(I had another post planned for today but my computer ate it. I’m might be crying a little bit about this since it had some fun, free downloads that I now have to recreate in photoshop. Le sigh. So I’m posting this instead, because I think it will at least be helpful come Black Friday.)
I use the free app SHOPKICK all the time. The app lets you earn “kicks” which are basically points that you can trade in for gift cards. Once you earn a certain amount of points, you can trade them in for gift cards to places of your choice, like Target or Starbucks.
So, here is how to use the Shopkick app: You earn “kicks” just by walking into a location! For example, I turn on my app before I go into Target and I get a certain amount of kicks just for walking in the store (normally about 35 but sometimes they have walk-in specials in the hundreds, especially around holidays!)
You can earn additional kicks by scanning items with your phone. The app will show you three or four products in the store you are in. Each one is worth a set amount of kicks, say 50. You just walk up to the item and point your phone at the barcode and it adds kicks to your balance!
Plus, when you open the app you’ll have access to special mobile coupons for the store you are in. There are always high-value coupons for things I need and lots of times for things I don’t so much need but want- several times this month there have been Buy One Get One Free coupons for drinks at the Starbucks inside Target.
It only takes 500 kicks to earn a $2 Target gift card and I’ve earned several of those already in the past month just from walking in places and scanning items. Scanning the items is easy because I’m already shopping and your kicks are cumulative- I can earn 60 kicks at Best Buy but still use them towards whatever gift card I want. And you can get high dollar gift cards too, which makes it a great way to shop for gifts on a budget.
You can also earn kicks by sharing with your friends, so whenever I redeem a gift card I allow the app to post about it to my facebook wall. Or I write a post like this where I tell you about this cool app and use my referral link in case you decide to sign up. I found out about it from one of my friends posting on their facebook and I was like “Hi, I WANT FREE TARGET GIFT CARDS TOO!” and then they told me it was a free app.
And then I was all “I hate apps. I don’t like to use them. I use maybe four apps and one of them is for email and the other is Super Why. I answer the call to friends in need. What do you mean you don’t know what I am talking about. Who doesn’t know the Super Why theme song?” But they persuaded me that I would love it and they were totally right.
I’ll be honest: It feels a little Minority Report-ish when it says “Hello Kayla Aimee!” as I walk in a store. But then I hand my phone for the cashier to scan all my coupons and gift cards and I sort of forget about that because I’m busy thinking about all the free stuff I just got.
Shopkick is now topping my list of Favorite Free Ways To Earn Free Money. I always check my shopkicks app before we go inside somewhere now so that I can earn kicks. Like, I earn them for walking into CVS, which is somewhere I am going anyways so why not, right?
Anyhow, you can go here to download Shopkick for free to your phone – My mom has hers on her iPhone and I have an android and it works great on both! Seriously y’all, I literally just turn the app on before I go into any store and I earn a gift card every week. It’s a huge savings benefit.
(If you are like me and love all things frugal and free, here are some other posts you might like: Earning Cash Back With Ebates – my favorite for online shopping, How I Use Swagbucks To Buy Free Stuff, and The Big List Of Birthday Freebies!)
