Aww yeah! I finally made a recommendation page! It’s incomplete for now. I have more to add in the sectors of making money, not full-time salaried money, but very decent beer money!
Not everything here is affiliated but some of the links below are affiliated so read up on our partnership disclosure here.
Table of Contents
MONEY SAVING TOOLS
Ibotta (Free App)
Ibotta is a free receipt cash reward app. The app refreshes daily with a $0.25 cent “any item” reward just for scanning a store receipt. You just need to scan a store receipt with your smartphone and the $0.25 reward will be dropped into your account.
Within the app, there are also “any item” categories for any ice cream, any fruit, and other grocery offers for even more cash back. It can be stacked with store coupons as long as the item matches (and you can check that with the barcode with the app instantly so there’s no guesswork.) After I started shopping at traditional grocers like Safeway, Walgreens, Fred Meyers, Target and many other non-bulk outlets – my average receipt count went up. I save over $100+ a year shopping with this app!
Ibotta pays out for free using PayPal. You can get a $10 reward automatically added to your account by using my sign-up link.
Raise Gift Cards
I have spent well over $500 dollars purchasing store gift cards for up to 25% off on Raise. Their customer service and site set up is super secure and quick.
My biggest pro tips are:
1) Never underestimate a 5% or 10% off especially if you know you need it. It’s essentially free money!
2) Know which stores you love to shop in. I love Ross and Marshalls stores for their home goods so I look for them on Raise.
3) Try to purchase balances that do not have even numbers like $100 or $200. I buy gift cards that have been partially spent like $79.22 or $193 because that means they’ve been tested to work.
Get $5 free when you sign up with this link and snoop around for your favorite stores, grocers, restaurants etc.
DealNews (Free App)
Using the Editor’s Choice tab is a near-guaranteed way to find the best deal across the world wide web. I have DealNew’s Android app and a quick 30 second browse a few times a day has landed me some steal deals in the past!
Airbnb (My $$$ Side Hustle)
I have written about Airbnb extensively as a host. Having been a trusted host with over 600+ individual reviews, I’ve definitely come to respect Airbnb as a viable option for travelers on a budget and homeowners who want to turn their real estate asset into cash flow.
Hosts: My own Airbnbs are often half the price of competing inns nearby for the same quality. That is the beauty of supply and demand. Read up on me as a host – then if you’re like “yeah, making money is awesome” then use my link if you want to become a host. As a guest and user of Airbnbs myself, I think it’s the smartest way for both house hackers and travel hackers to come together. It’s made possible like a modern day fairytale.
Travelers: Most Airbnbs are much less expensive than traditional hotels and you get facilities like an actual kitchen, that is something a hotel would never have! My pro tip for travelers is to use Airbnb’s map feature. The map view will let you shop for Airbnbs using the map directly – so you can always be near your destination. Take advantage of the main filters (date, guest count, property, price range) available to narrow down your search. Lastly, make sure to send the Airbnb host a punctual, trip-specific greet and general summary before booking.
If you are a new traveler to Airbnb, you can get $40 in travel credit when you sign up here.
Free Budget Sheet
Yes, we are your typical, boring spreadsheet budgeters. My husband and I sit down and track our expenses bi-monthly. I think it’s fun…but then again, I’m a little weird.
We revamped an old Google budget sheet and opened it for the everybody to use. The password for our freebies is PFNerds. All you need is a Google Gmail account and then follow the instructions on the template to make it your own.
CIT Bank
CIT savings bank offers the best interest account at 1.85% with a minimum deposit of $1,000. There are no maintenance or opening fees. You can withdraw your funds without penalty.
Personal Capital
Sign up with Personal Capital and use their free Net Worth calculator to start simplifying your finances. My husband and I began using Personal Capital towards the last quarter of 2017.
Personal Capital is a trusted, free, and secure financial service platform that helps you analyze your financial health all on one simple account. This was a huge step up from the tedious dance we did before where we had to manually log in to our financial accounts (all 19 of them) individually.
Personal Capital tools like the net worth tracker, retirement tracker, and portfolio analysis are completely free to use which is awesome and super helpful. Optionally, if you wanted a portion of your investments optimized by Personal Capital, they do provide professional service for well-off investors that qualify.
BLOGGING TOOLS
Start a Successful Blog (Guide)
Chances are you already have a blog but just in case, I have a spew of how to start a blog in and a list of plug-ins every new blogger needs to get themselves off on the right foot 🙂 There’s a lot more to it so come prepared if you want to start a blog.
