Let’s talk bonus and affiliate programs. And yes, full disclaimer, all links are affiliates and we will earn a commission. But, there’s nothing wrong with that as you earn larger signup bonuses. And you can gameify the earnings and compound to earn cashback ontop of points, ontop of rewards.
If you’re buying anything online, you should be earning cashback. Why leave money on the table? And if you think it doesn’t add up, here’s my first point to save you up to 12% on UberEats. If Amazon is your deal, see how you can earn 7% to 10% cashback. And with browser add-ons, you’ll never miss an opportunity. [If you read to the end, you’ll also learn how to earn gift cards for walking].
UberEats
UberEats is currently offering free delivery, so it’s a great time to support local restaurants as their fees for UberEats have also decreased. And for you, the customer, it’s a great time to earn cashback to help keep your wallet in check.
- Sign up for an Amex Cobalt card and earn 5% back on food delivery (this card costs $10 a month but has a $300 sign up bonus) or sign up for the Amex Cashback card and earn 5% for the next 3 months (this card is free).
- Download the Rakuten.com app. Yes, it’s US, so you’ll need a US Paypal currency but you’ll earn 5% back on UberEats even in Canada. Rakuten tracks orders not credit card. You pay at the merchant site. You’ll get a $10 signup bonus through the affiliate link.
Rakuten also has a Canadian site. This cashback site has a chrome/explorer integration, so you’ll always get notified if there’s a cashback offer while your shopping online. And 80% of Canadian stores offer cash back. You’ll get a $10 signup bonus through the affiliate link.
- Sign up for Drop and choose Uber as one of your credit card offers and you’ll earn 2% back in points. For Drop you link your credit card account (not the number) and purchase amounts are tracked through that. There’s tons of new offers that you can activate simply to a linked card. You’ll get a $10 signup bonus through the affiliate link.
On a $20 food order, you’ll earn $1 from Amex, $0.70 USD from Rakuten US and $0.40 from Drop = $2.40. The Average Canadian spent $80/month on takeout before quarantine; that’s $9.60 back or 12% 😊
Amazon
Doing 90% of your shopping on Amazon? Amex Cobalt in the past has offered Amazon bonuses, but the MBNA Amazon card is offering 5% cash back in purchases for 6 months. In addition, Rakuten Canada offers up to 2% in some categories. However, Swagbucks is a much better option to also earn on the conversion side and they also have a chrome/explore plugin.
Swagbucks works like Rakuten Canada but you receive points vs. Cash to convert into gift cards. Usually, this is not as good a deal as hard earned cash. But they always have deals on Amazon gift cards from 10% – 25% off. That provides an even better cashback option overall.
On a $200 Amazon order, you’ll earn $10 from MBNA, $4 from Swagbucks (= $5 Amazon gift card) and $0.50 from Drop = $15.50 or 7.75% 😊
Sweatcoin
And now that we’re all going for more walks, why not turn steps into cash for rewards and discounts. Sweatcoin tracks your steps inside and outside, converts it to currency you can spend on offers in the app. It only tracks on your phone though, so just remember that when going on your daily jog, run, dog walk. You’re walking anyway, why not get some currency for it as well?
Those of you doing the math now, may see these as low numbers. But you’re not doing anything extra or paying anything extra to get these bonuses. And you’ll be surprised in a year how much cashback you earn from online and offline purchases through Groupon, Wallmart, The Bay, Gap, LCBO, Shoppers etc, etc.
Here’s one more just to show a larger impact:
Hotels.com (though currently not traveling)
I signed up for the Hotels.com rewards which is essentially 10% back after 10 nights in a voucher. I used my Amex Cobalt earning 2% back for hotel stays and bought through Swagbucks earning 3% back in points. I stay a lot more than 10 nights a year, but let’s stick to the minimum for this example:
10 nights (average $250 CAD) = $2,500 spent. What I earned:
$250 voucher from Hotels.com
$50 from Amex
$75 in points from Swagbucks which converted into $100 Amazon card (25% gift card discount)
Total earnings of $400 or 16% for doing something I was going to do anyway.
Happy online earning!
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