THE BEST WAY TO EARN CASHBACK

How to save and make money while you shop, with help from these simple cashback tools

IT MIGHT SOUND too good to be true, but specialist websites, current accounts and credit cards will actually pay you for using them when spending money. Though how much you make depends on how much you spend, it can quickly add up to a decent amount. It’s how I do the bulk of my spending and shopping, and on the whole, the effort is minimal each time. Even setting up the necessary accounts isn’t too much hassle— though many of them require you to be online.

First up is the cashback website. There are a number of these, but the leading ones are TopCashback and Quidco and they’ll usually have the best rates. These two are free to use, though you can pay a membership fee for extra features and boosted rewards.

They are effectively portals you go through rather than directly to a retailer’s website. Each contains thousands of well-known brands, from Argos to M&S to Virgin Media, and they’ll offer varying rates of cashback. This could be a fixed percentage, say 1% to 10%, based on the final basket of what you buy. Or it could be a set amount, potentially up to £100 on things like new broadband contracts or insurance policies.

To get cashback, click through from the cashback site and then shop as normal. Make sure you don’t already have the shop open on another tab, as that could hinder tracking.

Don’t expect the money back straight away. First, the retailer has to confirm the purchase, and this can take months. Then it has to pay a commission back to the cashback site. Only then will you finally get your money.