How I Earned $657.33 From a Lesser-Known Rewards App
Did you know there’s a rewards app that could potentially pay you back a huge portion of purchases? Stick with me here for a second.
You’ve probably heard of cashback rewards apps like Rakuten (formerly eBates) and RetailMeNot. You can install extensions of these companies and then get extra cashback and select sites around the internet. You just click a button on partner sites and generally receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-10% cashback. It’s decent but not life-changing.
Today I wanted to discuss Lolli, which is different because it rewards Bitcoin instead of cash.
I was an early adopter of Lolli, and I remember that during the online shopping boom of the pandemic, it was offering some very significant cashback (crypto back in this case). I want to say 10% and even 20% were common on certain sites. These days I feel like the percentage is hanging closer to 1-2%.
I ended up spending only a couple thousand dollars on Lolli. I probably got $100-$200 worth of Bitcoin, but I just left it in the wallet and forgot about it.
I noticed that Rakuten and Capital One Shopping were partnered with more of the companies where I shopped, so I started using them more frequently (although I still checked Lolli).
Well, it just so happened I checked Lolli today, and I saw the balance in the wallet was now worth $650. I had to double-check the figure, but then I remembered that Bitcoin has been hitting new all-time highs. I decided to cash out the amount and send it to my bank account. It was a simple process and I didn’t even have to deal with points or anything on competing apps. I also could have sent the Bitcoin to my personal wallet if I wanted to hold it even longer.
Considering I only had a couple thousand dollars of spend on Lolli, it’s a remarkable amount of cashback. It essentially pays for a huge part of my purchases. Probably in the neighborhood of 30-40%.
Some Caveats
I think it’s important to mention a few important caveats regarding my experience with Lolli:
The price of BTC is at an all-time high right now and I got really lucky on the timing
Lolli used to offer partners with higher percentages of cashback
I left the money in my wallet to grow for over 4 years
I really can’t emphasize the last point enough. My first purchase with Lolli was on Aug. 30, 2020. The price of Bitcoin was around $11,000 (!).
I bought some shoes with the outdoor retailer Moosejaw.com for around $100. I got a modest amount of $7 in cash back (paid out in Bitcoin). It turns out that Bitcoin is now worth $56.
It’s debatable if you could even call this a side hustle (it’s likely not) but I wanted to draw attention to it for one important reason.
The Importance of Long-Term Assets
I have trouble recommending Bitcoin to most people. It’s highly volatile, somewhat technical and not a great fit for people who get anxious or like to tweak their portfolio.
That said, it can be a fantastic store of value for those for the set-it-and-forget-it crowd.
Here’s the thing though: You should have a way to store money long-term.
It doesn’t have to be Bitcoin or crypto. Probably the most reliable way to store extra money would be in low-cost index funds. Gold has also been a solid performer lately. Even high-yield savings accounts have been great for holding money in the medium term lately.
Most financial experts recommend saving 20% of your income. That’s wise. But it’s not good enough to just throw that in a checking or savings account.
You need to put your savings in a place where it’s at least somewhat protected from inflation. The best place for most people is probably the stock market through low-cost index funds. You could also use a high-yield savings account or bonds. You could look into gold or crypto.
I’m not a financial advisor, and I don’t have the answer for you, but it’s important that you consider this concept and develop a plan for storing your money long-term. That goes for side hustles as well.
P.S. I don’t use Lolli that much these days but if you want to check it out I do have a referral link and it’s always appreciated if you use my link.