Mike's NBC-TV stories

Cash Back Shopping Apps

We’re in the thick of the back-to-school shopping season — a time of year when shoppers are especially keen on finding the best possible deals and rewards for buying everything from clothes to school supplies.

In his weekly report, PC Mike Wendland has three great apps to help you save money leading up to the start of school and beyond.

Rakuten works with 2,500 or so retailers who let you earn money back for essentially allowing the app to view and track your shopping. The company earns a commission from the retailer when you purchase something and shares a small bit with you in form of a check, or Paypal deposit. The app is free for iOS and Android.

The app called Flipp — that’s F-L-I-P-P — brings you the latest weekly ads, deals, and coupons from more than 2,000 of your retailers like Walmart, Aldi, CVS and more. Features include the ability to find your ads, saved offers, shopping list, and loyalty cards in one place, so you don’t have to scramble at the checkout. The app is free for iOS and Android.

Shopkick lets you earn rewards and free gift cards from places like Walmart, Target, Amazon, and more, just for shopping. Walk into the participating stores and open the app to earn your first so-called “kicks,” in some cases by simply scanning barcodes and not even making purchases. If you actually buy items, you can earn more. The app is free for iOS and Android.

Mike is a veteran journalist whose video "PC Mike" reports have been distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations since 1994, making him one of the most experienced tech reporters in the country. His tech stories and videos have appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, the Today Show, The New York Times, USA Today and in numerous national newspapers and magazines. In addition to the PC Mike tech blog, he also publishes the Roadtreking.com RV Travel Blog in which he travels North America in an RV reporting about interesting people and places.