I was the guy who rolled my eyes at receipt scanning apps. I figured they paid pennies and sold your data. Then my sister showed me her balance of three hundred dollars earned just by snapping photos of grocery receipts. I signed up the same day.

How receipt apps work

You scan your receipt after shopping, and the app gives you points or cash for purchases it tracks. Some pay for any receipt, others pay for specific items or brands. It takes about ten seconds per trip.

How to actually make money with them

1. Scan every single grocery receipt, even small ones.
2. Check the app’s bonus offers before you shop and buy the featured items you were getting anyway.
3. Stack two apps to scan the same receipt and collect twice.

Last year the little payouts added up to about two hundred forty dollars, which I cashed out for gift cards. I did not change what I bought, I just started pointing my phone at the receipt.

What to know before you start

Yes, the apps use your shopping data to sell insights to brands. That is the trade-off. If that bothers you, these are not for you. For me, the trade was worth a couple hundred dollars a year for habits I already had.

I scan while walking to the car, and it takes less time than checking my messages.