Using SavingStar to Boost Our Grocery Budget

SavingStar is mainly an app to earn cashback when you buy the items featured in their grocery offers. I did recently realize that they also have a way to earn cashback for online shopping, but there are only a few places and the only one I imagine myself using anytime would be American Airlines. While I haven't used the online shopping part of SavingStar before, if you do use those places it seems to offer one of the best percentages cashback for those places.

Depending on the store, to get cashback you either link your loyalty card or upload the receipt. The only linked card I've used is for CVS and the cashback is usually in my account within 48 hours. They do sometimes take awhile to process receipts, but I've never had an issue with getting credit even when it's processed after the offer expires as long as I submit before the offer expires.

The grocery offers in SavingStar typically include one healthy offer a week, various product offers that mostly update at the beginning of the month, and some one or many brand offers. They used to have a freebie offer almost every weekend, but it now seems to be only once a month if at all. I think the healthy offers have also been missing some weeks, but most recently they seem to be back to every week (they change on Tuesdays).

The healthy offers vary to sometimes be vegetables and sometimes fruit. We rarely take advantage of these because they tend not to be things we use or something else is on sale that makes it more worthwhile to get that instead.

The regular offers are the ones we use the most. Almost every month they have some Yoplait, General Mills, and Pillsbury offers. Our favorite are the Pillsbury ones as almost every month we manage to get some crescent rolls for pretty much free when we match a sale with a newspaper or printed coupon and then redeem the offer on SavingStar.

Sometimes the One or Many offers are useful, although a lot of times they just aren't worth it for us. This is partly because they are things we don't buy, but also it seems to be that the brands they are for end up not being the ones on sale during that offer period. A lot of times we only end up halfway to them and I rarely buy stuff to finish it off unless it's a good deal on those items anyways. They really can make the products an okay deal on their own though as it does tend to be a good amount back such as $3 when you spend $12 or $4 to $5 when you spend $20.

My main problem with the One or Many offers, though, is that they rarely seem to process the receipt to give you the exact credit of what you spent. Sometimes it ends up being more than what you paid, but sometimes it ends up giving you credit for less than what you paid and I just don't care to even try to contact them so I have no idea if they have good customer service to fix if you try or not.

Overall SavingStar is probably my favorite of the cashback apps. The amount of offers does tend to be limited, but there are consistently ones on things we buy anyways. Also, it's nice that the cashout minimum is $5, which is why it's my favorite ever since Ibotta went to a $20 minimum.

Safeway Shopping Trip 3/3/16

Safeway (Alexandria, VA)

• Mott's Fruit Snacks - $1.50
• J4U Coupon Price $2.50
• $0.50 off 1 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks (doubled to $1)
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.50)
• SavingStar Rebate Eligible ($0.50)
• Sparkling Ice 12-pack - $13.99
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($2)
• Arm & Hammer Fridge-n-Freezer x2 - $1.29 each
• Chef Boyardee - $1
• Sale Price 
• Nestle Pure Life Exotics 8-pack - $3.49
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($1.25)
• Mission Tortillas 10ct - $2.18
• J4U Personalized Price
• Snyder's Pretzels - $2.80
• J4U Personalized Price
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.75)
• Pillsbury Crescent Rolls 4ct x2 - $0.50 each
• Sale Price $1
• $1 off 2 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks
• SavingStar Rebate Eligible ($1 when you buy 2)
• Lucerne Creamer 32oz - $2.50
• Sale Price
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.25 any brand Cream or Creamer)
• Lucerne Chocolate Milk 12oz - $1.19
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.25 any brand Flavored Milk)
• Eggo Waffles - $1.88
• J4U Coupon Price
• Totino's Pizza Rolls 40ct x2 - $1.74 each
• J4U Coupon Price $2.49
• $0.75 off 2 from 1/24 Smartsource (doubled to $1.50)
• New York Texas Toast - $2
• Sale Price $3
• $0.50 off 1 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks (I had this printed from awhile back and was expiring soon. I don't think it's currently available)
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.75)
• Yoplait Plenti Yogurt - $0.30
• Sale Price $1
• $0.35 off 1 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks (doubled to $0.70)
• SavingStar Rebate Eligible ($0.35)
• Foster Farms Corn Dogs 16ct - $4.99
• J4U Coupon Price

Tax: $1.21
Total Spent This Trip: $46.59
*Paid with gift card purchased from Dlyte.

