One particularly savvy way of saving money is to use a rewards credit card and a cashback website when shopping.
Here’s how to do it.
1. Spend With a Rewards Credit Card
The foundation of this strategy is spending on a credit card, ideally one that aligns with your spending habits and earns rewards per dollar spent.
Some cards offer a higher earn rate (the number of points per dollar) depending on where you are shopping, with spending at overseas stores (including those online) earning more.
If you don’t have a card that earns rewards, use a comparison website like CreditCardCompare.com.au to evaluate what the current offers are. Look for cards with strong rewards, a low annual fee, and a good sign up bonus offer.
2. Shop Through a Cashback Website
Once you have your rewards card, the next step is to shop through a cashback website. Popular options in Australia include Cashrewards.com.au, Kickback.com.au, and ShopBack.com.au.
Here’s how it works:
- Log in to your chosen cashback website.
- Search for the store you want to shop at.
- Click through to the store’s website via the cashback site’s link.
- Complete your purchase as normal using your rewards credit card.
By doing this, you’ll earn cashback on top of your credit card rewards points.
One thing worth noting is that you can’t use vouchers and also get cashback.
Example
Here’s an example of how this might work.
Suppose you’re buying $200 worth of “stuff” from The Good Guys online:
- You get 200 rewards points from a credit card that earns 1 point per dollar on everyday spend in Australia. If you value a point at 2 cents each, you saved $4.
- You also get $2 from the cashback website, which was offering 2% cashback.
- In total, you’ve earned rewards and cashback worth $6 in total.
The key to this strategy is not to overspend and to get more from the purchases you’d have made anyway. It’s not about spending more, it’s about getting more value from your necessary expenses.
