Want $30 to Spend on Anything at Walmart? Follow These 2 Simple Steps

Nancy Frost, from Cumberland, Md., earns .50 using the Ibotta app at the Wal-Mart in LaVale, Md., Tuesday August 7, 2018.
Matt Roth for The Penny Hoarder
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How would it feel to whack $30 off your next grocery bill?

Your shoulders sink as you eye the increasing subtotal, then — wait! You’ve got $30 in gift cards. What a rush!

This is quite an easy feat to accomplish. Here’s how.

1. Get a $10 Gift Card for Walmart

Plus, you’ll get up to 40% cash back for basically anything you buy online.

Yep — one of our favorite ways to save is with Rakuten, a cash-back website and browser extension that rewards you nearly every time you buy something online. For example, Ebates gives you up to 10% cash-back on online purchases at Walmart.

You’ll get your free $10 gift card to Walmart when you give the site a try.

To earn your gift card:

  1. Download the free browser extension and create a free Rakuten account with your email or Facebook account.
  2. Use the Ebates portal the next time you need to buy something. It’s connected to thousands of stores, including Walmart, Amazon and Target. You’ll need to make your first purchase through the site within 90 days and spend at least $25.
  3. Your account will be credited with rewards points you can cash out for your $10 Walmart gift card.

2. Stock up on Toilet Paper, and Get a $5 Bonus

Have you heard of Ibotta? If not, you’re in for a treat… specifically, a $5 bonus.

Ibotta is a cash-back app that’ll pay you for taking pictures of your grocery store receipts.

Here’s how it works: Before heading to the store, search for items on your shopping list within the Ibotta app. (Toilet paper is almost always on there!) When you get home, snap a photo of your receipt and scan the items’ barcodes.

Bam. Cash back.

Ibotta will grant you a $5 bonus after you snap your first receipt. Once you claim a total of $20 in cash back, you can cash out for, well, cash or a gift card to your favorite retailer.

That’s another $5 toward groceries!

Bonus: Get Rewarded Just For Walking Into The Store

All right. You’re armed with those gift cards.

Before stepping into Walmart or your grocery store of choice, download Shopkick. It’s another app that’ll reward you when you go shopping.

Once you sign up, the app pays you in “kicks” for simply walking into certain stores (including Walmart, Target, Aldi and more). You can redeem them for gift cards to a number of retailers, including Amazon, Target, Walmart, Starbucks, Sephora and Best Buy.

It pays you even more kicks for photos of receipts that include qualifying items you purchased in-store with a connected credit or debit card. You can also earn kicks for online purchases. You don’t have to do anything; your linked cards will automatically apply your rewards.

The best part is all these apps keep on giving. Even after you’ve claimed those bonuses and earned your initial rewards, you can continue to use them to save every time you shop.

Carson Kohler ([email protected]) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s managed to earn $155 in cash back from Ibotta. Truly a thrill.