As you all know, getting to experience frequent high quality travel is very important to me. That’s why I’m always on the look out for tools and strategies to boost the resources I have available to me for travel. In this blog post, I share with you some of my absolute favorite tools to boost the cash resources I have available in my annual travel budget. Let’s get into it.
This post contains affiliate links as explained in my Affiliate Disclosure Policy.
CASHBACK
I love this strategy because it is all about putting cash right back into my travel budget. My absolute favorite tool for cashback is Ebates. If you don’t already have an EBates account, you can sign up for one using my referral link HERE to get $10 when you make your first purchase using Ebates.
There are 4 things that I LOVE about Ebates.
- It is FREE to Use: Ebates makes its money by referral commissions paid by the end retailer. They share a percentage of the referral commission directly with its Ebates subscribers, which translates to Cashback for you! Cha-Ching!!
- It acts like a Coupon: There is a built in coupon for everything that I am buying (without having to be a real couponer). Cashback is like having a 1% to 20% discount on everything I purchase and it still works with other coupons that I might have so it is all bonus money.
- Browser Extension Does The Work So You Don’t Have to: You have the option of installing a Browser extension to your web browser so you don’t have to remember to actually log into the Ebates portal to get the discount. This feature unfortunately only works from a Desktop or a Laptop so if I am buying from my phone I have to do a little more work by first entering into the app and looking up the retailer before purchasing but it is always worth it to Boost the Cash Resources in my Travel Budget.
- It creates a defacto Travel Savings Account: I have my Ebates Account linked to a travel specific email account. That way, my Ebates money is segregated from my other PayPal (TM) transactions and becomes a mini travel savings account of sorts.
- InStore Cashback Opportunities: If you register a card with Ebates and activate offers for specific stores, you can also earn cash back in those stores when you make a purchase with the registered card.
What I do not like about EBates is that they only make disbursements of cashback quarterly so I have to be cognizant of the fact that my cashback won’t be available until the next disbursement date but this is a small price to pay in my opinion.
If you prefer to have disbursements monthly, Ibotta is another great option but please note that they do not yet offer the Browser extension functionality and they can be a bit more burdensome to use because a lot of their cashback opportunities require you to upload copies of receipts.
You can sign up for Ebates using my referral link HERE. You will get a $10 bonus when you sign up using my referral link.
You can sign up for Ibotta using my referral link HERE. You will get a $10 bonus when you sign up using my referral link.
COUPON WEBSITES
The benefits of coupons speak for the themselves. I mean who doesn’t love a great deal?!? My favorite coupon tool is Honey. Honey also has a browser extension that can be installed to search the internet to find the best coupon applicable to your purchase automatically. NO EXTRA WORK NEEDED FROM YOU! I love this option because it saves me the time I would have spent hunting down the applicable coupons. What I love most about Honey is that (coupled with EBates,) it takes advantage of one of my favorite strategies for boosting travel resources with a Triple Travel Discount Play. Here’s what I mean:
- Travel Discount Play 1: Find a Great Travel Deal to Book.
- Travel Discount Play 2: Ebates gets me the cashback on an already great Travel Deal. I am able to not only get a discount on an already great travel deal but it also gives me back actual cash I can use toward other travel expenses.
- Travel Discount Play 3: Honey searches the internet for even more discounts that could apply to the related purchase. RESULT: even more money gets to stay in my pocket!!
And just like that I have achieved a Triple Travel Discount Play! The best part is (just like Ebates) Honey is absolutely free to use. You can sign up for Honey by using my referral link HERE.
Hope the above tips were helpful to you! What are some of your favorite tools to boost the cash available in your travel budget? Comment below or email us at [email protected] and let us know.
