7 Ways to Make Money While Holiday Shopping

The holidays are a magical time filled with family gatherings, fun decorations, and gift-giving from the heart. But the holidays can take quite a toll on your bank account. Between family gatherings, work celebrations, and school parties, the cost can really add up. 

This year, we challenge you to shop smarter by maximizing your purchasing power through credit card benefits and shopping apps designed to reward you for your spending. Here are some proven ways to make money while knocking out your holiday shopping list.

1. Cash back credit card

During the holidays, use a credit card that earns you cash back for your purchases. Cash-back rewards usually come in the form of a statement balance. Once you’ve racked up enough rewards, you can apply them to your credit card balance and pay off some of your holiday purchases. Review any benefits your current credit cards offer or browse for a new credit card that offers better cash-back rewards. 

If you responsibly use your credit card all year round for everyday purchases and travel, you can cash in your rewards balance at the end of the year - giving you some extra financial relief during the holidays.

2. Credit card rewards

Credit cards don’t just offer rewards in the form of cash. Many credit cards offer varying reward points, special deals, discounts, travel benefits, and promotional offers. One of the highest value ways to make money using your credit card rewards is to purchase gift cards with your reward points. 

For example, you may be able to purchase a $100 gift card for only $90 worth of rewards points. So, although the different credit card rewards might not be earning you cold hard cash, they can quickly translate into great savings for additional purchases or future travel.

3. CouponCabin

CouponCabin is a shopping app that partners with over 3,500 online retailers. It allows you to earn up to 20% cash back and access exclusive coupons and deals for additional savings. You can do your holiday shopping through their app or website with a browser extension that notifies you of savings while you’re shopping online.

You can choose to cash out your balance either by PayPal, check, electronic gift card, or Chase payments. If you end up not needing that extra money, you can also choose to donate your cashback to a charity.

4. Rakuten

If you want to earn some serious cash back and take advantage of additional savings, Rakuten is a great choice. Formerly known as Ebates, Rakuten pays you up to 40% cashback for purchases made at more than 2,500 retailers. 

These stores pay Rakuten a commission for sending you to their websites, and they turn around and share that commission in the form of cash back via PayPal or check. Rakuten also makes it easy to save on your holiday shopping through coupons, daily deals, and promotional codes.

5. Ibotta

Ibotta can reduce your holiday shopping grand total in two ways: by saving you money through discount and promotional offers and by earning you cash back for online and in-store purchases. This makes it ideal if you don’t want to limit yourself to only doing online shopping. 

If you choose to shop in-store, you’ll just need to upload your receipt or link your account to participating retailers before shopping. Ibotta cashback can be withdrawn via PayPal, Venmo or various gift cards.

6. Shopkick

Shopkick is a shopping app that helps you save on purchases while earning rewards that can be redeemed for gift cards to your favorite stores, like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. You can use your redeemed gift cards for more holiday shopping or save them for future household purchases.

As an added perk, you can earn rewards by simply scanning select products while doing your in-store holiday shopping - you don’t even have to purchase the selected product to reap the reward benefits. 

7. Paribus

Paribus is different from our other listed shopping apps in that it helps put money back in your account from purchases you’ve already made from major retailers. The app tracks your online purchases to monitor for price drops, late deliveries and return policies. When potential savings are detected, Paribus will notify you, make a claim or instruct you on how to make a claim. Refunds are then made directly to your original form of payment depending on the retailer’s policies.

These shopping apps and credit card offers aren’t just for checking off your holiday gift list either. You can really score some extra perks by using them for other holiday costs, like groceries for special dinners and traveling to visit family. 

With some smart budgeting and planning for purchases, you can avoid draining your bank account and going into debt this holiday season.