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Free Thanksgiving meal! But is it really free?

Ibotta has partnered with Walmart and several other companies to offer everything you need for a Thanksgiving dinner. But is it really free?

GREENSBORO, N.C. — We're now just days away from the biggest food holiday of the year! Even though you may not be doing the traditional Thanksgiving, you still want to save money on whatever your cooking!

So when you see a headline like this "Walmart announces free thanksgiving dinner" it may seem pretty tempting. 

RELATED: Walmart announces free Thanksgiving dinner for everyone

But we wanted to take a closer look to make sure you know what you're getting into if you want to take advantage of the deal.  

First: The offer

Credit: IBOTTA

You get the ingredients to make a Thanksgiving dinner to feed five people. It includes turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans (includes fried onions & mushroom soup to make casserole), cranberry sauce, and a 2 liter coke!

But it's not necessarily free -- up front. 

You have to create an Ibotta account and download their app or use their web extension. That's free. Once you download the app, link your Walmart store account and add the selected items to your cart. 

Here's the thing, you DO have to pay for the items at the time of checkout. That's at least $20.27. Then Ibotta will send you money back -- in the form of cash in your bank account, money in your PayPal account, or gift cards. So you'll get the money back, but it'll come out of your pocket first. 

Credit: IBOTTA

We asked how long it typically takes for people to get money back. Ibotta responded saying, "Turnaround time varies, especially with the high demand on the offer. We always try and send our Savers their cash back as soon as possible, and strive for less than 24 hours. That said, any customers purchasing online through Walmart's Pickup and Delivery service will receive their cash back after delivery (not after order), and could take up to 48 hours depending on the timing of delivery and demand for the meal."

For more on the promotion, including the frequently asked questions, click here

Digging a little deeper, what about your personal information. Is it safe? According to Ibotta, yes. They say your financial information is never stored on their servers and they use the same encryption standards as banks. So your address and card number are instantly encrypted and can't be seen.

Ibotta is accredited with the Better Business Bureau and has a 'B' rating. 

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