Save 8.5% On Gas All The Time With TopCashBack

I recently signed up for TopCashBack.com and so far I am very pleased. It’s basically an online shopping portal where they give you cash back for online purchases made through their shopping link. Each merchant has a different payout, some giving out as much as 15% cash back. I made two different purchases so far and my TopCashBack account posted my cashback amount only a couple days later. I figured out a way to save 8.5% or higher on all your gas purchases through TopCashBack.

Step 1: Sign up for TopCashBack. You can use my referral code by clicking here if you want to. I will receive $10.

Step 2: Search for Staples and click on the orange “Cashback” button next to the Staples logo. Then click on “Get Cash Back Now” button on the following page.

Step 3: The link will redirect you to the actual Staples.com webpage where you can do your online shopping at Staples.com as you normally would. But here, we are looking for a specific item: Staples Gift Card. On the left pane menu at Staples.com, scroll down and look for “Gifts / Gift Cards”. Hover your mouse on that and an extended menu pops up to the right. Move your mouse over to “Staples Gift Cards” and click on it. That’s what you want to buy.

Step 4: There are many Staples Gift Card designs you can choose from. It doesn’t matter. Pick the one that you like the best. I just chose the Easy Button Gift Card. Each card has a fee of $1.99 so I always choose the $100 value to get the most bang for my money. You can buy more than one if you feel comfortable enough to do so, but again each card will have a $1.99 fee attached to it.

Step 5: Use your rewards earning credit card to make the purchase. I used my Chase Ink Plus card which earns me 5x Ultimate Rewards (UR) points for purchases made at an office supply store. So for my purchase of $101.99, I received an additional 510 UR points. I value each UR points at around 1.5-2.5 cents. If you use Discover Card or Chase Freedom card, you will receive 1% cash back. Additionally, if you use your American Express SimplyCash card, you will receive 5% cash back on office supply store purchases.

Step 6: After about 7 days, you will receive your gift card in the mail. Take the gift card to the actual Staples store and buy gas cards such as Shell and Exxon and use them for your gas purchases. All this effort will add to about 8.5% or more cash back if you use Chase Ink Plus or American Express SimplyCash card. Additionally, if you use your Exxon gift card at Exxon stations, you will be given the discounted “Cash” price not “Credit Card” price. Depending on the gas station, that can be an additional 5-10 cents off per gallon!

Step 7: Wait a few days and check your TopCashBack account to see if your earnings are posted. Mine posted only a couple of days later.

Let’s do the math: TopCashBack + SimplyCash Credit Card – 2% Fee on Gift Card = 5.5+5.0-2.0=8.5%

You can sign up for any of these cards directly at Creditcards.com. If you use this link here, I will receive a small referral commission. Chase Ink Plus or American Express SimplyCash cards are business credit cards. One of my favorite travel blog, Million Mile Secrets has a nice post about how to apply for a business credit card. It’s worth a read.

Readers: If you have other ways of saving money on gas, please do share!

Tagged as: Chase Ink Plus, gas cards, SimplyCash, staples, TopCashBack