Get the Shopkick App

With Shopkick, earn rewards in the form of gift cards. You earn points, or “kicks,” for items you buy, stores you enter, or even items you’re just curious about. The app analyzes your habits and rewards you for participation. You can then exchange kicks for gift cards. If you’re a Starbucks regular or a Best Buy junky, these can come in pretty handy.

Sign Up for Rewards in Store

Target, REI, Walgreens, CVS, supermarkets: all have rewards programs you can take advantage of to save and get coupons or other discounts. If you already shop at a store frequently, it’s a good idea to look into their rewards program. Many come at no cost to you, but you can earn points that accumulate into discounts on future purchases. Look beyond the basics, and check out gas station rewards and restaurants, too. 

Don’t Skip Travel Rewards

Sign up for an airline frequent flier program when you’re planning a trip. Then every time you book tickets, be sure to enter your account information at checkout. Many airlines belong to an alliance of other airlines, so even if you usually fly Alaska, you can still redeem frequent flier miles with partner airlines—like American. Sometimes you can book with a partner airline and still enter your Alaska loyalty account info when you buy the ticket, accumulating more miles in one place for future travel. 

Get Amazon Prime 

Not exactly one of the best rewards programs per se, Amazon Prime still has some pretty sweet benefits for saving money. The free shipping, for one, is pretty nice. You also sign up for a yearly subscription, which is a good way to ease your monthly bills. You can also schedule delivery of certain items, so they won’t sneak up on you and upset the rest of your budget. It’s worth looking into if you’re feeling thrifty.

Put a Rewards Card in Your Wallet

The best way to use rewards programs is to benefit from money you’ll already be spending. That way your normal expenses give you a kickback. One of the best ways to benefit from this is to sign up for a rewards credit card like the Visa Platinum Rewards from RMCU. This lets you take advantage of loyalty programs with individual companies and stack credit card rewards on top of that when you swipe it at checkout. You can get points to redeem for travel, gift cards, or cash back. 

Rewards programs like these are a great way to save money and even get some free stuff. Be careful to keep track of what you’re signing up for, and don’t forget to use loyalty programs at your favorite shops to reap some pretty awesome benefits.