Super Savers, let’s dive into a success story from my health journey—how a gadget on my vision board helped me bring home groceries this week.
Earlier this year, I picked up a Garmin fitness tracker to support my health goals. It quickly became a helpful tool for monitoring my activity and staying motivated. But instead of just tracking my progress, it ended up earning me something even better… groceries.
A Marathon of Patience
Let’s be truthful—this wasn’t an overnight win. It took seven months to reach the 10,000 points needed to cash out on Evidation (which equals $10). Think long-story-arc pacing, like waiting for Jim and Pam to finally get together on “The Office.”
Back in April 2025, I signed up for Evidation, a free platform that links to my Garmin and rewards healthy habits. If I do a full-tracking setup—steps, sleep, workouts, and meals—I could rack up about 280 points a week. But I don’t always feel like logging everything. Some things are best left to the imagination.
Even with just steps, sleep, and other basic vitals connected, I’m averaging about 168 points per week, slow and steady—like the montage before the big victory bell in a Rocky movie.
Extra Points for Showing Up
Another way to earn is by completing weekly activity “cards.” These are little tasks: read an article, answer a quick wellness question, or check in with a quarterly health survey. Those quarterly surveys? That’s where the biggest point boosts are hiding. And yes, having more health conditions does mean more opportunities to answer and earn.
If I were a true completionist like someone trying to complete every quest in a video game, I’d check in more often and finish cards daily—but I haven’t taken the step of downloading the app yet. One day.
Health Stats with Personality
Each week, Evidation gathers the data from your tracker and offers insights based on your patterns. It also recommends articles geared toward your habits. All this is viewable online or in the app, whichever you prefer.
Time to Cash Out
When I finally hit 10,000 points, I was excited to cash in. Evidation offers plenty of payout options:
- Donate to one of 37 charities.
- Spend with gift cards from 56 retailers.
- Cash out through PayPal, Venmo, or bank transfer.
- Redeem for Visa gift cards.
Normally, PayPal is my go-to because it’s fast, familiar, and works almost everywhere. But this time it came with a $1 fee plus an additional 6% service charge—meaning my hard-earned $10 wouldn’t stay $10. The other cash-out options, like Venmo and bank transfer, would only have charged a flat $1 fee, but I really wanted to keep the full amount I earned. Since I’m not a fan of virtual Visa cards either, I decided to go with a $10 Target gift card instead—no deductions, no fuss. While my gift card arrived instantly, keep in mind that payout times can take up to 5 business days. I added it to my Target app and headed into the store, excited that one of my favorite grocery items was on sale.
Final Score
And that, Super Savers, is how my fitness tracker—originally meant to support better health—ended up paying for my groceries. That’s what I call a crossover episode worth watching.
If you’re already tracking your steps, why not see if you can make them pay for themselves?
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