As we welcome the warm, lazy days of summer, it's time to start thinking about how to make your life easier - and more lucrative! Whether you have children at home or not, summer always seems to be the season when we spend the most money. We have backyard barbecues, we host summer pool parties, we go to the beach...and what do all of those things have in common? They involve FOOD and they cost us money! There's a simple way to make the most of your weekly shopping trips! This is Why You Should Menu Plan with the Ibotta App at Walmart!

Regardless of whether you are shopping for your regular weekly groceries, preparing a menu plan for the week, or stocking up on paper products and toiletries, you will always find Ibotta offers at Walmart! On my last shopping trip to Walmart, I decided to use the Ibotta app to plan my weekly menu, as well as pick up a few things I needed for the house, like a new universal remote control, because our new puppy ate our living room remote and of course, batteries...I was happy to find that not only was I able to find a few offers for every day items that we needed for the house (shampoo, toilet paper, batteries, etc), but there were Ibotta offers on a few things that helped me plan my weekly menu. 

As the Walmart Savings Catcher will no longer be available as on May 14th, Ibotta is the PERFECT way to still save extra money at Walmart! Saving has never been easier! Ibotta is a free app that will surprise you by the additional ways in which you can save money on your Walmart shopping trips. You simply select the Walmart store on the app (there are several stores to choose from, based on your location) and scroll through the offers available that week. 

Now, most of the time, your offers will automatically match up when you scan the QR code. However, some items, you'll need to scan the bar code on the product in order for it to accept it for the offer. 

On this shopping trip, I decided to purchase a pork loin and pasta sauce as part of my weekly menu planning. Angeline and I eat a lot of pasta because it's so versatile and very simple to make. With a jar of Prego sauce costing only $1.88 at my local Walmart, and the Ibotta app offering .50 cash back with the purchase of two, I could easily make 2-3 meals based on pasta sauce! Chicken cacciatore, spaghetti, baked ziti - you get the picture! Using the Ibotta app at Walmart is a really easy way to menu plan while you save money! See? This is Why You Should Menu Plan with Ibotta App at Walmart! 

You can think of the Ibotta app as a little savings account, which you can use towards doing fun things. The savings you receive from using the Ibotta app can be figured in as part of your weekly grocery budget, or allocated as "fun money." You can also earn cash back with top apps including iTunes, Groupon, eBay, and Amazon. Just make sure that you shop through the Ibotta app directly. 

So how much I did I end up saving by using the Ibotta App at Walmart on my last shopping trip? I earned a total of $5.50 in cash back savings just for purchasing batteries, toilet paper, wet wipes, pasta sauce, bread, shampoo, beer and a pork loin. These are all things we needed for the house anyway - yet I saved money by shopping at Walmart AND I earned $5.50 cash back! With the already unbeatable low prices at Walmart, using the Ibotta app to earn additional savings is just a dream come true! While $5.50 on one shopping trip may not seem like much, take a look at how much I have actually saved over time using the Ibotta app! I just began using it last year, and to be honest, it took me a while to remember that I even had it in the beginning. So far I've earned $54.65...just by scanning my receipts. This is for a one person household - imagine the earnings you would see with a multi-person household! With Angeline having just moved back home (again) last month, I expect to see this number increase exponentially over the remainder of the year. 

100% of Ibotta earnings can be transferred to PayPal or Venmo as soon as you've earned $20. I have always chosen to transfer my earnings to my PayPal, but I may start saving them and cashing them out into gift cards so that I can treat myself to a little shopping trip! You see, you can also cash out your earnings into gift cards that can be used at tons of retailers, including everything from Best Buy to Lowe's! The list is quite extensive, there is sure to be something for everyone!

Oh, and that Prego pasta sauce that I purchased? It was fantastic as a base for my Spaghetti with Italian Sausage...