One of the most effortless ways that I earn extra cash is through cashback apps and sites. Here I will share my favorites (in ranked order). Use my referral links below to earn a sign-up bonus. You can find ALL of my earning apps here.
Below I share 3 effortless ways to earn cashback through linked credit cards and/or bank accounts, click-through shopping, and credit cards.
Earn by Linking Credit Cards
Pogo
In first place for effortless ways to earn cashback, is the Pogo app. I simply linked my banking accounts using Plaid, a totally secure online financial linking service. Then once Pogo tracks my purchases, I just open the app and click “claim” to earn points. Since I can link almost ALL of my banking accounts, I earn on almost every single purchase, even my mortgage and utilities. Earning points on more than retail purchases is rare for most rewards apps.
Point conversion: 1,000 points = $1.00
Upside
Upside took the consumer world by storm during the COVID-19 Pandemic when gas prices hit an all-time high. Upside is another almost effortless cashback app. Simply link your credit cards, check in at gas stations, restaurants, or other retailers and earn cashback. Some retailers require a receipt upload, but most accept linked credit cards. I only had to enter the last four digits of my credit cards, and I’ve never had any security or privacy issues. To optimize earnings, use multiple cashback apps and a credit card that earns bonus cashback on gas purchases such as the Chase Freedom card.
Shopkick
Shopkick was the first card-linking rewards app that I used. Not all of the retailers in Shopkick have this cashback feature, and you have to shop in store which I don’t do too often for the retailers on Shopkick. In fact, I sometimes forget I have cards linked in Shopkick, and I’ll get a surprise notification that I earned cashback! I’ll take it! You can earn cashback with click-through shopping for online purchases on your mobile device, but other apps usually have better offers. You can only link Visa and Mastercard. Thus, Shopkick is number 5 on my list. I mostly earn on Shopkick by watching videos as discussed in another post about how to earn by watching ads.
Point conversion: 250 points = $1.00 (for Amazon Gift Card)
Click-through Shopping
TopCashBack
MyPoints and Swagbucks were two of the original sites that offered click-through shopping where you could earn rewards by shopping online and clicking on links posted on their sites. Since then many more click-through shopping sites have popped up with one of the most popular being Ebates or Rakuten. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, I discovered TopCashback. This has become my favorite click-through shopping site because it usually does offer the highest, or top, cashback. Plus, I also earn points on my credit-card-linked apps too. You can use TopCashback online through your web browser or on your mobile device through the app.
To try TopCashback and earn your sign-up bonus, click here!
Rakuten
Rakuten quickly rose to popularity over a decade ago as Ebates. Somehow, they had better marketing than the Prodege sites, so most of you already have a Rakuten account. I personally used MyPoints the most often for click-through offers when these sites all first arrived. Since then, Rakuten has improved and they usually have pretty good cashback offers. Rakuten works much like TopCashback, and is often competitive with their offers. I always check both to see who has the best cashback offer before i complete any online purchases. You can use Rakuten on your web browser or through their mobile app.
Variety Rewards Sites
Even though these sites are among the original effortless ways to earn cashback, the other companies followed their lead and made improvements to retail offers. I already mentioned MyPoints and Swagbucks above, but click-through offers are not my primary ways of earning on those sites. You can also complete cashback offers on the other Prodege sites, InboxDollars and Upromise (also linked credit cards for dining). I would be remiss if I didn’t mention other apps that offer click-through shopping on your mobile phone such as Miles App and Qmee, mostly a survey app. Follow me on social media for the answer to the daily Qmee Pop Quiz.
Credit Card Rewards
The last of the effortless ways to earn cashback is to earn on most purchases using rewards credit cards. That’s where the multi-dipping really comes into play. I keep track of which cards give me the best cashback offers on different purchases so that I optimize my cashback earnings. I use Todoist to help me remember all the offers (and keep track of my bills every month). Keep in mind, I keep track of my spending so that I can pay off my credit cards every month. This way I use credit as an investment. Otherwise, the interest I would pay on purchases is greater than the cashback amounts, and I would be losing money, not earning money.
Here are my favorite rewards credit cards.
Chase Freedom Visa — Earn rewards on travel, gas, retailers, etc., Cashback offers vary with the different types of Freedom cards. I currently earn 5% cashback on all travel (including gas) on my Freedom Unlimited Card, and I’m earning 5% cashback at Walmart with my Freedom card (categories rotate).
Discover It Card — This card rotates 5% cashback categories every quarter. Next quarter I’ll earn 5% cashback at Gas Stations and purchases completed through Digital Wallets.
Amex EveryDay Card — Initially I signed up with this card for the awesome introductory 0% interest. I had a large purchase that I wanted to pay off monthly so that I could keep cash in my savings account earning interest. Now that I’ve paid off that purchase (interest free), I mostly earn cashback through special offers and grocery purchases with this card. For example, I earned a $7.99/month credit on my Disney Plus subscription for six months.
Amazon Visa – Anytime I make a purchase on Amazon, I earn at least 5% cashback. When reliable rebate sites existed, I ordered items and chose delayed shipping whenever I could to earn up to 7% cashback. I am getting reimbursed for those items, too. Thus I was getting free stuff and earning cashback!
Thanks for reading. If you liked this post about effortless ways to earn cashback, be sure to check out my other tips for earning extra cash.
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3 responses to “3 Effortless Ways to Earn Cashback”
[…] mentioned in other posts, Pogo is primarily a cashback app. However, you can also earn a few points through the Daily Ad Reward that appears at the top of […]
[…] number 6 on my risk-free receipt scanning app list, this app is one of my top choices for earning cashback. Scanning paper receipts is just an added perk that Pogo added a couple years after I started using […]
[…] your online shopping accounts to your favorite receipts apps or cashback apps to earn rewards on all of your purchases multiple […]