Surely you know the credit cards that give you cash back, but if you are not using these other options that also give you cash, you are letting out a lot of extra savings.

Do you remember that refunds with vouchers were fashionable for your next purchases? To get, say, a refund of US $ 20, it can be, for a new computer monitor, you had to fill out a form (sometimes more than one), cut and paste a barcode on the form, send everything via traditional mail , wait eight to twelve weeks and hope that maybe, just maybe, the discount coupon would come to your home.

It was a horror. Simply a horror

These days, it is much easier to get refunds – except that the terminology has changed a bit. It is now called “cash back” and is almost completely automated. So automated, in fact, that it may seem too good to be true.

Good news: Yes, it’s true. By taking advantage of one or more cash back services, you can save money and / or earn rewards. Let’s take a look at the various options that exist in large part of what you buy online and much of what you buy elsewhere.

Direct cash return to your credit cards

I will not spend much time on this type of reimbursement, in addition to saying that if you are not using a cashback card, you are literally throwing away your money. It is the easiest and easiest way to recover a percentage of almost everything you buy.

Let’s say you use a credit card that gives you one point for every dollar you spend. In most cases you can exchange those points for trips, goods, services or similar. You can also convert them to ‘cash’, which generally takes the form of a credit to your credit. You will not receive a check in the mail, but a credit will be applied to your account, which is more or less the same. It’s money, as you want to see it.

When you are looking for a card that offers you cash back, pay attention to the percentages you will get – and the annual rates. For example, there is the Uber Visa card, which reimburses you 4 percent of your purchases in restaurants and bars, 3 percent in hotels and air tickets, 2 percent in online purchases (including Uber purchases) and 1 percent for everything else. In addition, it has no annual fee.

These points may not seem like much, but they are when they accumulate. Let’s say the monthly bill that reports your credit card is US $ 2,000. Assuming you always pay your entire bill and receive only one percent of the refund, that represents an extra $ 20 in your pocket each month – or an additional $ 240 per year. For not doing anything.

Cash refunds for your online purchases

Let’s think about a hypothetical situation: you need a new refrigerator. You do a little research, find the model you like and then proceed to buy online the lowest price on that model. It turns out it’s in JCPenney.

Then, remembering the wise advice of one Mr. Broida, you go to the Ebates cashback service, where you discover that you can get a 3 percent refund on JCPenney purchases. So you click from Ebates to the JCPenney store and order your refrigerator as you normally would.

Not long after, you get a credit of US $ 51.42. After that, you receive a real check (or deposit in PayPal ). For doing almost nothing.

To be totally honest, this case was not hypothetical. It happened to me. And that is why I have defended online cashback services for years. They are easy to use and do not demand anything in return. (Actually, I think there is a small requirement: they collect your data on where you buy and what you buy. Some people resent that. It is not my case).

Over time I have recovered hundreds of dollars that I would otherwise have lost. Small purchases here, large purchases there. It all adds up.

Here are three services that I recommend you review:

• BeFrugal : A kind of one-stop discount destination, BeFrugal not only offers cash back, but also printable coupons that you can exchange for pantry and restaurant discounts, as well as a good list of daily deals.
• Ebates : Property of Rakuten, it could be said that Ebates is the best known service of this type – but it doesn’t always have the best rates. (As with any other purchase, it is worth comparing offers). I will say that the browser plug-in makes it easy for me to check if there is a cashback option for a particular store, and your mobile apps now support mobile purchases with cash back. (Many, if not most, of the cash back services require a desktop browser). Every 90 days, the service pays your refunds (or rather, your “ebates”) in the form of a PayPal check or deposit.
• Honey Gold : Built around a browser add-on that also includes discount codes on store purchase pages and tracks Amazon price drops, Honey Gold works a little differently. “Each reward is a surprise,” he says, which means that the percentage of cash back falls within a range that you won’t know until after the purchase. It could be, say, 1 to 5 percent on Ebay , 1 to 10 percent on Walmart , and so on. This is not cash, either. Points can be redeemed for gift cards only, and only in a dozen stores. Use Honey Gold only if you cannot find a money back option in one of the other services.

Cash back services for purchases with credit cards

A growing number of services offer a way to get a cash back without a computer. By linking your credit card you can get those additional savings simply by buying as you normally do. Just go to the restaurants, book hotels and buy things as you usually do, and voila: you will have cash back. And, yes, they work even if you are already receiving a cash refund from the card provider. Does anyone want a double offer?

The only drawback is that you don’t get rewards everywhere, only from the stores that participate in the given program. So you may have to do some store recognition in advance.

