*Referral links included within this post.

I’m going to tell you right now, it is VERY RARE that I have to use my own money when I buy things online. However, there are times when a gift card doesn’t get to me in time, or a code isn’t sent as fast as I would have needed it. There are even times when I have to make a purchase on a whim. WHAT?!!! Yes, even strategic shoppers have things that pop up out of the blue, and we just take a deep breath, and find a way to get the items we need for the least amount of money. One rule Never skimp on the quality of what’s to be purchased. No, wait, two rules! You MUST shop through a cash rebate site when making the purchase, too.

Are you asking yourself where does November Sunflower go first when she has to make a purchase on the fly? My first stop is a cash back shopping site I love, and have loved for years, called Mr. Rebates. Mr. Rebates pays me to shop online, and I couldn’t be happier to share them with my peeps out there in the blogosphere!

If you’re asking what the heck is cash back shopping? Well, you must be very new to November Sunflower, because those who have been with me from the beginning, you should know this by now. However, for the newly minted November Sunflowers, here goes: basically, cash back shopping is when you shop for what you need, and you earn cash back when you shop through a cash rebate website. Simple, basic, and to the point.

Mr. Rebates has been showing me money love for a long time, and it’s been FABULOUS!

Let’s get started.

Sign up.

It’s free to sign up for Mr. Rebates. Even better, you can refer people and earn even more cash back when your referrals start shopping through Mr. Rebates, too! When your referral shop, you will earn 20% of their rebate. FOREVER. As long as they shop, you earn, doesn’t matter if it’s tomorrow, or if they shop next year. You earn 20% FOREVER off of their rebate.  So you can imagine why I’m referring you with my referral link here –> Earn Cash when you shop online 

What I love the most about Mr. Rebates, is that they think about people who may not have social media going on in their lives. Sure, you can refer people through your blog, use banners, and links. Yes, you can share on Facebook, and Twitter. You can even share through email. However, they take it a step further and allow you to share with flyers, and business cards. They thought of EVERYONE when it came to this, because you might be shopping online, but you may not be on all the social media – many teachers out there don’t have social media accounts, law enforcement, and other people who just don’t want to be involved in it. It’s all good, they understand it, and they provide materials to use to help you out. So don’t be shy, SHARE!!!!!

Shop

You’re signed up, through my referral link, and you want to start shopping. PERFECT. Head to the home page, on the left side of the screen, you will see a search area. You can search for stores by name, or you can search for products. Below that search area, there’s another option of searching through categories for different stores that sell those types of items, such as cell phones, food/wine, jewelry and a bunch of others. But wait, there’s more! You can just click on the ALL STORES tab, and hunt through every store that has signed up as a partner with Mr. Rebates.

Using ALL STORES is great when you first start out, so you can see what types of stores are out there, what percentages each store pays for cash back purposes, and if there are coupons available. It also highlights if any stores have a BONUS offer happening, and also, if there are shopping restrictions.

A Bonus type of offer might be extra cash back during an event, like Valentine’s Day, or for the New Year, perhaps for Mother’s Day.

A restriction might be that you can’t earn cash back on prescription medications for your pets at PetCareRX.

A personal favorite tab of mine is the coupons tab. These coupons WORK WITH Mr. Rebates cash back shopping. When you use any of the codes in these coupons, you know you’ll be earning your cash back on top of the coupon savings. You can look for coupons by store, category, or if they are new.

Currently, there are a ton of stores offering EXTRA cash back for Valentine’s Day. You’ll be able to shop through their links on the site, and earn extra cash back until February 14th. Pretty sweet.

Get Paid

It’s easy to get paid. Head you MY ACCOUNT. It shows you how much you’ve earned. It will show you the PENDING REBATES, which means it’s just waiting about 90 days to make sure nothing was returned from the orders placed. You will also see AVAILABLE REBATES. That’s what has been approved, and that’s what you can cash out on!

You will see two options: Request Check and Request PayPal. It’s up to you how you want to be paid.

SIDE NOTE: If you want to make sure that you’re account is working properly, and all of your shopping is being shown, there’s a CLICK SUMMARY page under MY ACCOUNT. It shows you what sites you’ve clicked on, even if you haven’t placed any orders on those sites. It helps keep you on top of your earnings, because it’s the internet, and sometimes, it isn’t perfect. If you’re shopping through the site, just take a peak on CLICK SUMMARY, make sure it’s counting all of your shopping. You should get a confirmation when you shop, so make sure you’re set up with the right email address on your account, so you won’t miss those confirmation emails letting you know how much you earned for shopping at a particular website.

One final thought before I leave you all…..

WHENEVER YOU START TO SHOP ONLINE, GO TO YOUR CASH REBATE SITE TO START YOUR SHOPPING TRIP. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.