How To Save Money On Groceries While Living Full Time In An RV (No Coupon Clipping Necessary)

Posted in Living Thrifty on May 17, 2015 Last Updated on August 29, 2016

Living on the road full time has its challenges. Saving money on groceries is one of them. It isn’t easy to find coupons in every new town you visit. It is even harder to match them to stores when you are unfamiliar with the area. Even if you are a pro couponer, while on the road, these apps will help you save even more money. More money means going to more amazing places. What RVer doesn’t want that?

I have spent time over the last month downloading and testing many rebate and money saving phone apps. Some are fantastic and others were just not too helpful. Here are the apps that work well for me and why I like each app. All of the apps I cover here are free for Andriod and Iphone users. By signing up with our referral code we get some change to help keep our site going. Most of these apps give YOU a bonus for signing up as a referral as well. Some give up to 2 dollars just for signing up. Enough talk. On to the list!

Receive 2 dollars when you redeem your first rebate within 10 days of signing up!

This is by far my favorite money saving app. Ibotta is incredibly easy to use. In just seconds you can click on the available rebate, complete the task, and earn cash money. This app has rebates on everything from toothpaste, to bananas, to beer and liquor, to gift cards for your favorite retailers. I eat mostly fresh foods and love that this app gives you “any brand” rebates. That means many of the rebates are on any brand of onions, milk, salad, OJ, meat, ice cream, etc. I get rebates on a weekly basis for a ton of the veggies, dairy, and meat that I already regularly buy. My other favorite type of rebate on Ibotta is the BEER and LIQUOR rebates. Those rebates are high dollar often as high as 6 dollars off a 12 pack or 4 dollars off brands of Liquor. These alcohol rebates alone have saved/made me over 25 dollars this month. The third thing I like about IBOTTA is the ability to stack some offers. For example this week there was a “ANY BRAND” .30 cents off cereal and a 1.00 off Enjoy Life Crunchy Flax Cereal. I was able to use both rebates for a total of 1.30 off of a product I already buy on a regular basis. With IBOTTA you can transfer your balance to your Paypal or vimeo account or get Amazon, Walmart, or other gift cards with it. You only need to rack up 10 dollars before you can transfer it too. There are multiple bonuses each month that will give you even more cash.

You can automatically receive 2 dollars when you sign up using my referral link and redeem your first rebate within the first 10 days after sign up.

You can download the Ibotta app here.

OR

Download it straight from the Google Play Store or App Store and use referral code 6ef7zq

This app is great for those who shop often at specialty stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and World Market. Most of the products are things you won’t find in a Walmart or local grocery store. I do not shop at high end stores, but this app is still very valuable to me. I use the portion of the app called Shrink Exclusives. I regularly save on “any brand” milk, eggs, and produce using this feature. All of the apps I am posting about today have the ability to overlap on rebates. If you see for example 20 cents off on bananas on one app and 30 cents off of bananas on another app you may use both rebates on the same purchase. That can often get you completely free products. Sometimes you can even end up with a free product and extra money left over.

You can download shrink here. Don’t forget to use referral code OOCHPR in the Shrink Exclusive section of the app for exclusive deals!

This App works in a really neat way. Along with having “any brand” rebates, it also has “one or many” rebates. These come in handy. Example: Save 5 dollars when you buy 25 dollars worth of Dixie Brand products. If you buy 25 dollars worth of Dixie Brand products in one shopping trip that awesome, but most people don’t need that much at once. The beauty of “one or many” rebates is you usually have 30 days to reach that 25 dollar mark. You just scan in your receipts that have qualifying items and when you reach the 25 dollar mark your rebate is credited to your account.

You can download Savingstar here.

Shopmium

This app does not have a ton of rebates, but it is still a great one to have in your money saving arsenal. Any money that I can save while on the road in my RV is more money to explore the country. This app often has free full sized products on rebate. Also it has great rebates that once again overlap the other apps rebates saving you even more money on each shopping trip.

Remember those free full sized products I just told you about? By signing up through my referral link you will receive a free Lindt Chocolate Bar any flavor.

You can sign up for Shopmium here for Android and here for IPhone don’t forget to use the FREE candy bar code kcuchfmm!

I like this app because most of the rebates are over a dollar saved per item. They are also one of the apps that has BEER and soda rebates. Those babies really add up. Often I will save 6 dollars on a 12 pack of Hieneken using Ibotta and save 3 dollars more on the same purchase using the snap app. That makes a 12 pack around 3 or 4 dollars!

You can download SNAP by Groupon here. Make sure to use referral code fa8cb9886f97f573

This app has some fun and unique features. There are everyday essential rebates on things like “any brand” cereal, milk, etc. They also have short videos like commercials you can watch to make about 50 cents each. You may watch each video once per day. I usually start one and leave the volume off on my phone so I don’t really have to hear a commercial blaring at me. The videos are all under 30 seconds so it’s is not much of a time investment to make some change. That change really adds up quickly too!

You can download Jingit here. Make sure you use referral code 338740

This app runs on the same principle as Receipt Pal does. You snap photos of your receipts to earn gift cards. Receipt Hog is really fun to use. You also earn spins on the Receipt Hog slot machine to earn bonus points towards gift cards. I have only been using this app for about 2 weeks so I have not earned any money, but I am halfway to getting a 5 dollar amazon gift card which isn’t too shabby of a prize for doing something quick and enjoyable.

You can download Receipt Hog here. By using referral code kem80940 Receipt Hog starts you out with up to 10 free spins on the Receipt Hog slot machine!

Receipt Pal

After IBOTTA this is my favorite money making app. All you need to do to make money is snap a photo of your receipts. Each receipt earns you points towards gift cards and entries into weekly drawings for a 250 dollars git card as well. I earned a 5 dollar amazon gift card my first week of using this app. That’s not bad considering how little effort it takes to use.

Checkout 51

Checkout 51 is a great supplement to IBOTTA. Checkout 51 often has rebates that overlap IBOTTA and many of the other apps I will tell you about in this post. You can use the same rebate on the same shopping trip on multiple apps to save even more money. For example this week I can save .40 cents on bell peppers on IBOTTA and another .25 cents on bell peppers on Checkout 51. There are no amount limits for the produce or “any brand” rebates. This means you can buy as little as one pepper and save .65 cents total. I often get free items this way. Also you don’t need to fill your fridge with just one item to save a little money.

As rvers we often shop online and have items shipped ahead of us to our next location. Be on the look out for part 2 of this series where I show you which apps will save you the most money on your online purchases.

If you have any favorite money saving apps, tips, or just want to say hello, please leave a comment.

About Laurie Clark