As the owner of a cash back and rewards site, I am often asked by people how the whole shopping rebate thing works. It seems like it must be too good to be true. Alternatively, you must pay more for the items if you click through a cash back site, right? Wrong.

In its most simplistic terms, advertising on cash back sites is just one form of promotion for merchants. They pay for commercials, newspaper advertisements, radio ads, and website placement. They can pay a flat fee for those or pay on a commission basis. For rewards sites, they pay on a commission basis. If I put up an ad for Amazon and someone clicks through it and makes a purchase, I make a percentage of that purchase. Simple advertising.

The reward/rebate site model just takes that one step further and splits that commission with the person who made the purchase. With some cookie tracking on your computer, I can tell what link of mine you clicked on, when you clicked on it, and how much your total purchase was. I don’t look at what you bought or where you sent it or your credit card number. I just look at the total purchase price. I figure your portion of the commission and credit you for it.

Of course, there are a lot of things that can complicate the transaction. 1) You may use a coupon from another site or the merchant directly and because of that the merchant doesn’t owe me a commission, 2) you might not have your computer set up to accept the cookie that tracks the purchase, 3) you might have a toolbar that overrides the cookie, etc. Although these are not the norm, they do happen in a small percentage of transactions.

That’s the quick and dirty on how cash back sites work. There isn’t any kind of trick involved or increasing of prices. It’s simply another method of advertising that allows for purchasers to have an opportunity to get a little of their money back. You can check out Sunshine Rewards if you want to see it in action.

My daughter is now to the age where she is fitting into “adult” jewelry and doesn’t want to wear the kid versions of things like watches. No more Disney Princesses for her! She wants what is trendy. The problem is that at 10 years old, she doesn’t take care of a watch like an adult would. She runs and plays with it on and takes it off at sleepovers at friends’ houses. She also doesn’t like the standard gold/white gold kind that I have that matches every outfit. She wants green for when she wears green (which is often) or black to match other outfits. Sometimes she wants multi-colors just for fun. How can I keep her happy and keep my wallet happy at the same time?

I am loving the selection at Inexpensive Watches. They are actually a part of Affordable Style, which is right outside my hometown of Indianapolis. Here’s an example of one of the watches that they have that my daughter would love and it is less than $20:

Here’s another one that I know my daughter would go crazy over. I’m not sure I could pry this peace sign bracelet watch off of her ever again if I were to give it to her:

If you are in the market for some cute watches at low prices, you should definitely check out Inexpensive Watches. Whether you want something for your teens or yourself (hey! moms deserve trendy watches, too!), they have a great selection and prices that will allow you to splurge a little without spending a lot.

School shopping is upon us and people are looking for Back to School deals more than ever this year. Between the clothes, shoes, supplies, and book rental, the first month of school is an incredibly expensive time. If you are sending a student off to college, it is even worse!

So I ask all of you, what is the best back to school deal that you have gotten or seen this year? I’ll share mine with you! I cashed out for $200 in Kohls gift cards from saving up my credit card points. (It’s a card I pay off every month, so no worries about the interest costing me more than the cards!) I then went to Kohls during their Power Hour sales and saved about 50% off of $500 worth of clothes. I then had a 15% off coupon on top of that. After applying my Kohls gift cards, the final balance was $37. And I got a voucher from the “Get $10 when you spend $50″ deal that I get to go back and spend $40 this week! It was almost like getting $500 in clothes for free.

Your deal may not be quite that big, but what’s the best you have seen this year? Let’s all share so that we can save on back to school together!

I’m a big fan of Restaurant.com for a couple of reasons. First, I save money on eating out, which I love to do. But more importantly, I learn about new restaurants that I might not otherwise try. I’m always eating at the same places. When I see a sale at Restaurant.com, I tend to find different restaurants than usual and try them out. One such restaurant (Mudsocks in Fishers, Indiana) became a family favorite!

Restaurant.com almost always has various specials. Today I just saw an 80% off special. It’s good through the end of the month: 80% Off + Free $25 Certificate with /a min. $11 purchase on $25 Gift Certificates. $2 with code CELEBRATE.12/26/08 thru 12/31/08.

If you’ve never tried out Restaurant.com, now is a great time!