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Use Portals to Maximize Your Cash Back
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Portals are the best way to earn extra cash back, points, or miles. It is also a convenient way to double or triple dip your rewards. That is the process of getting a referral percentage on top of your credit card percentage. It is an amazing thing! Portals are only useful online, so anytime you are shopping online, ALWAYS USE A PORTAL. Disclaimer: I receive a commission from some of the links mentioned in the post. Thank you for your support!
Big Crumbs
Big Crumbs is my favorite cash back portal for a few reasons. First, they usually have the highest cash back percentage at the stores I purchase from. Second, they offer Crumbshares which means if they ever sell the company, you will get a percentage of the profits. Finally, I have never had an issue receiving my cash back. A few of the portals I use have had some issues with this, but never Big Crumbs. All you have to do is sign up, search for a store you are looking to buy something at, click the link, and then simply shop at the store how you normally would.
Ebates
Ebates is another of my go to portals, since they occasionally have stores that BigCrumbs does not. It is always good to check multiple portals, if you want to maximize your cash back. I like Ebates layout better than BigCrumbs, since it is much easier to navigate. Another perk Ebates has, is you get a free $10 gift card for one of four stores after making your first $25 purchase through their site. It’s not much, but it is better than nothing! You can sign up here.
TopCashBack
TopCashBack is a new one I have been trying out lately. They seem to have a very good track record on Flyertalk, so I figured I would give it a shot. So far, they have offered me some of the highest cash back percentages I have seen on any site! I was shocked, because I didn’t think it could get better than the other sites I use. You can sign up here.
Cashback Monitor
I only found out about Cashback Monitor a few weeks ago, but it has been my go to website before I make any purchase online. Cashback Monitor lets you type in the website you will be shopping at and then shows you what each portal offers you in cash back, points, and miles. There is no sign up required, which makes it quick and easy.
- Simply go here
- Search your store
- Find the best portal to go through
- Then go to that portal
- Find your store
- Shop how you normally would
It may seem like a lot of steps, but it goes much quicker than you might think.
My Strategy
My Strategy offers you a way to triple dip on your rewards. I buy gift cards online through a portal with a credit card. Then, I use a portal to go to the store I want to purchase something at and use the gift card to pay for it. That way you get the credit card point/miles + cash back on that purchase + cash back on the store purchase. It is a great way to triple dip!
First, you need to register on Raise.com. This is my go to gift card website, since it has a clean layout, it’s easy to use, they offer heavy discounts on gift cards, and I can get cash back through a portal. Once you have a Raise.com account, go to Ebates and search for Raise. They offer you 1% cash back on all Raise purchases. Buy your gift card using a mile/point earning credit card. Make sure you buy an Egift card on Raise so you will have it that day instead of waiting for the delivery of a plastic gift card. *For first time purchasers, you can us coupon code: DEALNEWS60 to get $5 off of a $60 purchase. They also have another coupon code that you can use until 2/28/14 which gets you $5 off of a $75 purchase. That code is: GRANNY5. Now that you have your gift card, go to Cashback Monitor and find the best portal to use for your store. Go to that portal and find your store. Now buy your items like you normally would. I would also suggest using Retailmenot.com before checking out to see if your store has any coupons you could use. Here’s an example if you needed to buy something for $100 at Walmart:
$100 Walmart gift card
$100 Walmart gift card on Raise is $98
Raise.com’s $5 off coupon. $98 – $5 = $93
Ebates 1% Cash Back on $93: $0.93
Use a 1% Cash Back credit card to buy the gift card: $0.93
Go through 5% cash back portal on Cashback Monitor: $5.00You Save: $7.00
Cash Back: $5.86$100 – $7 – $5.86 = $87.14 (You end up saving $12.86 or ~13%)
Other Notes
- Use a portal for every online purchase you make.
- If you find something you want to pick up that day, order online and choose pick up in store. That way you save money and can get it that day.
- Check Retailmenot.com to see if you can get any other coupons for your purchase.
- Some sites do not let you use portals or are very limited such as eBay and Amazon. For Amazon you could instead use a card that gets a high percentage back at certain stores and buy an Amazon gift card at that store.
