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Save Money with Shopkick

May 17, 2021 By: Chelsea Riedy5 Comments

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Welcome back! Be sure to check out my Email Newsletter. Thanks for visiting!

Hi there! My name is Chelsea and I’ve been around the blog behind the scenes as Steph’s virtual assistant for over two years. My husband, Nate, and I have been married for 11 years in June, have a 4-year-old bio daughter named Everly, and are in the process of adopting a teenager through the foster care system. S is 16 in July and we hope to finalize the adoption over the summer. Steph and Eddie have been our biggest cheerleaders and an incredible resource as we venture down this path that the Giese family has been on for over a decade.

Chelsea's Family

I met Steph through our old church and the connection was instant. I’m sure this is what draws so many of you to Steph, but her thoughtful approach to tricky topics, boldness to stand up for what is right, and willingness to change her beliefs when she learns something new are qualities I admire in a friend. As Steph’s virtual assistant, part of my job is to read through old posts and create graphics for her blog entries from the early days of her writing. It’s wild to see how her views (and kids!) have changed over the years.

While working through older posts, I came across a $20 couponing challenge Steph created for herself during the Extreme Couponing era from the TLC series. I recently started couponing and asked Steph if I could share what I’ve learned with you all. I’m a little bit obsessed. My husband says that it’s become a personality trait and I’m just going to own it. I really can’t get over the fact that I am getting brand-name stuff for FREE and even making money by buying things my family needs. It’s kind of insane when you think about it. I’m starting a series for my favorite apps and stores and I’m starting today off with Shopkick because one of the deals available right now is just TOO GOOD. I talk in CAPS LOCK a lot when it comes to saving money. Sorry, can’t help it.

Shopkick is a free app. You earn points four ways with the app and those points turn into gift cards. You have a huge selection of options for gift cards but I always pick Paypal. I want that money right back in my bank account where it belongs, thank you very much.

Save Money With Shopkick

1 point =.$004. 250 points=$1.00. That’s helpful to keep in mind as you shop so you can work towards a payout amount. For Paypal, you need 2,550 points to cash out, which is $10. The app also has a $25 Paypal cashout which is 6,300 kicks.

Save Money With Shopkick

You can earn points in 4 ways:

  1. Walk-in Kicks: Turn your Bluetooth on for the app during setup. Some stores offer walk-in kicks. When you enter the store, you can automatically get 10 to 100 kicks when the app is open for that store. Not every store has this option. Target, Walmart, CVS, Walmart, Carters, and Marshall’s are some of the stores that do and usually offer the walk-in points around one time per week so you can’t walk in and out of the store over and over again to rack up points.
  2. Scan Kicks: This is one of my favorite options. You don’t have to buy anything, you simply scan the items they have on the app that day. Today at Target, I scanned Clorox for 40 points, Twix for 25 kick, People magazine for 30, Us Weekly for 20, Magnolia magazine for 15, Infuse cleaning products for 25, and a bunch of Grove Collaborative products it had for 20 kicks each. Some days (like today), I’ll scan to reach a cash-out amount. I earned 6,000 points through something I bought (keep reading for the details!) and needed 300 more kicks to meet the $25 Paypal cash out threshold. Other times, I’ll scan enough points to make up for what a coupon didn’t cover on another deal so I can say I didn’t spend any money on it. A few weeks back I got an amazing deal on 9 Elements bathroom spray and I had to pay $.77 out of pocket. Even though the deal wasn’t with Shopkick, I scanned enough things to add $.77 cents in points to my Shopkick account so I could call the purchase a wash.
  3. Receipt Kicks: Shopkick offers points for buying products listed on the app for that particular store. Some of the current offers at Target right now on the app are 200 ($.80) kicks on Heinz Ketchup, 250 ($1) kicks on fresh blueberries (any brand), 250 kicks ($1) on Carter’s Baby clothes, and 450 ($1.80) kicks on Tidy Cats. Where the real magic is though, is in the bundles. For buying specific sets of items, you get bonus kicks which often make the products totally free or even a moneymaker (MM)! Check out the example below for an AMAZING deal on Grove Collaborative products where you will MAKE MONEY!
  4. Discover Kicks: These don’t add up to much. On the app, click on the book icon at the bottom right labeled Discover. You can often watch videos for 1 to 10 kicks. Nothing too exciting.

Okay, so let’s look at an actual deal you can do TODAY and make money! Yep, you read that correctly. You are going to make money! Finish this post and then RUN to Target. It’s that good.

Save Money With Shopkick

Target currently has Grove Collaborative cleaning products on sale: buy the cleaning solution and get a reusable glass container for free. Target’s deal expires May 22, 2021.

