My Money Pocket review: save money shopping online with cashback and voucher codes

My Money Pocket offers online shoppers the chance to save money through discount vouchers, as well as paying cashback when they spend.

We all like to get something for nothing. It’s even better when that something happens to be cold, hard cash.

And that’s what you can help yourself to if you shop online via My Money Pocket.

What is My Money Pocket?

My Money Pocket is a cashback site. As our complete cashback guide explains, these sites are a fantastic ally for anyone who shops online as they allow you to get some money back when you spend with certain retailers.

However, My Money Pocket goes a little further than offering cashback alone as it looks to combine the cashback with discount vouchers with specific retailers.

The idea is that you pay less at the online checkout and get a portion of what you do spend back in cashback to boot.

How does My Money Pocket Work?

As with other cashback sites, the key is to visit My Money Pocket first and search for the retailer you’re planning to shop with.

If that retailer has partnered with My Money Pocket  – it currently has deals with more than 4,500 brands  – then you’ll be told how much cashback you can earn if you shop via a tracked link.

So for example, at the time of writing, if I take out a pay-monthly phone contract from Virgin Mobile, I could pocket up to £120 cashback by heading over to Virgin's site via the link on the My Money Pocket website.

This link allows the retailer to monitor how the shopper arrived at their website, and how much they spent.

The retailer pays a commission to the site that sent them ‒ in this case, My Money Pocket ‒ and then a chunk of that commission is passed onto you, the user.

If you are about to make a pricier purchase, then My Money Pocket really can earn you a decent wedge of cash. Take a look at these examples that we found on the site:

• Get up to £188 cashback on BT broadband
• Up to 8% cashback on Expedia holidays
• Up to £72 cashback on car insurance

Alongside the cashback offers, My Money Pocket will also highlight voucher codes that you can use with the retailer to save cash on your spending. 

How much does My Money Pocket cost?

My Money Pocket is absolutely free to use. 

The site makes its money by keeping a portion of the commission the retailers pay, so as a shopper, you won’t have to pay anything at all.

Getting paid by My Money Pocket

As always with a cashback website, you don’t get the money immediately.

It will ultimately come down to the individual retailers how quickly they approve the cashback, but don’t expect to get the money instantly.

However, once the money becomes ‘payable’ in your account, you can transfer it straight into your bank account through a BACS payment.

Getting the most from My Money Pocket

On the face of it, the amounts you get back can seem fairly minimal.

After all, 1% of your shop when you’re only buying a t-shirt isn’t going to amount to much.

That’s quite a short-term view though. As with any cashback site, the more that you use it, the more money you’ll end up accruing from your online shopping.

And you’ll be amazed at how quickly those small sums can add up to some pretty significant cashback balances.

If you can get into the habit of visiting the site first, before heading to the retailers you want to shop with, then you can maximise the money you earn.

There’s nothing more frustrating than spending money online, only to realise later on that by visiting a cashback site first you could have earned a few quid back.

However, it’s important not to view cashback as an excuse to spend more than you are comfortable with.

Obviously, the more you spend online, the more cashback you’ll earn. But there’s no point overdoing it and getting yourself into financial difficulties, all in the name of some extra cashback.

How does My Money Pocket compare?

When it comes to cashback, there are two big names that many shoppers will be familiar with: Quidco and TopCashback.

Both sites offer two separate levels of membership; one that’s free, and one that comes with an annual fee of around £5.

In return for that fee, you’ll get a range of additional benefits, from faster cashback payouts to additional levels of customer service. 

Both of the sites have partnerships with different retailers and may provide shoppers with different rates of cashback, so ultimately the best site for you will come down to which retailers you use most often.

Another name worth mentioning is Accelerate My Mortgage, which works like any regular cashback website, except that rather than transfer the cashback into your bank account the money is used to top up your existing mortgage repayments, helping you clear the loan more quickly.

Other ways to earn cashback on your spending

Cashback websites are just one way to earn cashback on the money you spend.

One of the limitations of cashback websites is that you can only earn money when you spend with specific retailers.

However, by making use of a cashback credit card you can get something back every time you spend, no matter where you spend that money.

You can see our roundup of the top cashback cards here.

Bank accounts can also be an excellent cashback option. Some accounts pay cashback on certain bills you pay by direct debit, such as your mobile phone bill or your Council Tax. We list the top cashback bank accounts here.

For a full run-through on the various ways to earn cashback, do check out our comprehensive guide.