Getting Rewarded for Your Spending

Being a financial advisor, often times, clients will approach me with questions about their budget and how to have some more money in their bank account at the end of the month.

Sometimes this puts me in an uncomfortable situation, for example, "Mr. & Mrs. Client, why are you talking about leasing a Mercedes when your income and free cash flow allows for you to afford a Honda or Toyota? Those are great cars, and you won't feel like you overextended yourself that month." As you can imagine, these conversations don't always go well, but sometimes it is what people need to hear.

This got me thinking...how can I help people that are already spending money, make their spent dollars work for them?

Then, I looked in the mirror. I'm a spender, but I am also a saver. I also don't have much free time, so my ways of making my spent money work for me have to be efficient. What do I do?

# 1 - EBATES - Credit to my wife for introducing me to EBATES. She is an online shopping ninja, as she works full time and we have a very demanding toddler. This is really the coolest and most efficient way to get rewarded for your spending, especially if you're an online shopper, which if you are bunched for time, you likely are. With EBATES, you can download an app or install a plugin in your browser and get cash back for you online purchases. Some of your favorite stores such as Walmart, Amazon, lululemon, buybuyBaby, Best Buy, Apple and literally hundreds more have partnerships with EBATES and will send you money in the form or a quarterly check or PayPal deposit. It is so much fun to watch your EBATES balance grow. EBATES will even search online coupon codes for your to apply for your order!

Some deals are even in person. Two personal examples come to mind: (1) Dog Grooming - Every month I get an in-store reward for using a "linked" credit card at Petco. Dog grooming is s sunk cost for me, so I am happy to get 4% cash here. That adds up over twelve month and an help buy diapers! Which leads me to (2) Buying things for your children. My wife and I are expecting in the spring and we recently visited buybuyBaby for furniture. It just so happened that there were 2% EBATES there, so we found a bedroom set we loved (and hope our future daughter will for many years) and we end up getting some money back. Seriously, EBATES is awesome. If you need a computer, the offers from Dell and Lenovo are generally pretty generous.

# 2 - AIRLINE AND HOTEL REWARDS PROGRAMS - Again, you're already spending money at these places, so you should reap the benefits of your spending. Travel a lot for business? Sign up for the airline miles program you most frequently travel or for the hotel loyalty program for where you stay the most often.

I have clients whose demanding jobs require they travel over 50% of the time for their jobs. When you are traveling that often, the free miles for airfare and nights in hotels add up really quickly.

If you're a frequent traveler and aren't signed up for a rewards program with your favorite airline/hotel, stop reading this article right now and sign up (just kidding, finish reading and then sign up). You will be thanking me when you have to get free airfare and nights at a hotel on a vacation, or at least don't have to pay for a hotel when you drive 6 hours to your nephew/nieces 2nd birthday party!

#3 - CVS EXTRA CARE - this is the pharmacy that I frequent most and they have a great rewards program because sometimes you get "Extra Bucks" which are exactly what they say they are. Money off your purchase at the store. CVS has an app that you can download to your phone so you no longer need to carry a dongle on your keys. You can even pay directly from your phone using "CVS Pay" which saves time over the dreaded "insert chip" credit card terminal. Seriously, those take forever right? On a personal note, years ago, my wife linked the CVS Extra Care to her email and phone number so she is grabbing all of those Extra Bucks. Remember, I told you he is a ninja?

#4 - FUEL REWARDS - Many gas stations offer a few cents off a gallon if you download an app or fill out a form and join their loyalty program. Most of the time, I fill up at Shell and recently saw they have a program where I download an app to get 5 cents off every gallon of gas that I purchase. Why not save here too? All I have to do is plug in my phone number at the pump before I start and I am saving 5 cents a gallon. Woohoo!

#5 - CREDIT CARD CASH BACK - Let me begin by saying that I do not believe in carrying credit card debt (I pay off my credit card balance IN FULL every month). As a small business owner and avid online shopper, I am using my credit card a lot. Naturally, I want to get rewarded for this too. I have two cards, one for business expenses and one for personal expenses. Again, let me reiterate that I pay my balance off in full every month. My business card racks up points which I can redeem for items such as airfare, hotels, gift cards, even money off that months' bill. That is well and all, but my personal account gives me actual CASH BACK. Again, like EBATES, it is rewarding to me to watch this balance grow and earmark it aside for a special purchase or even put towards savings.

You may be asking right now, which is the best credit card for me? In fact, I am often asked this question by clients. As everyone has different circumstances, a quick internet search may be your best friend here. For cash back cards, I have done the legwork for you. Start at Bankrate.com in the Cash Back Cards category. You can also search other categories that may be suitable for you...low APR, Travel, Points, etc.

Please remember to use your credits cards responsibly and pay off your balance in fill every month

IN CLOSING - let's get the tricky stuff out of the way. These are tips that I personally use to have a few extra bucks at the end of every month/quarter/year and they may not apply to you, so don't consider it an endorsement. If they do, use them, but if for some reason you rack up tremendous Credit Card debt it isn't my fault. It is yours.

Also, I am not clear on the tax treatment of rewards from rewards programs. You will want to ask a qualified tax professional about that.

I'd love to hear how you make your spent money work harder for you, so please share your tips in the comments section!