• BeFrugal : A kind of one-stop discount destination, BeFrugal not only offers cash back, but also printable coupons that you can exchange for pantry and restaurant discounts, as well as a good list of daily deals.
• Ebates : Property of Rakuten, it could be said that Ebates is the best known service of this type – but it doesn’t always have the best rates. (As with any other purchase, it is worth comparing offers). I will say that the browser plug-in makes it easy for me to check if there is a cashback option for a particular store, and your mobile apps now support mobile purchases with cash back. (Many, if not most, of the cash back services require a desktop browser). Every 90 days, the service pays your refunds (or rather, your “ebates”) in the form of a PayPal check or deposit.
• Honey Gold : Built around a browser add-on that also includes discount codes on store purchase pages and tracks Amazon price drops, Honey Gold works a little differently. “Each reward is a surprise,” he says, which means that the percentage of cash back falls within a range that you won’t know until after the purchase. It could be, say, 1 to 5 percent on Ebay , 1 to 10 percent on Walmart , and so on. This is not cash, either. Points can be redeemed for gift cards only, and only in a dozen stores. Use Honey Gold only if you cannot find a money back option in one of the other services.

Here we take a look at three of these services, all of which I have tried and I can definitely recommend.

• Dosh :  Launched in 2017, Dosh has become one of my favorite cashback services. Just link one or more of your credit cards to your account, then browse through the available offers. At the time of this publication, they included several local companies, national chains (such as 2 percent in Sam’s Club) and online stores (8 percent in Sephora, for example). Refunds can be donated to charities or sent directly to your bank or PayPal account.
• Drop :  Very similar to Dosh, but with a system of points-in-gift-cards instead of giving you real cash, Drop works with a combination of continuous and unique offers. You can choose up to five “favorites” that will earn you points with each purchase, in places like Starbucks, Walmart, Whole Foods and Uber. As for the unique offers, they are of the type “Subscribe to Hulu and earn 25,000 points” or “20 points for every $ 1 spent on Apple .” In general, I do not like this type of structure, but it is so easy to earn points automatically (and, therefore, rewards) by buying from your favorite stores, that you would be crazy if you do not use Drop.
• Yelp Cash Back : I would  call this service a “Dosh for restaurants”, because it works the same way: link a credit card, then go to dinner at the selected restaurants and earn cash. Unfortunately, the same credit card cannot be linked with Dosh and Yelp , because both services operate through a third-party e-commerce company, Empyr, to make the actual payments. And that explains why I noticed a great similarity between both services, both in restaurants and in percentages of cash back. Consequently, you can save more in general by using Dosh, but if you are one of those who spend more on restaurants, it is worth taking a look at Yelp Cash Back.

There are people who do not like to give their credit card number to services like these, I can really understand. However, it is worth noting that your numbers are encrypted; All credit cards have locks to protect against fraud; And, just so that you are clear, your card is already archived in any number of stores and services – then what else does it take in one more, especially if it will return money?

Cash back services after purchase

There is one last option to immerse yourself in the world of cash refunds. Post-purchase services offer you refunds after the fact – usually when your receipts are reviewed. (And if this raises any concerns about your privacy, well, I’m surprised that you’ve come this far. But keep reading.)

Let’s take a look at the three most notable options, starting with one that can give you refunds by adjusting the price you paid without having to move a finger.

• Paribus :  Many online stores offer price matching and purchase protection. So, if you buy something and then the price goes down, you can get a refund for the difference. Paribus keeps track of your purchases and, when you find them at a lower price, contact customer services on your behalf to get a refund. There is no charge for using this service, but you should let it monitor your email so that it can automatically locate receipts. Fortunately, there is a large disclaimer in advance: “We do not sell or share your data to third parties.”
• Receipt Hog :  Do you mind sharing your physical purchase receipts for market research purposes? If not, scan them with Receipt Hog. Each of your receipts offers you coins that you can eventually exchange for cash or gift cards. You can also earn coins by completing surveys, connecting your email and your Amazon accounts and playing “slot machines.” Honestly, I don’t love this app, in large part because it requires access to your location in full time. There are similar apps, such as ReceiptPal, that can also work with electronic receipts. Even so, I feel it is too much work for too little reward. But it is another form of cash back, and therefore worth mentioning.
• Walmart Savings Catcher :  If you are a regular Walmart customer and use Walmart Pay, this suggestion should be kind of obvious. Simply send your electronic receipts through the Walmart app and Savings Catcher compares your purchases with the advertised prices of local competitors. If you find one that is lower, you will get the difference in the form of a Walmart electronic gift card.

If you are wondering why I did not include the popular  Ibotta  in this article, it is because the app requires a large series of stunts. For example, to get a cash refund for purchases at the grocery store you have to claim the offers before buying, then you must remember to send your receipt later. And to claim the offers, you have to answer questions about your home, education, etc. You can definitely save money with Ibotta, only that it requires more effort.

Similarly, there are many other tools and services that I did not cover here. If you are using one of them and think it deserves a mention, do it in the comments!