Frugal Fridays: Checkout 51

First, thanks to my best friend for pointing me towards this next frugal service!  It's awesome to find new things to help save :)

Checkout 51 is another online service / app that issues you a cheque when you've saved enough cash - much like Ebates (and here's my post on how awesome Ebates is - we saved almost $100 on my husband's new computer!! No joke!).

Do you clip coupons for grocery shopping? Checkout 51 works kind of like that - except it's way easier and you don't have to carry around little pieces of paper with you.  Here's how it works:

• on Thursdays, the list of offers is posted (they're usually brand-specific like "Dawn dish detergent" instead of any brand; sometimes they're even store specific like "At Walmart:  Bananas" which is great if you shop there. . . I don't but there are enough other deals to be had)
• I like to peruse the list and note the items that are on offer that we actually need to buy that week (there's no saving if you're spending on things you don't need!)
• then I do my meal planning (with Pepperplate, of course) and make my shopping list
• go shopping
• take a picture of your receipt and upload it to Checkout 51 (I'm a dinosaur when it comes to technology so I take my receipt home, get out my camera, take pics, load them onto my computer and then upload to Checkout 51 using their website - but if you have a smartphone, you could just use the app and that would be much easier!)
• wait a day or two and your account will be credited for those items you purchased

Easy, right?

What types of items does Checkout 51 tend to offer savings on? Lots of them! But I notice that many of them are for baby items (foods, diapers, etc.) and personal care items (make-up, hair care, body wash, etc.) as well as cleaning products (like Febreze and Swiffer).  While I don't often buy those items (we cloth diaper and do baby led solids, I get most of my skin/hair/body care online and we pay someone to clean our house - not the most frugal choice but soooo worth it for us), there are still enough items that we do buy to make this worthwhile for me.  If you tend to buy those things pretty regularly though, you could save a lot more than I do!

Now, much like couponing, these are generally not huge savings, okay? We're talking $0.50 here, $1.50 there.  But it adds up over time.  And when your account reaches at least $20, you can cash out and Checkout 51 will send you a cheque :)

Now, I haven't cashed out yet (my account's already at $3.50 though!) but my friend has and she says it's easy and actually works so, yay!

Seriously, I love sites / apps like this because they make saving so easy to build into your regular routine :)

Until next week, happy shopping!