I hate paying full price for things. It really irks me. Unfortunately, there are some items that you just have to buy out of necessity (i.e. certain perishable groceries) and can’t wait for a sale or coupon. For these items, I love utilizing cash back. I’m sharing below 4 ways I save and/or earn cash when I shop!
Ebates
I use probably use Ebates once a week. Ebates is a website that rewards you with cash back for your purchases. It’s quite simple. You go to the Ebates website, click on the store you want to shop at (you have to click on the store directly on the Ebates website, which then forwards you to the store’s website), shop and make your purchase, then you will receive an email confirming your purchase. Also, there is a downloadable button that makes it even easier to ensure you get cash back. The Ebates cash back button pins right onto your browser, so if you forget to go through Ebates first you press this button once you are on the store’s website and then continue the process. Once a quarter, Ebates sends you a check rewarding you with cash back for your purchases. If you’re going to shop anyway, you might as well be rewarded for it! The Ebates app gives you the ability to use in-store coupons and scan products to compare prices. If you sign up through my link here, you will automatically receive $10 when you sign up!
RetailMeNot
Before making any purchase online, I always check the RetailMeNot website for coupons or discount codes first. There’s almost always something on there to help me reduce the price of my order. RetailMeNot is a coupon/discount website with hundreds of stores listed and recently has moved into the cash back world, as well. You simply go to the website, type in the store you’re looking for and it brings you to a page that shows you all the offers for that store. For example, if I type in Macy’s I will see an offer for 25% off if I sign up for Macy’s emails, 20% off storewide at the moment, up to $25 cash back and other various sales going on in the store (i.e. specific brand discounts). The offers are updated constantly and are verified by users so you know that it’s legitimate.
Cash Back Through Credit Cards
I’m such a huge proponent of cash back credit cards. I honestly don’t understand why people choose credit cards that offer them no rewards. A disclaimer I want to put out there though is that I discourage the use of credit cards, cash back or not, to supplement your income. What I mean is, don’t charge things you can’t afford to pay off when the bill comes due. However, if you are financially disciplined, cash back credit cards are an amazing option. A few good options are as follows:
- American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card –3% cash back at supermarkets (up to $6,000), 2% cash back at gas stations and department stores and 1% cash back on everything else. You also get a complimentary ShopRunner membership with this card, which gives you free 2-day shipping at various stores (for those who hate spending on shipping as much as I do!).
- Chase Freedom® Credit Card –5% cash back on alternating categories throughout the year on top of 1% cash back on everything else. The 5% categories rotate each quarter. For example, one quarter you may get 5% cash back on drugstores and grocery stores, while another quarter you may get 5% cash back on restaurants and Amazon purchases.
- Citi® Double Cash Card –1% cash back on all purchases and another 1% cash back as you pay for those purchases in full or over time.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card – 2% cash back on all travel and food purchases and your points are 1.25 times the value when you book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards (i.e., 50,000 points would be worth $625 when redeemed for travel).
Shop Through Chase
Another fun feature with Chase credit cards is you can earn additional cash back when you shop through the Ultimate Rewards page (Ultimate Rewards is the area where all your points are stored and you can either redeem your points here OR shop through here to earn more). When you visit the Ultimate Rewards page through Chase, there is a section for shopping through there to earn more cash back on top of whatever regular rewards you earn with your card. It functions similar to Ebates in that you have to click on the specific store link through the Ultimate Rewards page to ensure you are getting the cash back offer. Since I use Ebates, as well, I normally do a quick comparison between the two and use whichever site is currently offering me a higher cash percentage. Although I use Chase, check whatever credit card you use to see if you have a similar feature on yours!
How do you save or earn money when you shop??
