Baseball Mom On A Budget

My kids are growing like weeds right now. Seriously, they each have grown an inch in the last 5 weeks and they just. keep. eating.

And of course, it’s back-to-school season. But beyond that, they are the baseball 24/7, 365 days a year kind of kids, which means that this kind of growth means we need new gear.

New shoes.
New batting gloves.
New sliding shorts.

And the list goes on….

Needless to say, this twin growth spurt is putting a strain on our finances. So, here’s how I save a few bucks with every purchase to stretch my dollars as far as I can: I stack my savings. (My strategy may sound too good to be true, but it honestly works! Plus, if you read to the end, I’ve included referral codes that earn you and me even more $$ when you sign up.)

Many stores offer coupons. The baseball groups are filled with people asking whether there’s a current Dick’s coupon for the weekend, for instance, and those coupon codes can go a long way to help! But I take this a step further. I use rebate sites like Rakuten and Capital One Shopping to get a little (or a lot!!) of cash back on the purchases. And I often don’t use just one: I click through a Rakuten link on a browser with the Capital One Shopping extension set up, so BOTH sites give me credit for the purchase. I recently got 15% back from Capital One along with 8% back from Rakuten on a new backpack for my kid!

But here’s an essential step that most folks miss: when you shop, activate the rewards from Rakuten and/or Capital One while you add stuff to the cart, but DON’T BUY YET. Wait 24-36 hours, and you’ll often get an email from the sites sweetening the deal. My recent backpack purchase would have given 2% cash back if I purchased right away, but it went up to 15% through Capital One because I waited for the email. At one store recently, I got 25% cash back by waiting for the email!!

Then, after the purchase, I submit my receipts through sites like Fetch and GasBuddy to rack up even more points that turn into cash. So, one purchase may be reduced by 20% with a store coupon, but then I can get as much as 25-50% in cash back (yes, really!) through either Rakuten or Capital One, then submit the electronic receipts through Fetch, or physical receipts through Fetch and GasBuddy, for another 1-10% in cash after the purchase. Using this strategy, I’ve ended up saving up to 75% off the regular price on items by combining coupons, cash back offers, and reward points.

And if you’ve read this far, I’ll sweeten the deals for you.

1. Rakuten: use my referral code (JCGREE75) before 9/30/26 to sign up and make a purchase, and you and I will each get $50! This is how I first signed up long ago and it actually works. Just make sure you click through the Rakuten site or mobile app to make a purchase.
2. Capital One Shopping: get an $80 bonus — yes, $80! — for you and for me if you sign up using my unique referral link and make a purchase through the browser extension or mobile app within 90 days.
3. Fetch: use referral code PNNCQC by 8/30/26 to get 2000 points ($2) just for signing up.
4. GasBuddy: referral code EL3AV4Z gets you an extra $.10 per gallon off a tank of gas when you sign up and use the app to save on gas.

In case you think I’m making this up, I’m pasting a screen shot of some recent savings I got through Capital One alone. See that $3 for GameChanger? And $5 for buying at Dick’s? All this adds up, even if not all percentages are huge.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone to save a little extra as you shell out $$ for new school and baseball clothes and gear. We’re all stretched too thin right now. Every dollar really does count, right?