Save With David - Apps and Sites to get some $$

Apps and Sites

I love to save money. If there is something that I can get off for little effort and without going out of the way, I will. As such, there are a collection of applications and sites I use to quickly find discounts.

Please note referral links may be included in this post. You are not obligated to use them and can simple Google the site/app to get to the homepage, but I would appreciate it if you do not already have an account to use them. Thank you!

Raise.com [Gift-cards]

Raise.com is fantastic utility for virtual gift-card. I have purchased thousands of dollars worth of gift-cards, never with any issues. Raise has a marketplace of gift cards from all types of retailers - AirBnB, Southwest, IKEA, and Bass Pro Shops for example. Discounts range anywhere from 1% to 25% off, with about 10% being the general safe discount. All purchase through Raise are also entitled to earn Raise Cash, which then can be applied to future purchases.

For example, I purchased $250 gift card to Wayfair.com for a entry way couch for my home. I bought this card for $250 directly through Raise, which netted me $7.50 in cash back, for about 3%. This excludes the 1.5% that CapitalOne gives me, which brings that total to 4% "rewards". I was then able to use that $7.50 towards another WayFair card for $248.42, which netted me another $7.48 in cash back.

So for retailers in which there may not be any cards available or denominations that you need, there is also Raise direct dollar purchasing. This enables you to purchase up to the exact dollar amount of gift-card for your purchase while enabling you to receive Raise cash in addition.

The one caveat that I will forewarn on is buying gift-cards that you need to immediately use. In most cases, they are issued immediately. However, for many of my larger purchases, I have had to wait up to 24 hours. This is understandable as I am generally purchasing between $200-$1,000 in gift-cards at a time for purchases and very easily triggers their fraud warning. Usually after a time period, the cards will clear and you can retrieve them in your account.

Slide (Android Application)

Slide, brought to you by the marketplace of Raise. Slide is a side venture of Raise that operates very similar to how the gift card marketplace works, except in the direct amount way. Slide enables you to generate a gift card on the spot for the exact amount you need for participating retails and receive up to 4% cash back with that purchase.

The great thing with Slide is their model; you can load your account with minimum $25 increments which grants you an immediate 1% back. From there, you can use that balance to pay for products (say for instance Chipotle or Taco Bell), and receive 4% for that purchase. The real stacker here is that you can use your Google Play account with your credit card to net another 1.5% on top of that. So for a Chipotle purchase, you can get your 1% pre-load, your 4% store card, and your 1.5% for loading with your credit card.

But wait! There's more! Some apps allow you to rack up your rewards and generally cap you at a minimum for redemption. Slide on the other hand allows you to apply your cash back purchases on new purchases, negating the need to reach any minimums.

Slide by far is one of my new favorites due to the participating retailers and coverage against other apps where the retailers are not on.

Cash App

Cash App is great for money transfers, Bitcoin, and neat cards with emoji engravings on them. But one of my favorite features is their rotating cash back retailers. When you apply for the debit card, linked to your account, you can "boost" your purchases. Taco Bell, Dominos, Subway, and Chick-Fil-A are a few to name. You simply go into the app, select your boost, apply, and use your card as you normally would. The discount is immediately applied to the price you paid, so there are no furthers steps.

Dosh

Dosh is yet another retailer based app, except is linked to your card, which makes it easy to get if you use one card consistently. There are simple ones like Jack In The Box, Papa Johns, or a sushi place near my home will automatically qualify you for. There are other retailers that you need more intervention with, such as Instacart, which relied on you launching the app from within Dosh.

Dosh's downside does come with the fact that it has a $25 withdraw minimum which can make it a bummer. However, given that I am not going out of my way to go to these retailers, it is passive for me and adds up. So far within a year of using, I have obtained the $25 to cash out. It's simply lost money now found that I don't need to think about!

Get Upside

GetUpside revolves around cash back by using participating retailers gas station to fill up. On the app, you start by linking your credit or debit card (you only need the first six and last four of the card, no more) to your account. From there, there is a map that you can see location stations that are participating stations and their discounts (generally on unleaded fuel) that they will give you. Generally it's at least 10-11 cents a gallon. There are some food places as well, but I only stick the the gas. When you find a place you want to fill up, you click to redeem the offer, drive to the station and check in. On check in, you will select the card you want to use and fill up as normal. When done, it will take anywhere between 1-3 days for your money to be deposited into your account.

From there you can redeem for any number of gift cards. I have been using it for about 3 weeks and have already cashed in $23 of gift cards. If you are driving, specially for work for as a side gig, this app is awesome! Remember to use promo code DAVID95332 on sign up to receive an extra 15 cents a gallon on your first fill up!

Closing

These are only a short list of my most used apps the generally required little to no effort. I find them helpful in my day to day and hope someone else can benefit from them as well.