Last updated: August 2026
Smart Budget Guides earns money through affiliate links and display advertising. This page explains exactly how that works, in plain language, as required by the Federal Trade Commission’s endorsement guidelines.
The Short Version
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and open an account or buy a product, I may receive a commission from that company. You never pay more because of it. The price is identical whether you use my link or go to the company directly.
What an Affiliate Link Actually Is
An affiliate link is a normal link with a tracking code attached. When you click it, the company can tell the referral came from this site. If you then sign up or buy something, the company pays this site a referral fee out of its own marketing budget.
That fee does not come out of your pocket, and it does not affect the rate, fee, or terms you are offered. It is the company’s cost of acquiring a customer, not a surcharge on you.
What Gets Recommended, and Why
An affiliate relationship never decides whether a product appears on this site or how it is described.
- Products are described the same way whether or not there is a commission attached.
- Drawbacks, fees, and situations where a product is the wrong choice are stated plainly.
- Where the better option for the reader pays nothing at all — a credit union, a government programme, a free tool, or simply doing nothing — that is what the article says.
- No company is paid for placement, and no company sees an article before publication.
A commission is not a reason to recommend something. If a product is only worth mentioning because it pays, it is not worth mentioning.
Display Advertising
This site also shows display advertising served by third-party ad networks. Those ads are selected automatically by the network, not chosen by me, and their appearance on a page is not an endorsement of the advertiser.
Ad networks may use cookies and similar technologies to select ads. How that works, and how to opt out, is covered in the Privacy Policy.
Why the Site Is Funded This Way
Content on Smart Budget Guides is free to read, with no paywall and no subscription. Affiliate commissions and advertising are what pay for hosting, tools, and the time spent researching and writing.
The alternative funding models for a personal finance site are worse for readers: charging for access, selling reader data, or accepting paid placements presented as genuine recommendations. This site does none of those things.
Your Obligations: None
You are under no obligation to use any link on this site. If you would rather not, go to the company directly — you will get the same product on the same terms. Reading the article and ignoring every link is a perfectly good outcome.
Questions
If you want to know whether a specific link is an affiliate link, or how a particular recommendation was reached, ask through the contact page and I will tell you. The wider standards this site holds itself to are set out in the Editorial Policy, and the limits of the advice offered here are covered in the Disclaimer.