First Friday Faves October 2019

This month’s faves are:

1. Ibotta App
2. Turbie Twist® Hair Towels
3. October

My first fave for October is the Ibotta app. If you’ve never heard of it let me tell you about it. The short story is that it’s an app that you use before or while you shop that gives you cash back on certain purchases. I say before or while you shop because some people use it before they go into a brick and mortar store while others can choose to shop through the app at their favorite store.

Let me try to explain the first part. First, you’ll download the app and set up an account. Once you’ve got that established you can find retailers that you like to shop at. For instance, I shop at Target, a lot. If I know I’m going there I’ll pull up the Target app (completely unrelated to Ibotta) and swipe through Cartwheel to find items I know I may buy.

When I’m finished with Cartwheel I open the Ibotta app and click on ‘Find Offers’. There are a bunch of stores they work with and they’ll be grouped by category. I click on Target and a bunch of different offers show up, kind of like the Cartwheel selection. I can scroll through the offers and if I think I may purchase one of them I click on the item to save it. For instance, one offer may save me $0.75 on a certain brand of toothpaste.

Then I go to Target and shop like I normally do. When I’m finished shopping I open the Ibotta app again and click on ‘Redeem’. You’ll be prompted to choose a store. Click on Target. You’ll then be asked if you would like to take a picture of your receipt. Lay the receipt out on a flat surface and line the edges up with the marks on your screen then take the picture. If your receipt is long (mine usually are) it will allow you to continue to add portions of the receipt until the entire thing is captured.

Once the receipt is submitted the offers you chose earlier will show up and the app will ask which ones you’d like to claim. Click on them and the money offered will be credited to your account. So in the example above, if I purchased the toothpaste and claimed the offer after the receipt was submitted I would get $0.75 back! The money you get back accumulates until you reach $20 at which time you can choose to have it sent to your PayPal or Venma account or use it to purchase gift cards.

Another way to earn is through linking your loyalty cards from supported stores. To do this you click on ‘Find Offers’ then click on Grocery. Find a store you shop at and click on it. If it’s a store that supports linking the loyalty card it will prompt you to link the card at the top of the screen. If not it will simply ask you if you want to upload a receipt. Follow the instructions on the screen when linking your card. Once the card is linked and you use it when making purchases you’ll receive cash back on the items you added prior to shopping.

The third way to save with Ibotta is by shopping through the app online. Open the app and choose the store you want to shop from. You’ll see how much you can save and if there are any exclusions. Most stores offer a saving of between 2% and 10%.

I’ve only been using the app for about a month and I’ve already gotten $7.50 back. Once I reach $20 I can choose to have that money sent to me through PayPal or Venma, use it to purchase gift cards or keep it in my Ibotta account until I’m ready to take it out.

my second october fave…

My second October fave is Turbie Twist Hair Towels. Have you used these yet? They’ve been around for years and I’ve been using them for awhile now. These are a total must have for me. I’m the kind of person who always has to wrap a towel around my hair after I wash it. Regular towels are just too big and bulky, I seriously had to balance them on my head before I got the Turbie Twist Towels.

Turbie Twists are soft, absorbent towels that are rounded to fit the back of your head snuggly while the front end is longer and tapers to allow you to twist it and fold it back. Then you slip that tail end through the elastic loop sewn onto the back of the towel above the nape of the neck. No more pulling your hair while tucking the long tail of the regular towel against your head.

I purchased my Turbie Twists from Ross Dress for Less for under $10/2 pk. They are 100% microfiber, very absorbent and machine washable. I love to use them on my short hair but they can be used on any hair length. Try them if you’d like to cut your hair drying time by a mile!

my last october fave…

My last fave for October is kind of a cheat but it is plainly that. October. I love love, love October. First of all it’s the month where the weather finally starts to cool off and becomes less humid. I love me some 70 degree days! I love when the leaves start changing colors and eventually fall to the ground. There’s nothing like walking through crunchy leaves! And pumpkins! Who doesn’t love to check out all the cool new varieties available nowadays.

Another thing I love about October is Halloween! I love all the scary movies they play around Halloween. I watch horror movies all year long but during this time of year, you don’t have to search as far and wide to find them. It’s truly a horror movie fanatic’s dream! And how about the decorations? Spiders, ghosts, vampires and witches, I Iove everything about it. I love all the creepy that goes with Halloween!

But the main reason I love October is because it’s my birth month. I think because my birthday is in October I’ve just always been partial to it. Every year my mom made our birthday cakes and she’d always make mine a Halloween themed cake. I just become very nostalgic when it comes to this time of year. Some people dread when their birthday rolls around but not me because I get to celebrate another October!