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One of my favorite ways to save money online is by shopping through a cash back “portal”.
There are many to choose from, but I primarily use TopCashBack, Rakuten, BeFrugal, Mr. Rebates, and Shop through Chase (if you have any Chase credit cards, which you should). They are all free and easy to use, and take less than 30 seconds to sign up for.
How do they work?
These portals get paid to refer you to walmart.com, or target.com, or lowes.com, or IHG or Marriott or Backcountry or Moosejaw or Sierra (guess where we spend the majority), and give back a portion to you as cash back.
By shopping through these portals, you can earn anywhere from 1% to 30% cash back for things you would already buy from stores where you already shop. Depending on the portal, you can get paid out by check, direct deposit, PayPal, or gift cards. Take your pick!
Sounds easy, what’s the catch?
Nothing. Companies get paid to advertise for other companies all the time. This is the same concept.
Once signed up, you can add an extension on your browser from your favorite portal that will always remind you you’re on a site that offers cash back. This is saving money for dummies at its finest.
Before making an online purchase, I check all five portals to see which is offering the most cash back. Some human out there put out this amazing site to be able to check them all at once.
I used to put all the money earned from the portals into our travel savings, but now I’m more practical and put it into our real estate savings for our investment properties. Whatever, it’s still sexy.
Full disclosure: We get a kickback for referring you to these portals, which you can then refer to *your* family and friends for your own kickback! Thank you for clicking through our links and continuing to support our journey (as always, at no cost to you).
Happy shopping!