Here’s the Breakdown:

  • Buy Ultimate Dish Soap for $4.99, get a Dish Soap Dispenser for free ($14.99 value)
  • Buy Multi-Purpose Cleaner for $6.99, get a Reusable Cleaning Glass Spray Bottle ($14.99 value)
  • Buy Hydrating Hand Soap for $4.99, get a Hand Soap Dispenser free ($13.99 value)

The scents don’t matter. This is what I purchased.

Save Money With Shopkick

You don’t need to do anything at Target to get this deal. Bring all 6 items to the checkout and it will deduct automatically. The full retail value of all 6 products is $61 but you will only pay $18 out of pocket (oop) at checkout or $17 if using a Target Red Card.

Save Money With Shopkick

After purchasing, open up your Shopkick app and click on Target. Click the circle in the center of the screen labeled Receipt. Select all three Grove Collaborative bundles at the top, each of them is worth 2,000 kicks. Bundle deals always appear first. You can buy just 1 or 2 of the bundles. You don’t have to do all 3 bundles, but you must match the cleaner with the container for the rebate to work on Shopkick and for the freebie to work at the checkout at Target. Then click the blue button that at the bottom that says Claim 6,000 Kicks which is equal to $24! You will be prompted to take a picture of your receipt and then click submit. That means these sustainable products cost you -$6 or -$7 with a Red Card. Shopkick and Grove Collaborative paid YOU money to take THEIR products! To cash out for a $25 Paypal gift card, you’ll need an additional 300 points scanned in stores. If you sign up with my promo code JOY625250 and either complete a walk-in, scan, or earn 10 kicks, you’ll get 250 kicks.

You should receive your kicks within 48 hours. For this deal, I actually got the kicks added to my account within a few hours and THE OFFER RESET!!! That means I was able to do it again! So I went back to Target and did the whole thing over again and got double the products and double the cashback! You never know when the offer will disappear from Shopkick so when you see an offer you want, buy it quickly and scan the receipts right away.

Save Money With Shopkick

Shopkick Tips:

  • Scan the products in the store for receipt/bundle offers to make sure that the product matches the offer.
  • Often times the offer may exclude a specific product (size, flavor, scent, etc) so pay attention to the offer details to make sure you find one that qualifies.
  • Look for bundles to get extra bonuses!
  • Make sure your Bluetooth is on for walk-in kicks.
  • Scan kicks reset every few days so you can scan products again. In the beginning, it may take you longer to find the products in the store to scan them but you’ll become an expert on the aisles of your favorite stores very quickly. The whole point of Shopkick is for you to be aware of new or interesting products and have you learn about them by visiting them in stores.
  • You CAN combine Shopkick deals with store digital coupons, paper coupons, and other rebate apps to get the most savings!
  • Offers can occasionally reset (like the Grove deal) so you can get it again or it may reset with a lower amount of kicks. You can change the gift card type and amount any time before redeeming it.
  • Multiply the number of kicks by .004 to figure out how much cashback it is worth.
  • Remember this is a rebate app. You will pay for the products out of pocket and ten receive cash back after scanning the coupons.

I don’t buy things we don’t need. I only do Shopkick offers things that will be free, a moneymaker, or under $.50 and I make sure I scan enough things in store to cover any remaining cost.

Some things I’ve gotten from Shopkick since I downloaded the app are hair ties, bobby pins, cleaning supplies, ketchup, BBQ sauce, trash bags, body wash, shampoo, cereal, hand sanitizer, face masks, and more! I’ve gotten $182 back through Paypal since I started using Shopkick.

Save Money With Shopkick

Keep an eye on your kicks activity by clicking on the white bell icon in the top right corner. This will show your past activity and what offers are pending.

If for some reason an offer doesn’t redeem correctly, you can submit a help ticket. Click on the white person icon on the top left corner. Scroll down and select Questions and Support. Scroll all the way to the bottom and click the blue Email Us button. Shopkick is great about correcting missing scans and adding them to your account.

Save Money With Shopkick

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below or on Steph’s Facebook page. Use code JOY625250 or click here to download Shopkick. I’ll be back soon with more apps and ways to save. And let me know if you score the amazing Grove Collaborative deals!

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My Top 5 Favorite Things From Amazon, as a Mom of Five

April 14, 2021 By: Stephaniecomment

I love getting recommendations from other moms about products they love because I know if a fellow mom gives her stamp of approval I will be able to trust those things to work and not be a waste of my time and money. I hope you love learning about new things from other moms, too!

If you’re new to the blog, welcome! My name is Steph and I am a mother of five. Right now our kids range in age from 9-14. I would love to share some of my favorite things from Amazon with you today, and for your convenience, I’m including my affiliate links to take you straight to the products I’m talking about. (Please note that if you purchase through my links I do earn a small commission that helps to pay for the costs of maintaining my website.) Everything I’m sharing today is under $100 and I do personally own and recommend all of these products. These are the things that make my life easier every day. Let’s get started!

