Long Time No See!
I’ve not been too active here on Your Money Mom in recent years (!) But that’s not because I’m not giving money advice. I’m just not doing much of it online!
Despite that, I often have valuable information to share, since I’m still the money nerd that everyone knows and loves. I just wonder what is the best way to do this well, and reach a good number of people. I’m contemplating various options, but in the meantime a modest but “rewarding” money tip is getting me back to posting here.
This post will also go to my long-disused email list! So hello again, all you wonderful email newsletter subscribers!
I would appreciate hearing any thoughts that you have about what kind of content you would like to see from me, and how often, and in what form. I’m pondering options, and I’d love your feedback. You can just hit reply to this email, and it will come directly to me.
On to today’s money tip!
When You’re Signing Up for Something, Check friends/websites for a Referral Link
Whenever you’re about to sign up for a service or get something, find out if there’s a referral link you can use to help a friend or family member. I do this often with websites I trust and want to support, but it also works well with friends and family members.
Case in point:
Less than a year ago, I heard something (for the millionth time) about Rakuten, the free online shopping portal/app/browser extension to get rebates for online shopping. Surprisingly, I had never joined, even when it was Ebates. I think I had been using the Honey extension on my browser, but while it helped with coupon codes, I wasn’t getting many rebates.
Anyway, I thought, it’s probably time to sign up. And before I did, I stopped and thought, I wonder if anyone has a referral link? So I texted the family, and one of my kids had a referral offer that gave us each $30 for me signing up. Nice! I don’t think either one of us would have gotten anything if I had just signed up for it.
My experience with Rakuten
Now that I’ve been using Rakuten for awhile, I’m kind of impressed at how easy it is to get some decent rebates. t’s not life-changing money, but it’s not “nothing,” and it’s worth doing, in my opinion.
For instance, I had to make a Shutterfly purchase the other day to keep my account current, and I see I got $5.32 back. I ordered glasses from EyeBuyDirect last week, and got $31.60 back (that was because of an increased offer, which I don’t remember now—occasionally Rakuten will give you a higher percentage back, like 20 percent, on a purchase). More about EyeBuyDirect below!
Right now, Rakuten has a $40 signup bonus. That means just for signing up, the new member gets $40, and your referrer (me, if you’d like) also gets $40. Not bad! This referral link (click here) is good until December 8, 2024.
I think everyone who uses Rakuten has the $40 offer, so if you have a family member who uses Rakuten, feel free to ask them for theirs, to keep the $ in the family.
Final Rakuten hack: when I first signed up, I got “double” points back that week. I think that is still the offer, but just know when you do sign up that clock starts. I wish I had known about it ahead of time to plan for some purchases, but I was able to take advantage of it a little bit with an online purchase at Sam’s Club and I think order some shoes.
Check for referral links when you are shopping
So back to EyeBuyDirect. You may have noticed it was a link—and that’s my referral code.
As I mentioned above, I got Rakuten cash back from purchasing glasses from EyeBuyDirect, something I’ve done for years. It turns out that EyeBuyDirect has a referral program.
When I was writing about EyeBuyDirect, I thought, I wonder if there is a referral link. And it turns out there is! So I have added it in here. Again, if you have a friend or a family member who uses EBD, and want to use their referral code, please do! It’s just good practice not to “leave money on the table.”
I hope that you enjoyed this modest but “rewarding” money tip. Have you had any great referral bonus offers lately? Let me know!
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