4 ways to get rewarded for the daily purchases that bring you joy

If you're like me, you might refuse to go more than three days without visiting your favorite coffee shop. Or maybe you can't help but purchase new candle scents every time they drop, or order takeout instead of cooking. We all have those little purchases that we enjoy because they make our lives easier or happier.

Because of this, trying to cut out the things we love buying is almost futile; while we may be able to temporarily separate ourselves from our beloved coffee and candles, the habit isn't sustainable and we'll only return to our discretionary spending feeling more willing to make up for the self-deprivation.

The good news is, those regular purchases we love can actually help us get rewarded so we can make some of our financial goals feel more attainable, whether it's saving for an emergency fund or taking a trip we've always wanted to go on.

Below, CNBC Select shares a few strategies you can use to maximize the rewards you receive for purchases you're going to make anyway. Of course, this isn't a substitute for other important financial behaviors and actions like putting money in a high-yield savings account or contributing to your workplace 401(k).

Daily coffee purchases have long been a point of contention when it comes to how we "should" spend and save our money to reach our goals. The advice has long been to stop ordering a daily $6 latte because, over the span of one year, you wind up spending over $2,000 on coffee, which could have been used to reach other goals like saving for a car.

Nowadays, though, it's become more normal to encourage individuals to spend on the things that make them happy (including that iced coffee) as long as they cut out the things they don't care about. However, you can actually use your daily coffee purchase to reach some of your travel goals, particularly if you order coffee from Starbucks.

Starbucks Rewards program members who link their Delta SkyMiles loyalty accounts can earn one mile per $1 spent at Starbucks — all while continuing to earn "stars" on their Starbucks purchases. Plus, members earn double stars on days they fly Delta.

Then, when you go to book travel, you can offset the cost of your Delta flights using the miles you've earned. Granted, it may take a lot of iced coffees to rack up enough SkyMiles to pay for an entire ticket but it's still a nifty way to earn rewards for something you buy regularly anyway.

Your credit card and its perks should fit into your lifestyle and your needs — not the other way around. With the right credit card, you can maximize the rewards you earn for the things you have to buy anyway.

For instance, those who consider themselves heavy spenders when it comes to groceries and streaming services may get the most use out of Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express since it offers 6% cash back on U.S. supermarket purchases (up to $6,000 per year, then 1%) and 6% back on streaming services, It also offers 3% cash back on transit including taxis, rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and gas stations, so it could also be ideal for those who commute a lot or use public transportation regularly. The cashback is received in the form of Reward Dollar that can be redeemed as a statement credit to lower your monthly statement. Terms apply.

Cashback isn't the only way to get rewarded. If you love traveling and like to save as much money on your trips as possible, you could opt for a credit card that uses points or miles to offset the cost of your flight or hotel. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is consistently one of the most popular travel rewards credit cards since it offers an attractive welcome bonus and bonus points on common spending categories, including 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 5X points on Lyft rides (through March 2025), 3X points on dining, 3X points on select streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs) and 2X points on all other travel purchases. 

What if you could automatically put aside a portion of the total at the bottom of your receipts without having to manually move the money? You'd likely rack up a decent chunk of money in a low-lift way without having to obsess over how much you should save all the time. The money can then be used to kickstart your emergency fund, use as a sinking fund for holiday gifts and more.

That's essentially what the Guac app allows you to do. Guac helps you "tip yourself" for every purchase you make and those "tips" go toward savings goals that you set for yourself. You'll just have to create a savings goal, set a percentage to tip yourself and make purchases as you normally would. In other words, even when you go grocery shopping or spend money on coffee, video games, or clothes, you can tip yourself a certain percentage of these totals and build your savings on autopilot.

Guac's website has a handy calculator tool you can use to get an idea of how much money you might save each month. According to the tool, if you typically spend around $3,000 monthly and want to tip yourself 10% of what you spend, this should amount to an average monthly savings of $300.

Of course, the amount you actually wind up saving will depend on the percentage you set for yourself. It could be helpful to start off with a small percentage and work your way up to an amount that strikes a more comfortable balance between your spending and saving.

There's also the investing app Acorns which offers a Round-Ups feature, which takes users' spare change and puts it into diversified ETFs. Users link their credit or debit card account to their Acorns account, and the app will do a sweep of the accounts when purchases are made to round up the costs to the nearest dollar and then invest the difference.

Online shopping portals like Rakuten are a great way to earn cash back for your purchases, in addition to what you may earn with your rewards credit card.

In order for your purchase to be eligible for cashback, the retailer must be part of Rakuten's network. Installing the browser extension is the easiest way to be notified when there is a cashback opportunity when you visit a retailer's site. The exact cashback percentage depends on the retailer. If there is a cashback opportunity on a retailer's site, you'll be prompted to "activate" Rakuten. From there, you'll check out as usual and the cashback will be reflected in your account.

Payments are sent out on a quarterly basis either as a mailed check or an online deposit. Alternatively, American Express cardholders can opt to be paid in Membership Rewards points in lieu of cash back (one cent equals one point). This can be a great way to earn back some money for purchases you have to make anyway — like holiday gifts, birthday gifts and more.

Cutting out purchases you love altogether can be a highly impractical way to manage your money. Instead of continuing to cut out the little things that bring you joy, it can be more advantageous to seek ways to earn rewards for the things you're going to buy anyway — whether it be using a rewards credit card, earning through shopping portals or even taking advantage of loyalty programs.

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For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.