5 Mom Approved Amazon Products

My Favorite Fitness Watch, $35

I am a big fan of a smart watch. I don’t want to be tied to my phone screen all day, but with kids in four different schools, I need to be reachable. I love that I can see the time, track my steps, monitor my sleep or heart rate, and the watch lets me know when I’m getting a phone call or text. I’ve had a more expensive Fitness watch in the past, but I LOVE my Yamay Smart Watch Fitness Tracker. It’s only $35, which is super affordable for a smart watch, and it does almost anything my much more expensive tracker used to do for me. Plus it has lasted twice as long as my previous name-brand tracker did! The only downside is that I cannot connect to group challenges with my friends the same way other watches do, but honestly I’m more of a solo exerciser anyway, so I’m completely fine with that.

Stacking Storage Drawers, $29

This might be the kind of thing only moms get excited about, but I am obsessed with these stacking storage drawers. They are small enough to fit in tight places like under a bed or in a kitchen cabinet, but big enough to hold full-sized bottles of bathroom products. We have several sets of them in our house. We use them to store socks and underwear in the closets so we don’t have to use large dressers in small bedrooms, we have them under the sink in our master bedroom, and they fit under the beds in the younger girls’ room. They are great for storing hair products, craft supplies, in a linen closet, in a garage…there are so many ways to use them.

Divided Lazy Susans, 2 for $22

These five- compartment lazy susans are perfect for our family because we have five kids. We keep one under the kids’ bathroom sink so that each kid has their own compartment for a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, etc. It keeps the counter clear and the toothbrushes hidden away from any flying bathroom germs. We also use one in our art area to store crayons, pencils, markers, gluesticks, and colored pencils. They would be great in a pantry or refrigerator as well for holding snacks like granola bars or raisin boxes and making lunch boxes easy to pack.

The Best Cordless Vacuum I’ve Found, $90

I have owned so many vacuums over the past few years, but for some reason I usually have horrible luck. I have owned the much more expensive fancy brand, but honestly this cordless vacuum is my absolute favorite. It works just as well as the pricey brands (sometimes better), it has a built-in dust buster, the charge lasts a long time, there is a light on the front to see in dark spaces like closets and under beds, it’s quieter than other vacuums so it doesn’t bother our dog or kids with sensory concerns as much, and it’s light enough for the kids to use by themselves. Plus, it costs less than $100, which is about 1/4 the cost of some other brands. If you’ve been on the fence about investing in a new vacuum, this one is definitely worth a try!

Grown-Up Caboodles, $60

I remember being so jealous of my friend’s Caboodles case as a little girl. Now we actually do have a few of the cheaper plastic Caboodles cases for the kids, which are great for storing Barbies and LOL dolls. But I wanted this grown-up version for myself. I keep my all of my makeup on top and my nail polishes on the bottom. I love that the train case style looks sophisticated enough to leave out on the dresser and it helps me contain all my products in one place, plus it’s easy to grab and have everything with me when we travel.

What else do you love from Amazon? Let me know if you own any of these products or if you decide to try them!

Stick around because you might also like learning how we go on affordable vacations as a large family.

I’ve also got another round-up of 5 great products for kids with sensory issues. We’ve navigated helping our son with sensory issues for over a decade and these are things we’ve used and loved.

A mom shares 5 products that have helped her son with sensory processing issues

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Affordable Vacation Ideas for Large Families

April 6, 2021 By: Stephanie1 Comment

Are you looking for affordable vacation ideas? I know I always am! We have five children, so we understand how expensive a vacation can be. Our family of 7 is too large to fit in a typical hotel room, so when we vacation we have to either reserve two rooms or rent a house whenever we go away. That means we don’t go away often! But when we do, we travel on a budget, like the time our family went to Disney on a dime. It can also be really tricky to go on overnight stays when you have children with sensory concerns or mobility issues. 

10 Vacation Tips for Large Families

But even with our family size and limitations, we do take lots of trips and do tons of fun activities with our kids! Here are our top tips for how to make vacation days accessible and affordable for large families and families raising children with special needs. 

How to Vacation on a Budget With a Large Family

*Disclaimer: Because of COVID-19, some of these options may still be more limited at the time of this publishing, but you can always pin this post and save it for later!

Take advantage of local options. Pretend you are a tourist in your own city. There are lots of things to do and see and many of them might even be free! 

