It is this mode of thinking that leads me to always be on the look out for a better way to save, shop, spend and --did I mention-- save more, and this week I found one: Perk Street Financial.
Why I’m Loving Perk Street
I keep my bank and pre-load my debit card. I earn 5 percent cash back from merchants Perk Street is linked to. I’ll use the Perk Street card in lieu of E-bates if the E-bates website I want isn’t offering more than 5 percent cash back. However, if the E-bates offer is more than 5 percent, I still use my Perk Street card to pay for my wares, because I earn 2 percent cash back –better than the 1 percent most other banks offer.
The Proof is in the Pudding, right?
I needed to buy make-up. Personally, I love Avon.com –and I can help a friend earn commissions each time and even give a different friend commission each time, if I want to. So, I logged on to E-bates, who offered 8 percent cash back (no brainer). I skipped the Perkstreet and went straight to the site. I bought concealer, foundation, eyeliner and mascara –all on clearance with free shipping. I spent a grand total of $26 (less than I would spend at a local big box store and I’ll prove it…later), and my math broke down like this:
Total: $26
E-bates cash back: $26 x 0.08 = $2.08
Perk Street cash back: $26 x 0.02 = $0.52
Savings: $2.60
Of course, this isn’t a staggering amount of cash, but pennies add up to dollars and dollars add up to more dollars and…well, you get the idea. In contrast, had I shopped at Wal-mart for similar items with my Perk Street card, my total would have looked like this:
Foundation: $12
Mascara: $9
Eyeliner: $9
Concealer: $8
Total: $38
Cash back with Perk Street (@ 2%): $38 x 0.02 = $0.76
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that if I shopped at my local big box store for similar items I wasted over $11.24 shopping in store…plus gas money. Rinse and repeat this a few times and that answers the age-old question of where all your money is going. So, sign up for a free E-bates account and combine that with a free Perk Street cash back debit card and start earning beaucoups back instead of overpaying for everything. Join me and live a cash back lifestyle. For lack of a better phrase, it’s rewarding.
Want more on my money back life? Check out these links to my Yahoo articles:
How I Earn $300 a Month By Paying My Bills
Questions begging answers? Post a comment or email me!
as an addition to either your bookshelf or your Kindle (hint: Kindle is cheaper). Some of the ideas contained in this book are common sense in nature, but there are numerous nuggets of wisdom that I found extremely helpful as additions to my frugal living pledge. 