Coupon Savings: $5.20
Rebate Total: $7.60

Monopoly Tickets Earned & Coupons: 7

• $0.25 off Stouffer's Homestyle Dinner (8-12oz)
• $0.25 off Jolly Time Microwave Popcorn (3 or 4 pack)
• $0.25 off Cottonelle Fresh Care Flushable Cleansing Cloths (42ct)
• $1 off Tidy Cats Scoopable Cat Litter (20lb)

Current Amount Over(+)/Under(-) Budget: +$84.87
*Only because I already bought Safeway cards for next 2 weeks.

Amazon Prime Pantry Order 3/1/16

Amazon Prime Pantry

• Trident Gum 18ct (Pack of 3) - $2.02
• Qualifies for Buy 5 Free Shipping Promo
• Ritz Reduced Fat Crackers 12.5oz - $2.50
• Qualifies for Buy 5 Free Shipping Promo
• Cadbury Easter Creme Eggs 4ct - $2.83
• Amazon Coupon for 15% off
• Qualifies for Buy 5 Free Shipping Promo
• Ritz Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches 1.38oz (Pack of 8) - $2.78
• Qualifies for Buy 5 Free Shipping Promo
• Lay's Potato Chips Bacon Mac & Cheese - $2.59
• Qualifies for Buy 5 Free Shipping Promo

No Rush Shipping Credit: -$5.99
Tax: $0.15
Total Spent This Trip: $6.88
*Paid for with gift cards earned using AdLove, ReceiptPal, and mPoints apps.

Current Amount Over(+)/Under(-) Budget: +$90.87
*Only because I just bought $100 in Safeway cards for upcoming weeks.

I really prefer when I get $1 credits to use on music or Kindle books from selecting no rush shipping on things I buy on Amazon, but every once in awhile it's nice to get these Prime Pantry credits if you can combine it with a free shipping Prime Pantry promo. I mostly just went with the cheapest stuff this time around because nothing including were truly things we needed right now, but I did notice besides the snack food that Band-Aids were another good item to add if you need a fill-in to get to 5 cheap.

CVS Shopping Trip 2/28/16

CVS (Alexandria, VA)

• Nestle Drumsticks 4ct x3 - $3.50 each
• Sale Price
• $1 ExtraBucks when you buy 2 (Nestle Drumsticks, Haagen-Dazs pints, Skinny Cow)
• SavingStar Rebate Eligible (One or Many, $5 if you spend $30 on Nestle Frozen products by 3/3)
  

Tax: $0.24
ExtraBucks Used: $6.99
Total Spent This Trip: $4.75
*Finished off gift card earned from MyPoints and paid w/ gift card bought through MyGiftCardsPlus to earn Swagbucks

Coupon Savings: $0
ExtraBucks Earned: $1
Rebate Total: $5

Current Amount Over(+)/Under(-) Budget: -$7.13

Safeway Shopping Trip 2/25/16

Safeway (Alexandria, VA)

• Nestle Pure Life Exotics 8-pack - $3.49
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($1.25)
• Nestle Drumsticks 4ct x2 - $2.99 each
• J4U Coupon Price 
• SavingStar Rebate Eligible (One or Many, $5 if you spend $30 on Nestle Frozen products by 3/3)
  