Think parks. Our family loves to take advantage of state and national parks. A few years ago we couldn’t afford to go on a beach vacation, so instead, we packed a picnic and drove about 45 minutes to a local state park. The kids spent all day swimming at the beach area around a lake and Eddie brought his fishing gear. We went on a Saturday so we didn’t even have to take any days off work. Other than the gas to get there (and possibly a small gate fee?), we didn’t spend any money at all. If you have a fourth-grader, you can print a family pass to enter all National Parks for free for an entire year!

family beach trip at a state park

If you do want to spend a few days away, lots of state parks offer campsites or even cabin rentals. Cabins are great for our family because they are very affordable and are meant for large groups, so we can fit our entire crew, and they have their own bathrooms and usually have air conditioning. 

Do shorter trips. We are fortunate that my husband has a very flexible work schedule. Often he will work longer days Monday through Thursday in the summer to make sure he can have 8 hours off on a Friday without needing to actually take any days off. Throughout our marriage, we’ve taken lots of 3-day mini-vacations this way, which is much less expensive than longer trips. 

We also do lots of day trips. Our home in Pennsylvania was about 4 hours from the closest beach. Although it was a long drive, there were several times when we drove to the Jersey Shore and back in one Saturday so we didn’t have to pay for a hotel or take time away from work. We would leave around 6 am, pack a cooler full of food, and get to the beach around 10 am. We spent the day on the sand and playing in the ocean, and would head out around dinnertime. The kids would usually fall asleep in the car from exhaustion. It only cost the price of a tank of gas and parking. 

Where can you drive? Usually, with a large family, driving is the most economical way to get to your vacation spot. Where can you drive on one tank of gas? Maybe there are cool museums, or historical sites, or waterfalls. Maybe you have relatives to visit. Consider crossing state lines and even more possibilities will open. I have a few posts here on the blog documenting all the free or affordable things we did when we lived in the York/Lancaster, PA area. The two pictures below are of our family at Chocolate World and the petting zoo at Long’s Park, both of which are completely free. 

hershey's chocolate world

Long's Park petting zoo

RV Parks are a great option for affordable housing as well. We have stayed at the Tropical Palms in Orlando and Spring Gulch in Lancaster, PA. You do not have to own an RV to stay at either of those resorts (although they do have campgrounds). We are not big fans of camping, but we love RV resorts with the option to stay in rental houses. It’s usually more affordable than a hotel and you have an entire house to yourself with so many kid-friendly activities just outside the door within walking distance. We took advantage of the on-site amenities like pools, mini-golf, playgrounds, sports courts, concerts, fishing, etc. You can bring your own food and not have to spend any additional money on entertainment. 

tropical palms resort in orlando

Other tips:

One of my favorite family-friendly travel tips is to stop at a grocery store instead of a rest area when you need a break. The store will most likely be cleaner, safer, have everything you need (bathrooms included), and it is much more affordable and healthy to pick up a bunch of bananas and a bag of pretzels at a grocery store than to buy a lot of over-priced gas station snacks. You can keep a large drink cooler in the back of your vehicle and fill it with a bag of ice from the store. It’s much cheaper to buy a bag of ice than drinks for our entire family. That way the ice melts as you go about your journey and you have plenty of cold water available for refilling water bottles.

On long trips we give each of the kids their own brown paper lunch bag filled to the brim with snacks and treats. Those are their treats for the entire journey, so they don’t even ask to buy more when we stop for gas.

We also don’t use suitcases for our children’s clothes when we are on long car trips. We put them together in a large storage tote, separated with pieces of cardboard I cut from Amazon delivery boxes. The storage tub takes up less space than several suitcases, is only one thing to load/unload, and we can easily stack a cooler on top of it in the trunk of our minivan.

If you have any other tips, I’d love to see them in the comments below!

In the meantime, check out these other posts on the blog for more family-friendly affordable vacation ideas!

How to go to Disney on a Budget
Free Summer Activities for Kids

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Welcome! I’m Steph.

This is a little corner of the internet we like to fill with honesty, heart, and humor. Read More…

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Binkies and Briefcases with Stephanie Giese

Binkies and Briefcases with Stephanie Giese

That work/life balance must be hiding here somewhere, between the binkies and the briefcases.

Binkies and Briefcases with Stephanie Giese

8 months ago

Binkies and Briefcases with Stephanie Giese
Very proud of my friend Meredith Ethington for her new book! Motherhood as it relates to mental health and the mental load is a topic that I wish there had been more people talking about when I was a young mom. I’m thankful for those who are writing boldly and bravely about it now, with the vulnerability and candor this topic needs. You can pre-order your copy of The Mother Load now and it will arrive this spring. ... See MoreSee Less

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Binkies and Briefcases with Stephanie Giese

8 months ago

Binkies and Briefcases with Stephanie Giese
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