Real Talk | How to Save Big Online

It's no surprise that I am a huge (HUGE) online shopper. But before I click the CONFIRM ORDER on my cart I always make sure that I'm ordering the best deal. Same goes for when I'm in store; before purchasing I make sure I'm paying the absolute lowest, am getting cash back, or can find coupons of some sort (i.e. Cartwheel for Target).

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With the busy school season and holidays ahead it's only right that we start planning ahead and start shopping smart now.

There are so many tips I could share for today's post but for the sake of time let's talk cash back websites. The way they work is really simple. You log onto your preferred cash back site and browse your favorite store on the site or with a bookmarklet. The site will let you know how much cash back the store is offering, along with special coupons to use for the day and after making a purchase you've earned cash back. Depending on the cash back site you'll either have to hit a quota to receive your cash back (usually pretty low) or they'll pay you out quarterly via PayPal or check.

In case you're wondering, cash back sites are affiliate sites - they just choose to share their commission with us and viola CASH BACK.

There are so many cash back sites it all really depends on preference. But for me, my two favorite contenders are ShopAtHome.comEbates.com. Before making a purchase I compare the two and see which site is offering the highest cash back or best deal for that store - so yes, I vary a lot between the two.

This won't be the first time you hear about ShopAtHome.com on the blog. I've actually partnered up with them in the past to bring awareness to their site. It's an easy to use site and they offer 110% cash back guarantee on participating vendors and tend to have some really amazing deals that are only for their members. They tend to pay out once you've reached the $20 threshold and have an app so you get the latest deals straight to your phone (great for in-store coupons). If you follow me on Twitter I'll normally tweet out some of the best deals they're having for that day, so make sure you're following me if you haven't already.

My other favorite cash back site is Ebates.com - these guys are the OG in the cash back game. They're extremely similar to ShopAtHome.com - you need to hit at least $5.01 before they send out a cash back check (or PayPal) with this site. Another difference is that they send out their payments four times a year. One great thing however is that you can layer on the coupons and they have better Amazon deals too.

P.s. These sites aren't limited to clothing sites. You can book your next vacation, groupon, movie ticket + more with these two websites and earn cash back on virtually anything. It's pretty amazing so sign up for both today!