• Jolly Time Popcorn x2 - $1 each
• Sale Price $1.50
• $1 off 2 coupon from 1/10 Smartsource
• Progresso Soup x4 - $0.74 each
• J4U Coupon Price $0.99
• $1 off 3 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.50 when you buy 2)
• Tostitos Lime Tortilla Chips - $1.99
• J4U Coupon Price
• Snyder's Pretzels - $3
• Sale Price 
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.75)
• Cascade Ice Sparkling Water x10 - $0.50 each
• J4U Coupon Price
• Runa Tea - $1.79
• Sale Price
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.50)
• Lucerne Shredded Cheese 32oz x2 - $5.99 each
• J4U Coupon Price
• Frigo Cheeseheads x2 - $3 each
• Sale Price $3.50
• $1 off 2 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks
• Bailey's Coffee Creamer 32oz - $3
• Sale Price
• Daisy Squeeze Sour Cream - $1.99
• Sale Price
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($0.50)
• Sea Cuisine Applewood Smoked Salmon - $3.99
• Sale Price $4.99
• $1 off 1 Coupon printed from Smartsource
• Driscoll Raspberries 6oz - $1.35
• J4U Personalized Coupon Price $2.85
• $0.75 off 1 from Driscoll Panel Survey (doubled to $1.50)
• Checkout 51 Rebate Eligible ($0.25)

Tax: $1.36
Total Spent This Trip: $50.90
*I would've stayed under budget if I just resisted those Tostitos. Well, and I added the Runa tea to complete the $2 Ibotta teamwork bonus for February.

Coupon Savings: $5.50
Rebate Total: $5.75 (Includes $2 from finishing February Teamwork Bonus)

Monopoly Tickets Earned & Coupons: 20

• $0.25 off Stouffer's Homestyle Dinner (8-12oz)
• $0.25 off Lysol All Purpose Cleaner (22-32oz)

Current Amount Over(+)/Under(-) Budget: -$32.13

Target Shopping Trip 2/25/16

Target (Alexandria, VA)

• Green Giant Veggies x7 - $1 each
• Sale Price
• Naked Juice 16oz - $2.50
• Sale Price
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($1)
• SeaPak Shrimp Scampi - $4.25
• Sale Price $5
• $0.75 off 1 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($1.50)
• Glade Candles x3 - ~$2.66 each
• Sale Price $2.99
• $5 Target Gift Card when you Buy 5 Spring Collection Glade or Febreze
• We always turn our Target gift cards into Disney ones for our annual trip(s).
• 5% off Glade Spring Seasonal Scents Target Cartwheel Offer
• $1 off 2 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($2 on 3)
• Febreze Small Spaces Air Freshener x2 - $2.99 & $2.24
• $0.75 off 1 Coupon printed from Coupons.com through Swagbucks

Red Card Savings: -$1.07
Tax: $0.89
Total Spent This Trip: $26.27

Coupon Savings: $2.50
Rebate Total: $4.50

Current Amount Over(+)/Under(-) Budget: -$32.13

Target Shopping Trip 2/21/16

Target (Alexandria, VA)

• Lovely Carmels - $1.49 
• Star Wars Cheez-its Single Serve Cup - $1
• SeaPak Popcorn Shrimp - $4
• Sale Price $5
• $1 off 1 Coupon from 2/7 Smartsource
• Ibotta Rebate Eligible ($1.50)
• Glade Candles and Wax Melts x5 - ~$2.57 each
• Sale Price $2.99
• $5 Target Gift Card when you Buy 5
• We always turn our Target gift cards into Disney ones for our annual trip(s).
• 5% off Glade Spring Seasonal Scents Target Cartwheel Offer
• $1.50 off 2 from 2/7 Smartsource
• Cashier would not let me use more than one Glade  coupon so I didn't get to use the $1 off 2 one I printed. This is something I've never encountered before as I've done this type of Glade gift card deal several times in the past and always used 2 to 3 different coupons.
• SavingStar Rebate Eligible (One or Many, $5 if you spend $20 by 3/13)
  

Red Card Savings: -$0.72
Tax: $0.72
Total Spent This Trip: $19.34

Coupon Savings: $2.5
Rebate Total: $6.50

Current Amount Over(+)/Under(-) Budget: -$33.25