55 - The Calendar Strategy: How to Automate Your Dining Discounts (And Never Pay Full Price Again)

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I recently did something a little crazy—but financially brilliant. During the holiday sales, I stocked up on restaurant gift cards. You know the ones: “Buy $100, Get $25 Free.” I bought them for my favorite local spots: the Irish pub around the corner, the pizza place we love on Fridays, and the nice steakhouse we save for special occasions. Mathematically, I was already winning. By getting $125 worth of food for $100, I had locked in an instant 20% discount on my future meals. But then I thought: How can I stretch this even further? The gift cards are great, but they are only one part of the equation. Most of these restaurants also offer weekly specials—Half-Price Burgers on Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Kids Eat Free Wednesdays, or Happy Hour appetizers. If I used my discounted gift cards only on nights when the food was also discounted, I wouldn’t just be saving 20%. I’d be saving 50%, 60%, or even 70% off the regular menu price. The problem? I can never remember which restaurant has the ...
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11 - Take pictures of your receipts and get paid by different apps!

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AI-written with the bolded bullets added by me:

Here’s an up-to-date, ranked list of the top third-party savings/cash-back apps that are active and truly saving people money in 2025. These are prioritized based on expert reviews, user popularity, rewards generosity, and overall practical value for most shoppers:

1. Ibotta

  • Best For: Cash-back on groceries, big-box retail, everyday purchases
  • How it saves you: Browse offers, shop at partnered stores, upload your receipt or link loyalty accounts, and get actual cash—withdrawable to your bank, PayPal, or as gift cards after hitting a $20 minimum.
  • Why it’s preferred: Consistently highest payouts, frequent bonuses, works with both in-store and online shopping, hundreds of participating brands. Users routinely earn $20–$40 per month with regular activity.​
  • Sign up today and get $5 instantly if you use this Referral Code: rfcmxtv (and I get $10!). Once you create an account, you can get your own referral code and share it with others to make yourself some cash!

2. Fetch Rewards

  • Best For: Simplicity, any grocery store, receipt scanning
  • How it saves you: Snap a photo of ANY receipt (grocery, retail, even gas stations) and instantly earn points. Points redeem for gift cards to hundreds of retailers.
  • Why it’s preferred: Ridiculously easy to use—no offer “activation.” Points add up more slowly than Ibotta, but there’s no fussing over eligible brands per trip, and every receipt counts.​
  • Sign up today and get 2000 points instantly if you use this Referral Code: DKW4D (and I get 4000 points!). Once you create an account, you can get your own referral code and share it with others to make yourself some cash (you get your money back in gift cards)!

3. Upside

  • Best For: Gas, convenience stores, fast food and restaurants, some groceries
  • How it saves you: Find offers in the app, claim them before paying, then earn real cash back (not points) on gas, groceries, or local restaurants. Payout to bank or PayPal.
  • Why it’s favored: Consistently top payouts on gas (sometimes $0.15–$0.25/gal), real cash rewards, good for drivers or anyone who fills up often. Offers rotate quickly.​​
  • Sign up today and get $0.15 off per gallon instantly if you use this Referral Code: PAUL23898 (and I get the same!). Once you create an account, you can get your own referral code and share it with others to make yourself some cash!

4. Rakuten (formerly Ebates)

  • Best For: Online shopping (non-grocery), travel bookings
  • How it saves you: Start your online shopping at Rakuten, click through to your retailer, and earn cash back on purchases at thousands of stores (including niche sites and travel services).
  • Why it’s favored: Very generous for online shopping, regular big bonuses, actual cash payouts every quarter. Great for holiday shopping, big purchases.​

5. Checkout 51

  • Best For: Gas, grocery, online purchases, pharmacies and household supply savings, stacked offers
  • How it saves you: View weekly grocery deals, claim what you’ll buy, upload receipts for cash back. Some offers overlap with other apps.
  • Why it’s good: Can be stacked with Ibotta/Fetch, some exclusive deals (like produce or household cleaning), cash out at $20 threshold.​
  • Savvy Saver Tip: Top savers maximize their Cash Back by checking the offer list daily!
  • This one seems to be new-ish and has very few offers, but look through them if you have a minute because it could save you some cash!

6. Capital One Shopping

  • Best For: Automated coupon codes, price tracking
  • How it saves you: Browser extension automatically applies coupon codes at checkout for hundreds of online stores and tracks price drops after purchases.
  • Why it’s worth it: Zero effort savings—especially if you shop online often. Not points/cash back, but real-time discounts.​
  • I use this one all the time. I rarely have to do anything except click a button on a pop-up, and I've earned $170.56 in Lifetime Rewards & Savings in about a year or two!
    • Use this link: capitaloneshopping.com/r/3fdf8a94-c012-4617-8204-ab305d266e09 to create an account. 
    • Install the browser extension on desktop or mobile and save with it for 90 days.
    • You get $40 in Capital One Shopping rewards (and I get $40).
    • Money is cashed out via gift cards. They just added Walmart as an option, so that's the one I choose!

7. Dosh

  • Best For: Automatic cash back at local shops, restaurants, hotels
  • How it saves you: Link a credit/debit card, shop at partner stores, and get cash back automatically; no receipt scans needed.
  • Why it’s handy: Works in the background—get rewards even if you forget to check the app, especially for local businesses.​

Other Notables:

  • Receipt Hog, Shopkick, CoinOut, Drop: Good for miscellaneous scanning/shopping (smaller payouts but stackable).
  • Rocket Money, Cleo, Digit: More personal-budgeting and subscription-canceling apps—save money, but not through cash-back.
  • For best savings: Most users stack Ibotta, Fetch, and either Upside or Rakuten—each covers unique spending categories with minimal overlap and real rewards.​​

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