Cashback is one of my favourite ways to easily save and make money when shopping online and when switching essential bills.
I first set up my account ten years ago and have amassed £4,000 in cashback through savvy shopping and switching deals.
Cashback is an extra discount you can get all online transactions when you click through to your chosen retailer through a cashback site.
The biggest cashback sites are Top Cashback and Quidco. Go set up an account now if you haven’t already.
Let’s say you want to buy a new pair of trainers from Nike. You search for Nike on the cashback site and it will bring up all the current offers.
At the moment, Top Cashback is offering 6% cashback on full price items and 4% on sale items.
Next, you click on ‘get cashback’ and you will be guided through to the Nike website where you order and pay as normal.
The cashback site will register your cashback amount depending on the percentage of cashback discount amount and what you spend, and the cashback will appear quickly in your account as pending.
After a few weeks (allowing for returns or cancellations) the amount will turn to confirmed (by the retailer) and then payable.
How much have you made through cashback websites? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
You can then do one of two things either transfer the money straight into your bank account or PayPal.
Or you can turn your cashback into retail gift vouchers for yet another discount. The cashback you have earned might get an added bonus of 5% by converting it into gift vouchers.
I love to save up my cashback throughout the year and save it for Christmas, turning it into vouchers at a retailer where I am intending to buy Christmas presents.
There is a huge range of retailers available including supermarkets.
Here are the big ways I have made thousands of extra savings using cashback sites:
Broadband switching - £100 per year
I switch my broadband every year to take advantage of better new customer deals and a significant chunk of cashback.
I do some research on comparison sites to find the best deal available, this year it was with Virgin.
The cashback offer available at the time was £105, this deal was the same had I gone direct to Virgin, but setting it up by going via Top Cashback first got me an extra £105 saving on top of the great new deal.
It sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t this is a brilliant way to get extra discounts on top of great deal prices that you would get anyway going direct to a retailer or service provider.
Mobile phone switching - £50 per year
I find the best way to save money is by having a SIM only contract with a mobile phone retailer.
This can be switched every year with the added bonus of around £50 in extra cashback discount.
Three Mobile, for example, are offering £60 cashback on a 100GB £12 a month SIM plan.
There is even more cashback to be gained if you are switching phone contracts where you are getting a phone as well.
Insurance switching - £50 per year
Insurance is a bill that I switch every year, and this will include car, house, pet and travel insurance.
Top Cashback has a brilliant comparison section for these insurances where you can compare companies and deals they are offering along with an extra cashback discount.
Be sure to check the terms of the insurance match your requirements but this is a great way to save a little extra.
Holiday shopping - £50 per year
An extra discount on your holiday booked via sites like Hotels.com and Expedia is available via cashback sites and also airport parking is available with cashback discounts.
This can be a significant saving depending on the cost of your holiday.
I once booked a holiday to America for four people via Top Cashback and Expedia saved an extra £200.
I also use Cashback to get an extra discount on train travel via The Trainline.
General online shopping - £100 per year
Every retailer you can imagine is on the big cashback sites offering extra discounts on top of the price you pay on the website.
Here are some of the ways I have saved extra money in the last year.
- £20 on a new dishwasher from AO.com.
- £10 on a new hoover from Shark.
- £20 a year savings from Nike and Sports Direct buying trainers for the boys ever growing feet.
- £20 a year in discounts on flower delivery for birthdays.
- £5 hamper discounts for Christmas presents.
- £25 a year in online clothing store discounts including North Face, And Other Stories, John Lewis, Ugg and Hype.
Refer a friend bonus - £50 per year
If you love getting your cashback discounts and know that your friends would love it too then get them to sign up using your personal refer a friend code (that you’ll find in your account).
The amount that you receive varies, between £10 and £25 bonus to you with a smaller (often £5) reward for your friend that signs up as well.
Cashback is a brilliant way to save extra money for all those online purchase and service switching we all do. Set up an account and start saving now!
