We love moneymakers, even more than we love freebies. Moneymakers are transactions that make you more money than you pay.
For example, if you buy a box of pasta from Target for $2.00 with a store coupon for $1.50 off, and then use a rebate for $1.00 back from an app like Ibotta, you’ll get a $0.50 moneymaker. Cha-ching! Read on for tips and tricks:
1. Find moneymakers at stores that allow a coupon’s value to exceed an item’s price.
Stores like Walmart will let you use coupons that are worth more than the product and put the leftover discount toward your purchase total.
2. Walmart will even give you cash back when a coupon is worth more than the product.
If your coupon is worth more than the product you’re buying, Walmart will apply the remainder of the coupon’s value to your transaction total. Best part? If you’re only buying that one product, Walmart will give you the rest of the coupon’s value in cash.
For example, if I bought a candy bar on sale for $0.80 and had a coupon for $1.00 off, I would receive $0.20 back right away in change.
3. Sweeten the deal by using rebate apps on top of sale prices and discounts.
Make a coupon deal even sweeter by using a cash-back rebate-app offer on top of your already discounted purchases.
Ibotta, Fetch Rewards and Checkout 51 are all great apps for this and are pretty easy to use. Find rebates in the app for products you’re going to buy, and scan your receipt to earn rewards!
RELATED: Your Ultimate Guide to Rebate Apps
4. Combine store coupons, manufacturer coupons, rebates and loyalty programs to find moneymakers.
The easiest way to make money with coupons is by combining them with other coupons or using rebates. You can combine manufacturer coupons, store coupons, and rebate offers on one item but can’t have two of the same coupon per item.
For example, this week we saw a deal at Walgreens for BIC razors using coupons, sale price and the loyalty program. Here’s the deal:
Bought 2 Bic Comfort 3 Disposable Razors $4.59, regular price
Buy one get one 50% off through 4/27
Buy 2, receive 4,000 Balance Rewards Points through 4/27
Used one $3.00/1 – BIC Silky Touch, Comfort 3, Single or Twin Blade Disposable Razor Pack, Walgreens L2C Coupon (exp 4/29) (walgreens.com)
Or $3.00/1 – Bic Peelie Coupon
And used one $2.00/1 – Bic 3 or Comfort 3 Disposable Razors, limit 2 (shopbic.com)
Paid $1.89, received 4,000 Balance Rewards Points ($4.00)
Final Price: $2.11 Moneymaker
5. The best places to make money are drugstores.
The majority of the moneymaker deals we post are from stores like Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid because of their reward programs. For example, at CVS you can earn ExtraBucks when you buy certain products during their promotions. You get 2% of your purchase back in ExtraBucks at the end of each quarter.
Recently we found a moneymaker from CVS that looked like this:
Bought 2 Almay Quad Eyeshadows $7.29, regular price
Spend $12.00, receive $4.00 ExtraBucks through 5/4, limit 1
Used $3.00/$12.00 – Cosmetics Purchase, CVS Coupon from CVS ExtraCare Coupon Center Week of 4/28
And used two $2.00/1 – Almay Eyeshadow from SS 4/7
And used one $4.00/1 – Almay Cosmetics, CVS Coupon from CVS ExtraCare Coupon Center Week of 4/28
Paid $3.58, received $4.00 ExtraBucks
Final Price: $0.42 Moneymaker
6. It’s illegal to sell your coupons — DON’T DO IT.
There may not be a direct criminal penalty involved in selling or buying coupons, but doing so puts you and the buyer at risk for potential litigation for violating the “nontransferability” clause printed on all coupons distributed in the U.S.
If you have more coupons than you can use but can’t bear to toss them, give them to your friends to use so they don’t go to waste!
RELATED: 6 Things You Need to Know About Expired Coupons
7. Technically, it’s not illegal to sell your stockpile — but we don’t recommend it.
While there is no law against it, there are ways of getting in trouble. For instance, if your products are expired or you use the brand logo to advertise your sales, you could be sued. It’s better to just avoid it altogether.
If you have more stuff than you need, donate it to your local shelter or charity instead!
8. Moneymakers are possible in retail — but way more likely in grocery.
We see moneymaking deals in grocery all the time — on shampoo, toothpaste and razors — but when it comes to retail, it’s pretty rare. Things like clothes, toys and decor are almost never moneymakers.
In the past month, we saw just one moneymaker for a $6.99 Camelback water bottle from Sierra Trading Post with a TopCashback offer for $12.94 back, making the water bottle a $5.95 moneymaker!
TopCashback is a site that gives users cash back on their online purchases. Newbies can usually score a great moneymaker when they sign up like $10.00 off at Sephora.
9. Some stores will give you cash back right away, others will give you credit toward future purchases, and some won’t allow moneymakers at all.
Stores like Walmart will give you physical cash back right away if your coupon exceeds the price. In this case, you really aren’t spending any money.
Some stores, like Target, will just reduce the price of the coupon down to the price of the item so you get it for free, but no moneymaker unless you use a rebate app.
Another moneymaker is the kind that gives you credit to use later on. Drugstores do this by giving you coupon rewards (like CVS ExtraBucks) that you can use in a future transaction, but you can also get them when you use rebate apps.
10. Use coupons and rebate offers on clearance items.
At Walmart, we saw Kinder Eggs on clearance for $0.36. We used an Ibotta offer for $0.50 off Kinder eggs and ended up with a $0.14 moneymaker!
11. The easiest way to make money with coupons is on our Moneymaker deals page.
We post all the great moneymaker deals and how to get them so you have a step-by-step guide. There are usually tons of deals on toothpaste, razors, shampoo, conditioner and over-the-counter medicines. We include all the coupons and apps you’ll need so you don’t have to do any of the searching.
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