Using cashback sites like Rakuten isn’t going to make you rich overnight—but it can give you a little extra breathing room in your budget, especially when you’re on a high-debt, low-income journey like mine.
🧾 My Latest Rakuten Payout: $96.23!
My Q2 Rakuten check came in at $96.23. While that might not seem life-changing, it’s also not nothing. That’s nearly $100 for purchases I was already planning to make.
Since I’m trying to curb unnecessary spending, I’ve started using Rakuten only for essential purchases—things like:
- 👁️ Contact lenses
- ✈️ Travel bookings (flights + hotels!)
- 🐾 Pet food and supplies
- 💻 Occasional work-related tech or software
💡 How Rakuten Works
Rakuten is a free site and app that gives you cash back when you shop online (and sometimes in-store) through their platform. Here’s how it works:
- Sign up for a free account.
- Search for your store (like Chewy, Hotels.com, or Walgreens).
- Click through Rakuten’s link to the retailer.
- Shop as usual and earn a percentage of your purchase in cash back.
- Get paid quarterly via check or PayPal.
Many major stores participate, and you can even install the browser extension so you don’t forget when deals are active.
💵 A Bonus If You Want to Try It Out
If you’re curious about trying Rakuten, here’s my referral link (optional, of course). If you sign up through it and make a qualifying purchase, you’ll get a bonus—and I’ll get a small one too. Win-win. But no pressure—feel free to sign up directly if that’s more your style.
🎯 Final Thoughts
Cashback won’t erase debt, but it can make a dent when you’re strategic. I treat Rakuten as one small part of my broader budget strategy—like buying only what I need and stacking coupons or store sales when I can.
Let me know if you’ve ever used Rakuten or a similar site—and how much you’ve earned! 👇
