the match because it’s free money and it’ll accrue interest.

Ultimately, it comes down to your peace of mind. Are you okay with having your emergency fund tied up in investments with a risk to lose money when you need to pull it out for emergencies?

Or you can always just save 3-6 month worth of expenses and anything above that, invest it. Either way, you don’t want so much money just sitting around your savings account barely keeping up with inflation while it can be earning you more.

What to do after emergency fund?

So what’s the plan after saving up for that emergency fund? Well, if you have debt then focus on getting rid of it. Debt, especially those with high interest rates like credit cards are the worst! With interest, sometimes you can end up paying almost double of what you owed in the first place. Getting rid of debt is really important.

You can also start investing your money or saving for investment opportunities. Start putting away money for your retirement, start saving for an investment property, or even capital to start a business.

Don’t forget to put money aside to have some fun. Life doesn’t have to be so serious with saving, paying debt, and investing. Enjoy life along the way, go on trips, try new hobbies, enjoy some concerts. You can still have fun without it costing a fortune or at the expense of your financial future.

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What’s the difference between emergency fund, rainy day fund, and sinking fund?

The emergency fund is 1-6 month (ideally 3-6 months) worth of essential expenses saved in case something unpredictable happens like job loss, illness, and any of the other reasons mentioned above. It’s meant to keep you and your household financially stable at least for those months while things normalize again.

Emergency fund and rainy day fund

A rainy day fund is different from an emergency fund. The rainy day fund should have anywhere from $500-$2,000 and is only meant for small unexpected expenses. It’s meant to absorb small expenses without tapping into your full emergency fund.

Some examples for a rainy day fund:

  • Blown tire
  • Kid’s braces
  • Minor house repair
  • Unpredictable school expense

Emergency fund and sinking fund

A sinking fund is used to save for predicted expenses. It’s basically money set aside for that particular planned expense so that you don’t have to dip into your emergency fund.

Some examples of a sinking fund:

  • Vacation
  • New computer or phone
  • New car
  • New roof for the home
  • HOA fees

Should you keep the emergency fund, rainy day fund, and sinking fund separately?

It’s entirely up to you if you want these funds separated.

What we did for our situation was keep 1 month worth of expenses in my checking account and keep the rest in a high yield savings account. I combined my sinking fund and emergency fund together but kept track of it on my budget. We figured, if you save your 3 months worth of expenses, you’re bound to have enough for the rainy day fund, sinking funds, and emergency fund all in one.

Takeaway

Building your emergency fund is important, it’ll give you and your family a slight peace of mind when it comes to the worst case scenarios. Cause let’s face it, we’ll never truly know what tomorrow can bring. The least you can do is try your best to prepare for the worst financial situations.

Remember, it’s all about baby steps. Don’t think you have to save for a 6 month emergency fund overnight. It’s a lot of money. Start small. First aim for a 1 month worth of expenses saved then work your way up to a number that fits you and your family’s financial situation.

There’s going to be a lot of ways for you to start saving for your emergency fund as fast as possible. Starting a budget can help you see exactly how you’re spending your money, you’ll be shocked to see how much you’re spending on certain categories.

Next, you can save hundreds a month just by simply switching phone carriers, switching to Philo instead of cable, or shopping around for insurance companies.

Third, earn free money back for things you normally do like shop online or buy groceries, you could be getting back hundreds a year!

Fourth, make some side cash by taking up a side hustle, you never know when it can launch into a full fledged business.

Lastly, always think twice before you buy and create a savings plan for the things you really want instead of buying impulsively.

Hope these tips were helpful and will get you on your way to building that emergency fund.

Let today be the day you make the change to finally start getting out of debt. Begin the process by enrolling in the free 5-day Debt Free Bootcamp.

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